At Ivory Arch, we strive to produce happy, healthy, FCI standard dogs for your home. Our mission is to help educate on the importance of ethical breeding, the history and general information of this breed, and what our program entails. We strive to raise even temperaments in dogs that are versatile in conformation, service and therapy work, and working environments.
Our Mission
The History of the White Swiss Shepherd
The White Swiss Shepherd originated in Germany's Thuringian region as a precursor to the well-known German Shepherd. Its body type was instrumental in the creation of the German Shepherd breed. However, for almost a century, there was no differentiation between the two breeds until the 1930s, when the white-colored dog was excluded from shepherd breeding, nearly leading to its extinction.
Nonetheless, by the 1960s, the White Shepherd made a resurgence, and it was distinguished as a separate breed in the U.S. and Canada. In the early 1970s, some of these dogs were sent to Switzerland, where they flourished and multiplied. The Swiss Stud Book officially recognized the new White Swiss Shepherd breed in 1991, and in 1999, the UKC also acknowledged the breed.
Is the White Swiss Shepherd for you?
White Swiss Shepherds are an extremely sensitive breed. They can become noisy, destructive, and hyperactive if they are under-exercised or bored, and they can also become fearful, reactive and aggressive if they have not been properly socialized or have had a bad experience with an aggressive/reactive dog. Therefore, owners must provide plenty of exercise, stimulation, training, and socialization to maintain both their own and their dog's sanity. The breed's thick white coat requires regular grooming and sheds heavily, leaving a trail of hair around the home. You won’t be wearing leggings or black clothes without their hair sticking out like a sore thumb!
Now that you’ve heard the bad and the ugly of this breed, here is the good: White Swiss Shepherds are extremely smart and easy to train. When properly socialized, they get along well with other people, children, and animals. These dogs are exceptionally versatile and loyal. They are known for having a more mellow personality in contrast to the German Shepherd Dog although with every conformation and family focused breeder, there will always be a working focused breeder. The difference is the drives of the parent dogs. So when choosing your puppy, make sure you are researching your own personal needs whether that is a low-drive family pet, or a high-drive working companion!
There will always be pros and cons when choosing a dog breed to be your lifetime companion, working service or therapy animal, or protection and sport prospect. I encourage everyone that asks me about this breed to do their research and make sure that this is the dog that you want. At Ivory Arch, we focus on even temperaments and conformation. The benefit of this is that we can produce family pets, conformation companions, or therapy and service dogs. As we gain more information about our dogs and their personalities, we can then decipher what jobs our puppies would then be able to do and what homes they would work best in.
If you are looking for a higher drive White Swiss Shepherd, I would be happy to recommend you to other breeders who focus on sports, biting, protection, and agility!
Health Testing
Every disease listed along with Embark genetics will be tested on each of our dogs. All results will be made public on their pages.
At Ivory Arch, we do not consider a dog for breeding until all health testing is done and the dog has passed with flying colors. Whether or not the dog has an exceptional personality or excels in sporting and showing, if he/she has any genetic mutations, they will not breed to prevent passing those to future puppies. This is to ensure that you receive a dog that will be healthy throughout their life.
The White Swiss Shepherd Club of America (WSSCA) has set our CHIC (Canine Health Information Center) requirements to include testing for hips, elbows, cardiac, thyroid, eyes, and DNA testing for MDR1, DM, CEA, pituitary dwarfism, allergies, and sensitivities. We will also be testing dentition even though it is not required. All health testing done on our dogs will be made public on our website and through the OFA’s website.
In our breeding program, we will be testing for all genetic diseases according to the CHIC guidelines along with a full DNA panel provided by Embark and Wisdom Panel. We are also aware of the lack of genetic diversity in the States and have done countless hours of research on pedigrees to help combat the rising inbreeding coefficient. At the moment, the White Swiss Shepherd’s average COI is at 27% and our goal is to help lower that percentage. Along with temperament, we greatly prioritize the health of our dogs and the dogs we produce.
There is nothing more important to us than the health and preservation of this beautiful breed. For more information on what those diseases are and how they can affect the dog, please enjoy the links I have provided below.
Temperament
When showing a dog, the temperament of him/her could make or break titling. If the dog is aggressive, shy, anxious, or lethargic they could be disqualified. That is why positive training and socialization are so important in raising a dog, especially for show standards. This is equally important in the home! Any dog can have unattractive qualities if it hasn’t been given the right opportunities. In order to combat the negative traits that any dog could have, we train daily with basic obedience, properly socialize our dogs in busy areas but not above their thresholds, and give them the mental and physical stimulation they need.
White Swiss Shepherds have a general temperament of versatile, alert, lively, and friendly. As long as they are properly socialized and trained, you will have a loyal family companion that gets along well with other people and animals. Our ideal White Swiss Shepherd temperament is a low-medium drive, intelligent, friendly, and engaging. The WSS is a shepherd so they have a strong herding instinct. This means they can be protective and have a high prey drive along with extreme loyalty. As this is the general description of their personalities, meeting one in person can differ your opinion. I have met some White Swiss Shepherds that were aggressive and reactive, and some that are the sweetest and most loving dogs. I know I’m repeating myself, but the importance of training and proper socialization is crucial to any dog’s temperament.
The White Swiss Shepherd can be trained for sports, agility, showing, therapy, police work, tracking, herding, you name it. This is a working breed that can also be a wonderful family pet, hence the personality trait; versatile. At Ivory Arch, we are more than happy to accommodate if you’d like to meet the parents of your puppies.
About Me
I was raised in Utah but born in Hawaii (fair trade, right?) and to be honest, now that I live here, I don’t think I can live anywhere without mountains. Any free time that I have is spent with my wonderful dogs or curling up on the couch with a glass of wine and a good book. I also play the guitar and occasionally make music along with art and writing. On more busy days, we like to go climbing, hiking, camping, or really anything that I can bring my dogs to!
The reason I started this breeding program is because of my dog, Juniper. When I was 16, I begged my parents for three years to let me get a puppy. Finally, they allowed me to get one and I found her online from a backyard breeder. I was 16 and was not aware of what I was doing so please forgive me. Anyways, she is a white German Shepherd/Australian Shepherd mix and is wicked smart. Juniper became my reason. At the time, I was struggling with mental health and she brought me out of it.
I had people ask me all the time what kind of dog is she, how can they get one, etc. and I knew that I wanted to be able to produce dogs like her someday, just the ethical way. After researching, I came upon the White Swiss Shepherd, which have all the characteristics I was looking for. After about 6 or so years of becoming familiar with the breed, meeting with people who own these dogs, and researching pedigrees, I was finally able to have my first WSS, Callie. I love these dogs, I love taking care of them, I love training, and I love that my life revolves around them and I wouldn’t trade it for the world.
