Choosing Your Breed

Ultimately you need to decide what breed best fits your families/your lifestyle! 

We went for a German Shepherd due to the ease of trainability for Nox.

For our New Service Dog we're going with a Swiss Shepherd for the gentle nature.

🐕 Top Breeds for Psychiatric or Medical Service Work (Based on Your Needs)

1. Standard Poodle

• 🧠 Highly intelligent and eager to please

• 💡 Low shedding/hypoallergenic

• 🐾 Great with cats when socialized early

• ✅ Excels in public access and task work

• ⚠️ Needs regular grooming

2. Labrador Retriever

• 💕 Friendly, reliable, people-oriented

• 🐶 Great for DPT, alerts, and retrieval tasks

• 🐾 Usually good with cats

• ⚠️ Moderate shedding

3. Golden Retriever

• 🌟 Gentle, empathetic, and highly trainable

• 🤝 Excellent for PSD work (emotional awareness)

• 🐾 Generally good with cats

• ⚠️ Sheds heavily

4. German Shepherd

• 🔐 Protective, intelligent, loyal

• 💪 Good for mobility and psychiatric alert

• 🐾 Can live with cats if trained young

• ⚠️ Heavy shedding and needs structured leadership

5. Doberman Pinscher

• 💼 Highly focused and loyal

• 🔕 Low-shedding short coat

• 🐾 Can be good with cats if socialized early

• ⚠️ Needs consistent leadership and exercise

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✨ Bonus: Mixed Breeds with Service Potential

• Goldendoodles or Labradoodles – Hypoallergenic + social + smart

• Shepadoodles – GSD + Poodle mix = smart, loyal, lower shedding

International Options - GSD 

⚖️ Quick Comparison

Trait	White GSD	White Swiss Shepherd
Protectiveness	High	Moderate
Sociability with Strangers	Low–Medium	Medium–High
Sensitivity	Medium	High
Confidence	High	Moderate
Energy Level	High	Moderate
Bark Tendency	Higher	Lower
Ideal Role	Working dog, protection	PSD, companion