Issue Four Summer 2020

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Basel, Geneva & Chiba Nahant Magazine | 16 By Nancy Koury Dog lovers are everywhere, but perhaps there is a larger concentration of dog lovers in Nahant. With such wonderful natural resources, beautiful places to walk, run, ride bikes, swim or play fetch on the beach, living in Nahant is perfectly suited for dog lovers and their companions. Nahant became home a few years ago. We always admired the beauty, nature and peacefulness of Nahant. Looking for a home in a quiet neighborhood with a yard for gardening and for our dogs, with decent commute to Boston, we happened across our home here. It was perfect for us and our three (3) Greater Swiss Mountain Dogs. Greater Swiss Mountain Dogs (“GSMD”) or Grosser Schweizer Sennenhund, are known as Swissies. Swissies, an ancient mastiff-style breed, were all-purpose farm dogs for dairy farms in the Swiss Alps. Many know their lovely, long-coated cousins, Bernese Mountain Dogs. Classified by AKC as a working breed, Swissies are gentle giants, big boned, powerful dogs. Swissies thrive on training and like a job to do. Males weigh 115 to 140 lbs. Females, naturally smaller, range from 85 to 110 lbs. In the Alps, they worked as draft dogs, pulling the farmer’s wagon full of milk to the market. Swissies were drovers, sentinels, loyal and steady, watching over livestock. Swissies like to work and play hard, but afterward, they’re experts at relaxation. They love to lounge in front of the fireplace, or nap in the sun in the yard. Living in Nahant, we’re lucky to have 3 dogs that love to swim. Not all Swissies love the water. As working dogs, our Swissies have several “jobs”. They perform in AKC events such as Conformation (dog shows); Draft (pull carts or wagons); Agility, Herding (sheep), Canine Good Citizens (CGC) and Scent work (search and rescue skills). One of our Swissies, Chiba, even competes in an AKC 100 yard dash performance event called FastCat. Dog shows are fun competition but also teach dogs socialization skills. Basel, 12 years old and retired, was our first Champion (“CH”) show dog. Chiba is following in his footsteps as a Grand Champion (“GCH”). Her claim to fame, was winning a ribbon for Swissies (BOS) at the Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show in New York City this year. Chiba pours on the charm “working” the sidewalk. She earned all three (3) Canine Good Citizen titles, CGC, CGCA (Advanced/Community) and CGCU (Urban). This requires demonstrating skills such as being greeted by strangers, dogs and walking po-
litely on leash, followed by upping the stakes in more challenging Community and Urban settings. Geneva, 9 years old, also earned this title. Geneva is a sweet soul whose primary “job” is to watch over the kitchen. She’s not much of a worker but makes up for it with her gentle demeanor and “go anywhere” skills. She is enjoying retirement, bird watching and beach walks in Nahant. Chiba earned another fairly unique title for dogs. She’s a true athlete. She was the #2 fastest Swissy in the country for most of 2019, in a 100 yard dash for dogs, called “FastCat”. Dogs are timed as they run a track. The dogs earn points and speed records. If there is running involved, she’s in. Many Nahanters may know our dogs most by their drafting/carting skills. Chiba pulls Basel in a red American Flyer style wagon, as well as hauls leaf bags to the compost. This summer, we look forward to her bringing beach chairs and a picnic basket to doggie beach. Chiba learned to draft from the best! Basel began as a draft dog pulling a two-wheel cart full of puppies (Geneva and litter mates)) at dog shows for fun. As with many big dogs, Basel’s arthritis, makes it tough for him to get around like he used to. Thankfully, he passed his drafting skills to Chiba. Chiba learned by example watching Basel with his wagon here in Nahant. Now she takes Basel all over town in his red wagon. Rides to the beach or the park are like cruising in a convertible. Both absolutely love it. Next time you see Chiba providing Uber-style services to her senior friends, Basel or Geneva, around town, you’ll know how hard she worked to learn this skill and how much it means to her companions to keep exploring Nahant and its beauty & natural resources! 17 | Nahant Magazine
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