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Mattie and her people (often referred to as her staff!), welcome you to Black Velvet Greater Swiss Mountain Dogs.

We are an experienced “all about dogs” home, both personally and professionally.  Mac is a dog trainer, and Gaby is a veterinarian and long time breeder of Newfoundland Dogs.  At the moment, we share our home with one Greater Swiss Mountain Dog, two Newfoundland Dogs, and any number of canine students and guests.

This site is dedicated to our Swiss Mountain Dog breeding program, as more than a decade long dream begins to unfold for the first time.

Within these pages we hope you will enjoy learning about the Greater Swiss Mountain Dog, and come away with a sense of who we are as passionate educators, breeders and lovers of the Swissy.

For information on our Newfoundland Dog breeding program, please visit www.facebook.com/saltydognewfoundlands.

For information on our puppy socialization and training program in San Francisco, please visit OutdoorEducationSF.

 

News

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Expecting Puppies!

We are pleased with the wonderful news that Mattie appears to be carrying some puppies!!! Her Ultra Sound yesterday revealed a potential four puppies.  We are thrilled of course but remain reserved because we know that anything can happen with canine pregnancy and puppies. We have all paws crossed that everyone will survive and thrive. …

Continue reading “Expecting Puppies!”

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Waiting for US

The time is slooooowly winding down towards May 8th, when we will finally have Mattie’s ultra sound and an indication of whether or not we have hopes of a litter. If results are positive, we can expect a birth date around June 8th. If birthing and rearing go well, puppies would be ready for new …

Continue reading “Waiting for US”

About

Our Beginnings

Velvet was my first Greater Swiss Mountain Dog, age 3 when she came to me.  Her first name had been Manon, but an intuitive 8 year old girl in her second home renamed her Velvet, perfect for her in every way.  Velvet was the dog love of my life, and because of her, I finally heeded my calling.

Velvet needed some help with fearfulness and learning to accept strangers, among other things.  We hiked, camped, played, and trained together – agility, herding, obedience, and draft, at every opportunity.  Before long, work felt like a distraction to our time together!  So, I decided to make training my full time occupation. Continue reading “About”

The Swissy

The Greater Swiss Mountain Dog is a truly magnificent animal.  A capable and confident working dog, in the right circumstances, a Swissy can also make wonderful companion and family pet.

With their people, they are loyal, affectionate and fun.  At home, they want to be on something soft, and usually, the closer to you the better!   After sufficient exercise and stimulation, they make fantastic couch buddies for a movie, and are quite happy to warm your bed with you at night if it suits your lifestyle.

Swissys have a well deserved reputation for being good with children, and bond strongly with their family members and frequent, familiar visitors. Continue reading “The Swissy”

Contact

We would love to hear from you if you are interested in learning more about this stunning breed or our responsible breeding program.

Please PHONE us!  With our hands almost always on dogs, our availability for lengthy emails is extremely limited and it is unlikely you will get the timely and detailed response you absolutely deserve.

415.939.3647

We look forward to hearing from you and hope you have enjoyed the information and references on our site.