Whilst visiting friends in the USA in the 90s, on a very cold deep snowy day I saw and fell in love with my first Swissy. He was lovely, pulling kids along on a little sledge. At that point I wasn't even sure what he was - I knew he was a Swiss of some description but that was all!

 

When I got back to the UK I did lots of research on the breed.  We did not have Pets Passport when I first started researching and no way would bring a dog in and put it through quarantine.  I had already learned a lot and gained years of experience in showing, training, breeding my Rottwielers - my mentors in the breed - Pat Bryant of Panelma Rotts and Violet Slade of Potterspride were excellent and taught me well.

 

In 2001 I got married and started a family. Then divorced due to years of Domestic Violence and Emotional Abuse.  We live in Wiltshire on the edge of the glorious Cotswolds, plenty of lovely walks and places to visit.  We imported our first Great (or Greater in the USA) Swiss Mountain Dog home in 2005. We had to wait back then til he was 10 months old to drive over and collect him from Switzerland and his breeder Margrit Burri of the v.d. Dorfquelle kennel.  We then imported Belle from Cathy Cooper of the famous Shadetree GSMDs in Virginia USA and she arrived in March 2008. She settled in bossing poor Luca about!

 

 

Every amount of care and attention is given to our dogs and our litters. They live as part of our family first and foremost.  The litters are born and raised in the family home not outside.  It takes time, patience, lack of sleep, not eating every meal, nerves of steel sometimes, but the rewards are endless.

 

I do x rays for HD ED and OCD (the only ones doing OCD) and send these abroad for assessing as I do not use the BVA in the UK for some time now.  They were always taking up to 8 weeks to send results back and they increased their prices yearly and there are lots of owners who have submitted their BVA results abroad and gotten excellent results but the BVA only accepts their first result.  I use the BVA/KC Eye Test scheme but that is instant with the Specialists who give us the result sheets to take home.

 

Anyone searching for a quality Swissy in the UK need look no further than Swisshaven. I am the only small club and hobby breeder in the UK in over 15 yrs where dogs have, thus far, not developed and died from Epilepsy and Bloat. Outside of this the die from both diseases before 2 and 3 yrs old.  The parents are health screened and have excellent temperaments. Our litters are raised in my home around my children, cats and other dogs and have the best start for a balanced life. They leave with a comprehensive puppy pack, insurance, contract, registration, lifetime support and advice, food (raw diet), goodie bag, 5 generation pedigree, micro chipped, vet checked, eye tested by Specialists, P2Y12 swab tested and Puppy Aptitude Tested by independent, qualified Assessors.

 

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For more information on how your puppy will spend the first important weeks of their life - go to Our Puppies