Our dog died about 2.5 years ago. I didn’t think I’d ever want one again because now the kids are out of the house it gives us more freedom to travel. But I kept thinking more and more that I missed having a dog around. So I started researching breeds and it came down to two very different dogs - a cavalier and a bernese. Hubby isn’t that in love with small dogs. We have big cats - maine coons. We also live on 4 acres on the water so we have plenty of space. Once we decided I looked up the akc website for breeders and crazy enough there is a breeder 10 miles from me. So we went over, she interviewed us and she really ran a nice professional operation and loved those dogs. My goodness wouldn’t that be sweet to have puppies around all the time? We brought my daughter over last night and had a big love fest. Now we have to wait until New Years.
I’ve been watching Doggy Dan tutorials. I’m nothing if not all in when I decide to do something. I have invisible fence coming today. We also had 2 cat doors installed for the kitties to get to their litter and into our bedroom without the dog. We also changed where they eat.
I work from home mostly so I can be here all the time. So any tips for someone who hasn’t had a puppy for a long, long time? We do want to crate train her and we do have baby gates ready to block off one room while she gets housebroken.
Bernese are adorable puppies but I hope you saw an adult one to know how big they get! I have a friend who has had Bernese for probably the past 30 years. Get some good grooming tools. You’ll need to keep them brushed well, especially in shedding season. Be sure you have a good vacuum! Enjoy the pup. They are friendly dogs with a lovely temperament.
Lovely breed! Get an undercoat rake. Accustom him or her to being groomed and having their nails clipped from an early age. (Not right away, of course!) I agree with @doschicos , except I’ve never done the bell on the door thing for housebreaking. I have heard tales of dogs that incessantly ring the bell just because they want to go out for recreation. They train their humans well!
I use crate training with puppies, but I like to have them sleep in my bedroom. Since I don’t want to have two crates, I’ve tethered them to the radiator in the bedroom on a lead a few feet long at night. They can sleep on the dog bed, and move around, but not roam the room, and in terms of housebreaking it has had the same effect as a crate IME. But then I have big old-fashioned steam radiators and the one in the bedroom is usually turned off. Puppies are lonely at night when separated from their pack. It kills me when they howl. The more bonded to you, the better.
The last dog I had from a puppy I was able to train to do all of the basics–sit, stay, come, down, heel off and on lead–with both vocal commands and hand signals by the time he was 6 months old. He would heel in figure eights and all that stuff. It’s easy if you just do a little now and then during the day.
If you can find a nice dog park, it’s a good place to socialize them with other dogs after they have all their shots.
Take a look at the picture of my dog, she’s a tri colored cavalier with the colorings of a bernese. Every now and then when someone asks what kind of a dog she is, we say she’s a miniature Bernese Mountain dog (she’s 22 pounds). Hopefully they have a sense of humor…
“I have heard tales of dogs that incessantly ring the bell just because they want to go out for recreation. They train their humans well!”
That can be an issue. We trained ours to pee on command as well, important when you live in a place that is super cold in winter. If the dog didn’t do it’s business quickly, we just brought her back in, sending the message the bell was for potty and not for play. I just didn’t want the door all scratched up like you see in many houses of dog owners.
My best friend in high school had to Bernese Mountain Dogs. They were very sweet. My parents considered getting one, but the breeder wouldn’t let them because they said all their hardwood floors would be bad for their hips.
I don’t know if I would get a dog with a short lifespan. It’s too heartbreaking to go through. But then again, I don’t know if I can bring myself to get another dog again anyways.
Maybe our neighbor’s Bernese is the exception? They have tried SO hard with him, but he is still out of control. I see them walking him every day. Whenever a car drives by, he goes NUTS. It takes all the walker’s strength to restrain him. I know they’ve taken him to more than one trainer. And it’s odd - my Australian shepherd gets along with every dog EXCEPT this one. When Foster sees him, HE goes nuts!!
@VeryHappy - the dog door might be the size of a human door - lol Maybe I could teach her to just open it since she’ll be tall enough to reach the door knob! I’m learning some things I never knew before from Doggy Dan - he has 5 “golden rules” of dealing with dogs and how to ensure we’re the pack leader, not them. I have always disliked dogs jumping on me, at 100 lbs she could take me down, so I will try his way and see how it goes. But she’s so sweet and lovely and huggable. I know I’m setting the tone from the moment we bring her home and I want her to be wonderful and happy and calm, not a crazy loony tune.
@MaineLonghorn , either your neighbor’s dog has a temperament problem, or they are just terrible on follow-through and consistency with training Or maybe both. There is a golden breeder in our area, a mother and daughter operation, that pumps out puppies in a satellite-mill kind of setup. I’ve known a number of dogs of their breeding, and several of them have had distinct temperament flaws. Unfortunately, unsophisticated dog buyers in the area think that she is breeding great dogs. (I’m not wild about their conformation, either. Some of them are grossly overbuilt in terms of bone, not the athletic and well-balanced yet fairly substantial dog they ought to be.)
It is my current understanding that the shorter life of Berners is not universal. I would really look into that and see what kind of health testing this breeder does–and for how many generations back the clearances are there.
They train their humans well!
And it’s odd - my Australian shepherd gets along with every dog EXCEPT this one. When Foster sees him, HE goes nuts!!