About
TEMPERAMENT
To us, the ideal White Swiss Shepherd Dog is a friendly dog with high intelligence, good athleticism, medium-high prey drive, and a solid off switch. Our goal is to produce the ideal "weekend warrior" dog - a dog which is easy to live with when life is busy and there is little time to devote to training and activity, but who truly loves hiking, training, and competing with their people. We also have a strong appreciation for versatility, and enjoy dogs which bond deeply with their owners and are willing and enthusiastic to join us in anything we do, whether it be sports, hiking, biking, or playing in the backyard.
We tend to believe in the saying, "put your money where your mouth is," and apply it often to our breeding program. We prove our dogs have the temperament we say they do via character tests, showing, and trialing in a variety of sports. To see our dedication to such things, please visit our Furrari's page. Many say their dogs are capable of a lot of things...we've proven it.
Despite being an overall pretty healthy breed, WSSDs are still prone to a few diseases, including hip dysplasia, elbow dysplasia, MDR1, DM, CEA, pituitary dwarfism, allergies, and sensitivities. All of Fireside Fernweh's breeding dogs have had minimum hip and elbow x-rays evaluated by OFA or FCI, a complete DNA panel by Embark, and a cardiac evaluation recorded with OFA. All results for our dogs are available publicly on our site and at OFA's website (ofa.org).
We are cognizant of the rising Coefficient of Inbreeding (COI) and are dedicated to doing everything possible within the rules of FCI to maintain or increase genetic diversity. A dog's COI is the singlemost important factor in predicting the health of the dog, so we do not take this issue lightly. Currently, the breed average COI for White Swiss Shepherds is approximately 27% according to Embark. Each of our dogs has their COI listed on their page.
HEALTH
CONFORMATION
While we do appreciate good conformation, our view is that a good tempered and healthy dog is beautiful. This is not to say that we ignore conformation, but rather that we are willing to compromise on conformation in order to get the temperament and genetic diversity we are seeking.
As breeders, it is impossible to prioritize everything, so for us, temperament and health are considerations before conformation. In any case, many of our dogs have attained their Champion title (or higher) and have placed in the herding group.
