And I know, I am patiently waiting to see if Meloncollie replies I would love to know more about the process of actually getting the pups outs to Switzerland.
I think I have only seen a dog wearing a muzzle a couple of times here, it’s so rare as to be remarked on when I do see one.
Having said that I live in one of the most liberal cantons in Switzerland when it comes to dog ownership and there are all sorts of dogs here. I often see people out walking with their ‘dangerous’ dogs.
Switzerland is a country of rules and regulations, they don't really care about the individual traits of your dog, the rules are the rules to be followed by everyone, very very few exceptions if any.
Be aware, if your dog does step out of line, like bites someone or whatever, irrespective of who's fault it is, their is a high chance the dog will get put down upon a ruling from the cantonal vet and there is not much you can do to prevent this.
Maybe your solution is to leave the dog in the US for a few months, move and familiarise yourself with the various laws and regulations of the canton where you decide to live, and then decide whether it is worth the risk to bring the dog.
She normally posts on these sorts of threads but has posted for a week or so.
Red Cross means one must not bring/have such a breed or mixes out of one of the breeds. Yellow means one must get a permit before bringing the dog (including certificate of conduct issued by the police, and a test).
If one visits a canton where such a breed is forbidden to bring/own, the dog must wear a muzzle and must never be off-leash.
Liability insurance is mandatory for every dog owner in Switzerland, damage amount differs in each canton, and not by breed.
Yearly tax differs by municipality, and by breed.
Hope this helps.
What you are prepared to do has little bearing on what the authorities deem acceptable
OP, if you google bringing your dog to Switzerland, there is a lot of information, but here is official link:
https://www.bazg.admin.ch/bazg/en/ho...html#953876390
Online tool to see what is needed in your case.
https://www.blv.admin.ch/blv/en/home...frettchen.html
Not sure if your pittie has docked ears, but it would be good for you to know as Switzerland has strict rules on ear/tail docking (and thank goodness they do).
https://www.bazg.admin.ch/bazg/en/ho...ml#-1099307610
Bringing your dog over really isn't difficult. I've relocated/moved many times with my dogs (in-cabin and in the hold) and as long as you read upon the process thoroughly, it's actually no big deal. Just make sure you have the all the shots in order (especially rabies!), the right microchip, the export/import documents.
Upon arrival in Zurich, you will pick up your dog at one of the counters close to the luggage belt, and go through the red "to declare" section right before the exit where you show all your documents to the customs people, where your documents will get stamped. This is very important as you need to bring these stamped documents with you to the vet (which you must do within one week of arrival) to get your dog registered at AMICUS ( https://www.amicus.ch/Account/Login ) database, and to obtain the Swiss pet passport. One word of advice, don't take your dog out of the crate at customs... Once when I was there, the wife of a couple who had flow in with their mid-size dog took her dog out, against her husband's words to wait until they were outside, and their dog did the biggest pee on the floor, which customs had to clean up..... The husband said "See?? I TOLD you so!!"
Switzerland also has a dog tax, please see below link for more info.
https://www.ch.ch/en/taxes-and-finan...ation/dog-tax/
My advice to prepare your pittie for the flight is to get him first and foremost used to happily being in the airline crate. I placed those doggie toilet sheets on the bottom, with a thin blanket that had my smell on it. You fix a water bottle to the crate, and my vet told me not to feed him the morning of the flight (unless you have an evening/night flight), and to not place any other food type of thing in his crate. And, don't worry too much, your dog will be fine
Oh, and remember to pick up your dog's poop You will see trash bins with doggie poop bags (different colors in each city/town) everywhere, your dog tax is basically paying for this. Switzerland is an amazing country for dogs. They are practically allowed almost anywhere (shops, cafes, restaurants, hotels, public transport), and needless to say, beautiful hikes in the mountains are awaiting you and your dog!
Meloncollie will have way more useful information for you but thought I'd share some that I could come up with now. Good luck with your preparation
My girl got in with cows once (yes, bad management on my part, we were in a forest I knew well and had never ever seen cows in that particular meadow. She was off leash and saw the cows just as I did, only good luck calling a young cattle dog off cows) and she rounded them up beautifully and professionally to one corner and then trotted back happily to me. The day I was startled by the vet tech coming up behind me and accidentally bumping me, she fixed him in her eyes and growled at him despite being friends with him. She relaxed as soon as I saw who it was and relaxed myself. I have a cattle/guard dog and she shows all these tendencies from a young age despite never being trained on cows (quite the opposite, we tried to get her to ignore them) and being extremely well socialized (she loves everyone except for that one situation where I was legitimately upset and she relaxed when I did—taking her cues from me just as a quality guardian type dog should do).
My male on the other hand was not well socialized before we got him and that critical period had passed. He also comes from different lines in the same breed. He obsessively tries to chase bikes and cars and is very unsettled and uncomfortable around strangers—also elements of the same instincts, only they were handled wrong in the beginning and perhaps also bred wrong (I don’t know enough about his parents but I knew briefly his full sister and she showed many of the same tendencies).
So yeah, there’s a genetic component, but also very much a training and management component. Unfortunately many of the breeds that become labeled as dangerous quickly become targets for unscrupulous breeders and inappropriate owners. I can’t imagine someone taking my male and breeding him to a similarly unstable female and then selling puppies as guard dogs because “they’re so suspicious of strangers”. That would go very wrong very quickly.
All that said, I like pitties a lot and it’s a shame they along with Rotties and all the rest have such a bad reputation. But they’re not for everyone nor for all circumstances, just as any other breed.
And sorry for the complete tangent, so glad OP can bring their dog here and is looking for all the info ahead of time so as to take the best care possible of the dog!