The Balihara Ranch kennel has been under scrutiny for its questionable practices. A deeper analysis of the kennel’s operations reveals a disturbing reality that goes beyond what is presented on its website.

The Hidden Numbers

According to the Slovak Swiss Mountain Dog Club, Balihara Ranch has owned 161 adult Swiss Mountain Dogs. This number does not include other breeds it has bred or kept. Also, QAISER van’t Stokerybos is not even listed in the club’s records, so realistically, there may be many more dogs that Balihara Ranch has owned so far.

On its website, Balihara Ranch lists about 60 dogs in total. This is approximately 100 dogs less than it has actually owned so far. The discrepancy raises questions about the transparency of Balihara Ranch’s operations. It appears that the owner of Balihara Ranch purposely conceals over 100 Swiss Mountain Dogs from its website, possibly to avoid the impression of running a large-scale dog factory with probably huge tax evasion in addition to the suffering of the dogs. Not to mention the concealment of the breeding of other breeds that the owner of Balihara Ranch is involved in. Terriers, for example.

Breed Statistics

Balihara Ranch’s Swiss Mountain Dogs owned so far are divided into four breeds:

• Appenzeller Mountain Dogs: 17 dogs (5 males and 12 females)
• Entlebucher Mountain Dogs: 37 dogs (7 males and 30 females)
• Bernese Mountain Dogs: 45 dogs (8 males and 37 females)
• Greater Swiss Mountain Dogs: 62 dogs (14 males and 48 females)

Growth Over Time

Thirty dogs owned by Balihara Ranch do not have noted their date of birth on the Slovak Swiss Mountain Dog Club website; we found that these are the oldest dogs in Balihara Ranch.

Balihara Ranch’s most significant growth was recorded from 2007 when Balihara Ranch bred 126 puppies of Swiss Mountain Dogs that year. We will analyze the litters in a future post. From 2007 to 2022 (the year 2022 is still incomplete – dogs may appear on the breeding evaluation in 2024 and later), Balihara Ranch has adopted or kept from its litters a total of 110 dogs (87 females), which means that its breeding grows on average by almost 7 dogs per year. The most with a birth date of 2021 – namely 12 dogs (10 of which are females). This means that we can expect even more puppies to be bred at Balihara Ranch than before.

Breeding Focus

The Greater Swiss Mountain Dogs, which Balihara Ranch has kept/acquired since 2007, are the main focus for Balihara Ranch, with a total of 43 (33 females). This is followed by Bernese Mountain Dogs – 29 (24 females) and Entlebucher Mountain Dogs – 29 (23 females). Appenzellers – 9 (7 females) – are the least of its interest. Especially in the last years, Balihara Ranch has kept Entlebuchers, so we can expect an increased production of these puppies.

Lifespan and Breeding Practices

The average lifespan of the four breeds of Swiss Mountain Dogs varies. Bernese Mountain Dogs live the shortest, around 8 years, while the Greater Swiss Mountain Dogs live over 10 years, and Entlebucher and Appenzeller live 12-14 years. If Balihara Ranch’s dogs live to at least the average age, it should routinely have over 70 dogs in its backyard.

Conclusion

These numbers, unimaginable to a normal person, show that Balihara Ranch kennel is a factory with a huge number of dogs to produce a huge number of puppies. Dogs are obviously only a means to breed. They are only an investment that must be returned by breeding without restraint. However, it is striking that many kennels are willing to sell their puppies to this factory. This raises serious ethical concerns about the welfare of the dogs and the integrity of the breeding industry. The question remains: what happens to the dogs at Balihara Ranch after the breeding season is over? This is a question that demands an answer, for the sake of the dogs and for the integrity of the breeding industry.