Dog owner obligations in Zürich
Let’s talk about it all: obligatory dog training courses, dog tax, rules. The regulations for dog owners are set on the cantonal basis. This article is about dogs and dog owners lining in the Canton of Zürich.
Dog registration
Any dog owner needs to register their dog in AMICUS and visit a veterinarian within 10 days from their arrival. More about it — here. Once it’s done, you will receive a letter from the Veterinary office of Zürich asking you to pay the dog tax and informing about training courses you may have to complete.
Dog tax
Your Gemeinde (local authority) sets an amount each dog owner has to pay for their dog yearly. For the Canton of Zürich, this amount varies between CHF 70 and 200, according to the Cantonal Dog Regulations (Kantonales Hundegesetz).You will receive your payment slip yearly delivered by post.
Dog training
In the Canton of Zürich, dog training is only obligatory only to the dogs who are supposed to become higher than 44 cm and / or heavier than 15 kg when they’ve grown up. If your dog is a mixed breed, your vet will determine its size. In case your dog is smaller, there are no obligations to do any training.
Your dog has to complete obligatory training. What exactly do you need to do?
It all depends on the age when your dog has moved in:
Before 16 weeks old: Puppy training (4 lessons) + Young dog training (10 lessons)*
Between 16 weeks old and (including) 18 months old: Young dog training (10 lessons) + Adult dog training (10 lessons)
Between 19 months old and (including) 8 years old: Adult dog training (20 lessons)
9 years old and more: No courses required
*If you’ve missed puppy training, you follow the guie for the next age group.
BoopCamp dog school is certified to lead all of those obligatory training courses.
Rules for dog owners
The most important ones:
Dogs are not allowed to enter school premises.
Dogs are not allowed to enter officially marked sport playgrounds.
Dogs are not allowed to enter cemeteries.
Dogs have to be kept on leash in forests and on a 50 meters distance from forests between the 1st of April und the 31st of July.
In park and forest areas dogs may be kept off leash unless there is a sign setting the leash obligation. When off leash, your dog has to be not causing any discomfort to others, and you have to be able to recall or restrict them at any moment.
More details may be found on a page of the Veterinary Office of the Canton of Zürich here.
