Pets in Switzerland

Hello!
I have two dogs: one is swiss, the other, imported from Italy. The procedures were easy: puppies with  less than 3 months don't need rabies shots. It must have the european passport, health certificate and most important: you need to stop at costums (in the airport or, in my case, inside the Saint Bernard tunnel) to have the dog's passport stamped and pay the importation fee (normally around 10% of what you payed, so you need to have the receipt from the breeder).
After, you have 10 days to find a swiss vet, make the registration at AMICUS and register the dog in the city you live!

Bought a dog from a breeder here in Switzerland. First thing people need to remember is dogs need exercise. I'm retired so taking her out during the day was no problem. But there are people that have pets and leave them in the apartments or homes all day long. Alone. No way to get out and do their business. The other thing you need to remember is the size of your pet. If you are in a normal apartment think about how big that puppy is going to be. We have a Berger Blanc Suisse. I would not recommend a dog this size for a small place. Think ahead!
Don't know if this is normal for all of the country but here in Lausanne people seem nervous around large dogs. Ours is very friendly. Loves attention. But people seem to shy away from her, even to the point of pulling their children closer to them. It's weird.

Some people have extreme fear of large dogs. It is a sort of phobia. So animal that you perceive as cuddly and friendly pet looked upon by some people as potential threat to their life. My wife has extreme fear of dogs, she would not accompany me into the friends house if the dog is there.

P.S. Also some of us are cat-people....