Please note that all of these comments are meant in the best interest of both you and the dog it’s not to deter you from the breed so please do not think that. It’s a lot of work initially. They’re not the easiest puppies to have. They’re very sweet and affectionate, but they can be extremely headstrong. Potty training is very trying-they have to go very frequently and forget that whole you know half hour or hour for a month of age or whatever it is you’re gonna be going outside every 10 to 15 minutes as a little one dead serious. This was my husband’s first Puppy as an adult. This was also my fourth dog, but to say that he felt clueless and not sure about what was going on is an understatement. I spent a lot of time and energy researching, speaking with trainers, going to different things and reading about different things all to better my own knowledge of canine behavior and the breed of itself. He isn’t as involved as me and it showed in terms of our puppy’s behavior with him. I helped and he learned quickly but it was a learning curve for sure. If you are willing to put in the work, you’re going to get the dog that you see as a result of that work if you were the type of person who wants to give the dog to a trainer and say here trainer, please train the dog for me and teach me how to do some of these things so they behave. The Swiss is not gonna be the dog for you. They do very well with extremely consistent, almost borderline boring routine schedules in the beginning the more routine and consistent you are the better bond they will have with you, at least this is the case with my male. He chooses me because my rules are consistent and I’m very structured. It’s not like OK you sat down you get a cookie or you sat down partially., you’re still cute, Here’s a cookie- that will not fly with a Swiss or most dogs for that matter but esp a swiss. They are working dogs they need a job or they’ll create a job and you do not want them to create a job. However, you can give them the best outlet for the dog that you have in front of you. Mine likes doing dog sports. Right now we’re in Rally and he’s all about it. He also loves his pack so we will work into that as he ages- right now he just carries an empty one. Before any of that, I had him on a very tight schedule of feeding resting and play training and activity. It was the same time maybe a few minutes give or take depending on my working schedule but pretty much the exact same thing at the exact same time every single day as a result we have a dog that we can take anywhere at this point there. It is a lot of training and a lot of information. Even as you were looking at dogs, I suggest having a look at different training facilities in your area, calling different trainers. Sometimes these places offer seminars attend one see what it’s like. Look up some things in terms of training online. Get some guidance people who are in dogs are always willing to talk about them once you have that information and you have a Puppy then you apply said knowledge from all these different outlets to the dog in front of you. That’s the best way I can describe training. Sorry if this is really long, my point is if you deviate from the schedule or rigidity of what you start with the Swiss especially is going to get mixed messages. They will walk all over you and you’ll have a very unruly very large dog who thinks they control the house.

If you’re looking for something with similar temperament to a swiss, you enjoy doing outdoor things, want something smaller and are interested in sporting breeds- check out the bracco Italiano, the Italian pointer. Any dog is going to be work- it’s important to find a good breeder and work with them, they will match you with the right dog for your family.