social.
driven.
intelligent.
healthy.
beautiful.
These are the words that come to mind when we imagine the perfect White Swiss Shepherd.
ABOUT US
Fireside Fernweh is an FCI registered White Swiss Shepherd breeding kennel located in central Illinois. We breed with heavy emphasis on exceptional characters--only using dogs with friendly, confident, and environmentally sound temperaments. Dogs with such characters not only make great show/sport dogs, but they also make wonderful family companions. Our dogs hold titles in an array of activities, including conformation (shows), agility, obedience/rally obedience, tracking, nosework, dock diving, weight pull, tricks, and various character tests. We have also produced dogs certified in therapy work and as search and rescue dogs. Our dogs are very versatile, fitting into a wide variety of homes with various goals--and this quality is proven by results.
We also strongly emphasize health, and complete more health testing than the vast majority of White Swiss Shepherd breeders around the world. Our health testing protocols include hips, elbows, spine, advanced cardiac (includes auscultation and echocardiogram), thyroid, eyes, dentition, and genetic testing for various diseases. We use these results across generations to monitor changes and reduce incidences over time. Additionally, all results for every litter are publicly available on our website.
Each puppy bred by Fireside Fernweh goes home with a lifetime genetic warranty--something we have never seen another breeder of White Swiss Shepherds offer. Should a dog from us develop any genetic condition which precludes it from leading a normal pet life, we will replace the dog. We offer this because we stand by our program and the dogs that we produce.
SOCIAL. DRIVEN. INTELLIGENT. HEALTHY. BEAUTIFUL.
FIRESIDE FERNWEH PUPPIES
Our puppies come from parent dogs carefully selected for their temperament, health, conformation, and diversity. The research begins long before the breeding takes place; in fact, we often follow a line for years before adding it to our breeding program.
Once the puppies are here, they spend the first few weeks in our house where they are handled daily and exposed to various sights, sounds, objects, people, etc. At around 4-5 weeks of age, they are moved to our kennel where we can offer them a much larger space. After 6 weeks of age, they move again to an indoor/outdoor pen which teaches them to keep their indoor space clean and to potty outside. This also gives them an enormous area for them to run and play and experience moving objects, many toys, a kiddy pool (weather dependent), and additional enrichment.
Our puppies are temperament tested at 7 weeks of age and have structure evaluations just before 8 weeks of age. Based on these evaluations as well as our observations, we match the puppies to buyers based on applications and further communication about their lifestyle, home environment, and wants and needs in a dog. If you are interested in a Fireside Fernweh puppy, the first step is to complete the application and we will be in touch shortly.
