How we decided to have a dog
It was the beginning of 2017, when we started considering having a dog. We’re a family with 3 children and we live in a house near a forest, which offers many options to spend free time. Our children have always wanted a dog, but they never insisted, because they knew, that I – the mom – am allergic to dogs (eczema.) However, I’ve always loved dogs. I’ve had several dogs in my childhood, but my parents had to put the last one (the best one) up for adoption, because of my worsening allergy. So I closed this topic within myself and I came to terms with the fact I’d never have a dog. But my desire to have a dog was stronger than anything. It grew stronger over the years and the allergy slowly declined.
Eventually, the time came…
Back then, our youngest son was 4 years old and we also had a 10-years-old British tomcat and a bunny. Therefore, we started looking for a dog breed that gets along well with little children and cats. The best result we found were shepherd dogs, which naturally guard, protect, and love their flock (of sheep, when they’re actually used as shepherd dogs, but in our case, the ‘flock’ was our family + the tomcat.) I contacted two breeding stations, one of which had 2 puppies, one already taken. There was no time to hesitate, they only gave me 2 days to decide. The toughest nut to crack was to convince the head of the family – my husband, who always takes an extremely responsible approach to making decisions. He was absolutely adamant at first, even the kids tried to convince him with no success. It took 48 hours to convince him and there was crying involved. When he finally agreed, we got into our car and of we went to Mrs. Anetta Belovičová’s “Spod Hrádze” breeding station, where we got the most amazing dog ever.
Why Appenzeller?
As I already mentioned, Appenzeller shepherd dogs (amongst their other great qualities) like little children and they are friendly towards pets, which, in our case, came out to be 100% true. Xenya loves our kids and also takes cares of our cats. At first, she wanted to play with our tomcat Kingo, but he pretty much ignored her and didn’t return her passion. He’s elderly and noble. Despite that, Xenya takes care of him, opens the door for him – she can open every door in the house. She’s very respectful towards him, especially when Kingo gets his food. She doesn’t even come near his bowl; she only watches him eat from afar. Kingo was the first animal “master of the house” and it stayed that way. In 2019, an ordinary cat – Ciba – joined us. We found her on a playground. Ciba is more playful than Kingo and more affectionate towards Xenya, so they’re friends. They usually lie next to each other peacefully and they also cuddle a lot. As, you can see, Appenzellers are very affectionate, loving, and friendly.
PERSONALITY TRAITS
When Xenya was little, I met an experienced Appenzeller owner and he told me: “Well, you know, there are dogs and there are Appenzellers.” Back then, I didn’t know what that meant. I thought that you had to take care of a dog, watch over him – it’s a lot of work. Later I realized, that when it comes to Appenzellers, it’s the other way around. It seems we’re Xenya’s sheep. A little flock she has to protect. It’s her mission. It’s in her blood, in her genes. And she fulfills this mission to the maximum. We experienced various events that made me realize she would sacrifice her life for this ‘mission.’
“Well, you know, there are dogs and there are Appenzellers.”
200% Devotion and our stories
When Xenya was 1 year old, we visited a bit more distant neighbors that live a few streets away. Xenya apparently heard (and possibly also saw) us from afar. She was at home, locked in our garden, which is surrounded by walls and fences. To this day, we don’t know how she got through our and the neighbors’ fences to then go across 2 streets to the place we were visiting. Their estate is surrounded by fences, high walls, and the forest. Suddenly, someone started banging on the door. Nobody believed it could be Xenya. She fulfilled her mission. She was trembling with excitement; happy she found her sheep. As if there was a life at stake. She’s used to somebody, one person at least, being home at all times (me and my husband work from home.) One day, when I left her outside a supermarket for a few minutes to wait for me there, I finally realized. Po pár zážitkoch, kedy som ju len chvíľu nechala čakať na mňa pred obchodom s najmladším synom, som to už definitívne pochopila.
She watches over us, not the other way around.
We just take care of her. Several times, she pulled my son into the store, with leash and all, ran into the store, and galloped between the shelves, happy she had found me. She’s done this in two supermarkets and an a pharmacy. This isn’t a problem anymore – we don’t go shopping with Xenya anymore.
And when it comes to my husband, who didn’t even want to hear about having a dog at first, Xenya won his whole heart.
Protecting and guarding the members of her family is her personal life mission, which she has embedded in her DNA.
She doesn’t like when we go somewhere together and then we split. Her job is to keep the family (her flock of sheep) together. She also has rescue dog traits. When she first saw our son do a backflip into water, she sprinted towards the water and started pounding the surface of the water with her paws. She kept loudly barking the whole time and started jumping on my husband as if she was trying to tell him: “You’re seriously just going to let him do this?” It took some time until she understood our son’s an athlete and doing backflips is his bread and butter. She doesn’t like dangerous situations, especially those involving children, whom she loves to watch. Another one of the many stories we have with Xenya was when my youngest son was playing in the park with an unknown boy around his age and Xenya was near them. After a while, the boy’s dad came to pick him up, but Xenya didn’t let him to his own son. From her point of view, it was just a big unknown man, that wants to take a child, so her guarding instincts kicked in and she barked persistently at him, until I explained it to her (and the boy’s dad.) She has never bit anyone, though. She always only barks – to alert us. She is not aggressive towards people. We’ve tried this a few times at the training center – when she gets scared by a stranger, she barks, but doesn’t attack. She prefers to back down. She was raised with love from the very beginning.
Appenzeller is a devoted companion and guardian in the woods as well. When we first started to run in the woods, to my surprise, Xenya didn’t run away. Not once. She doesn’t have any hunting tendencies. Quite the opposite, she always runs right behind me, so close, I sometimes hit her with my heel accidentally. So, be it in a forest or at home, we don’t have to worry about anything when she’s with us.
She likes both male and female dogs
Me and Xenya have been going running to the forest in the mornings with a friend of mine and her dog Ushuaya for 2 years now. It’s our daily ritual. I don’t remember a single morning those two dogs wouldn’t be excited to see each other. They usually sprint and run around in big circles. Ushuaya is Xenya’s best dog friend, she’s a Hovawart. That’s why I always smile when I see other people holding their dogs on a leash so they wouldn’t come close to Xenya. She’s very friendly. In the evenings, my husband usually takes Xenya to a meadow that’s very popular among dog owners. She loves it there, she has her regular dog friends there`they play together, chase each other, play fetch, etc. It’s very important to take an Appenzeller out among other dogs from early age, so he can socialize. It’s really good to go to a training center, where the dog will learn a lot, including discipline. We haven’t neglected it and we see excellent results.
Welcomes
That honest, pure love and the explosion of joy is unreal. An amazing, emotional moment full of positive energy.
It’s one of the many beautiful moments we experience only thanks to her. When you leave, for only an hour let’s say, for her, it’s an eternity. She doesn’t see a difference between you being away for 2 days or 20 minutes. She always waits on the stairs next to the main gate. She welcomes us by howling and twisting and curling, like a snake almost. We call it Xenya’s opera arias. We even recorded a few of them. Sometimes when I’m returning home from the supermarket, I have to literally sneak into the house, because Xenya would tackle me out of joy if she noticed me. It’s a good feeling when someone’s so excited to see you when you get home. I thought it would moderate with age. But our bond grows over the years and the welcomes get more emotional. Xenya’s ability to enjoy people’s presence and her heartiness are almost nondepletable. She inherited these traits from her mother Gigi.
The perfect guardian
When you have an Appenzeller, there’s no chance an unknown person or a visitor gets even near your house without you knowing about it. An Appenzeller cannot be bribed and his guarding abilities are priceless. This dog will notice every sound and every bit of movement.
During the day, Xenya is mostly inside the house, because she wants to be with us. But at night, she knows, we’re asleep, so she takes her strategic position in the winter garden, so she can see both inside the house and outside, the garden. Sometimes, she sleeps in the shed. She can open the door by herself. She always barks at strangers. The only people she doesn’t bark at are our those that are close to us – grandparents and close friends. She can’t be bribed. When she doesn’t like someone, food and treats won’t help.
No need to worry in your own house anymore.
You sleep safely, without fear about your safety and your property.
She doesn’t trust strangers even outside the house. Especially men – the bigger they are, the more distrustful she is. She doesn’t like when people hide their faces (hats, sunglasses, etc.). She will also get more alert when someone has a different, eccentric walk or a cane. She’s very perceptible. She’s always vigilant when we’re in an unknown environment. She guards us, no matter if we’re at home or not. Even in the forest, when we’re having a barbecue on a campfire, she guards the nearby territory. She’s not the kind of dog that will run away to whomever calls her by her name. She always has to thoroughly examine him and “verify” him. Only then she opens her heart and can be (more than) friendly. However, small children are an exception. She doesn’t see them as a possible threat, so she is friendly to them right away. She loves toddlers. When I don’t stop her in time, she usually even licks their face. She knows they’re harmless, and they probably smell nice to her.
Intelligence, activities, sports and games
Our Xenya is nearly addicted to physical activity and games. She’s excellent at fetch, both on the land and in the water. She can run and jump after a ball for longer than we can keep throwing it. She can pull massive thick branches out of water. She’s great at swimming, even in the winter. She has exceptional endurance in the water, she can keep swimming with us for exceedingly long without a break. She also likes to swim in the sea in Hvar, Croatia, where we go in the summer. When she had a harness, she was able swim and pull our youngest son with her, he had inflatable armbands of course. People wondered how a dog is able to swim with a child like that. Xenya loves going to the training center. She likes the balance beam, king of the hill, jumping over the obstacles, etc. She obediently executes the orders; she doesn’t mind the other dogs. We have been attending the training center since she was little and the most important of all, we have a brilliant trainer.
Endurance and tenacity
Appenzellers have a huge physical potential. Xenya can develop tremendous force with her jaws, when she doesn’t want to let go of a stick or a toy. Simply enough, she won’t let go. She can even stay hanging in the air by her teeth. Her endurance is almost nondepletable. If you think an Appenzeller will get tired after a 20-minute run, you’re wrong. That’s one of the things that’s beneficial for both you and your dog. It will get you to move more regularly. It’s nice running through a forest with Xenya and watch the beautiful nature change every day.
Xenya makes us healthier and she’s a good time manager...
In addition to our work and responsibilities, which there’s a lot of, we’re forced to go outside and do something positive for both us and the dog. The more work we have, the more effectively we manage our time. We don’t do unnecessary things anymore.
Resistance towards illnesses and "low-maintenance"
Xenya was never sick. Not once. Nowadays, when dogs “inherit” human diseases (such as obesity) we greatly appreciate it. That is certainly also due to the good lifestyle – running in the forest – and healthy BARF food. Another thing is, this breed usually doesn’t have any hereditary disease, except dysplasia. We don’t have to take care about Xenya’s coat. It’s beautiful, dense, and shiny. Her good health is definitely showing on the outside. We don’t even have to brush her coat, only in the season when she sheds. Her dense coat makes her resistant to cold, she can stay outside even when it’s freezing.
