‘We will give our all and make up for her sad first 6 years and give her all the joy and love she deserves.’: Dedicated Swiss family saves skittish dog abandoned by her owner after a house move, investing time and training to rehabilitate the hurt doggo

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Laurent Shinar • Writer and Editor
Nov 21, 2025 2:00 PM EST

Doggo adoption stories are about as varied as they come. Namely because of our hooman history of breeding them for different purposes. You have large dogs that were used to defend homes and loved ones, you have nimble medium-sized pups who were born to chase live stock and make sure they behave themselves. And you even have small dogs used to chase after animals that are being hunted. And while today, we might ignore these historic purposes and decide that we want a dog solely based off what we like about them and their pawsonalities, the truth is that there is likely some subconscious thought that is going on in there which causes us to choose a breed based somewhat on their original purposes.

And we mention all this because the hooman who wanted to adopt a dog in this story did so with a very balanced view that they wanted a pupper for protection, but also a pupper who would be comfortable cuddling and caring about the family it would become a part of. Which, you know what, is not all that bad at all.

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  • 01
    So me and my family are thinking about a dog for a long time now and i did a lot of research about what dog could be a fit. I always would have wanted like a wild wolf who chose to
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    stay with me and then left again, came back again etc, just because they I wanted to not because they had to. I dont want or need a super obedient dog who follows every command to a
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    t and acts like a tool. I want a dog who has a bit of their own mind but is controllable (comes back if i call them, does some basic stuff when its needed).
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  • Well, this is certainly an interesting point of view. We often forget in our modern times that doggos, while cuddly and craving love, have also been used for protection and many other kinds of jobs around the house for centuries. And while it might not be all too encouraged to adopt a dog nowadays solely to make them work, it is nice to see this man wanting more than just a home protector.

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    I want a dog that is extremely loyal and will protect my family no matter what but isnt as high alert and ready to go all the time like a german shepherd or even a malinois.
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    At the same time it should be intelligent enough also emotionally to understand real danger from just a chaotic situation. The perfect dog character wise would be a cross breed between doberman
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    and the great swiss mountain dog. calm but protective, loyal, intelligent, isnt a circus artist and knows when a command is necessary and when it isnt (i would leave him a lot of leeway and only have a
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    PERDOG
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    strict line for things that really matter to me), i would do everything for the dog and would expect the same in return. theres almost always someone at home and we live in rural switzerland. we like to do a lot of mountain hiking. our
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    kids are both boys and around 12 years of age. optic wise it would be mastif, husky and malinois. so on this regard it is as if i imagined it exactly like this, i was totally blown away.
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    I never came across this breed and almost gave up because the perfect dog who checks all the boxes didnt seem to exist. then today my wife got a message from a friend that they had a 6 year old
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    female AA whos owner fled the country and left the dog back behind at a neighbor (who also owns a much smaller dog). we havent met the dog and havent talked to the neighbor or vet
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  • When in doubt, you can always trust in the doggo distribution system to point you in the right direction. And what better direction is there than to take on a poor pupper who has been abandoned by their fleeing owner. Goodness gracious, who flees anymore in this day and age?

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    about it yet. from what i have read so far, it seems like a mix of extremes character wise, which is very appealing to me, it mirrors myself in many regards.
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    am i delusional? is there anything i should look out for? are there any red flags from what i I have said so far? we plan to visit the dog a couple of times, talk to the vet who knows the dog and invest in some
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    local dog training. we had a jack russel terrier before our children but otherwise no dog experience in our current family configuration.
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    Long story short: We have a dog <3 Its our first dog. However, we prepared plenty for it and i do have 4 years of experience with a very (!) problematic GSD mix of an ex gf.
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    Cheezburger Image 10577940992
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    We visited her multiple times and introduced her to our home to see how it goes and also how she reacts to our cat. Through the whole process i involved a dog trainer whos also an american
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    akita owner. I wanted to make sure that he checks my attitude, expectation and how i, my family and the dog matches, how she reacts to me during walks and interactions.
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    For us the most important thing was the dogs wellbeing, so if he saw red flags of any sort or they found a better fit we would have stepped back immediately. Initially he wasnt a fan at all but eventually he gave
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    green light and is happy for the dog. Couldnt be more excited. I know it will be a demanding journey
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    but we are more then willed to give our all and make up for her sad first 6 years and give her all the joy and love she deserves.
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Sad dogs Switzerland deserves Joy house abandoned dog owner reddit story save years dedication love training family dog story make up give rehabilitation
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