My brother has two currently, and had another before (who sadly died of cancer at 5).
His three all had quite distinct personalities - one - his older current girl - is super-affectionate, even clingy, and thinks she’s a lap dog (if you don’t want 100 lb of dog sitting on you every evening, you need to discourage it when yours is a cute small puppy), the others have been a bit more independent and more intelligent. They seem to grow up/calm down at about 3.
It’s advisable not to walk them too much when they’re puppies as their bones are developing.
Because of the thick coats they don’t like hot weather much, and adore snow.
Congratulations on your adorable new family member. Have you picked out her name yet?
Wonderful breed (we are on our second Berner), but there are some challenges. First, the shedding is everywhere, every day, no matter how often I brush or vacuum. Second, they are really big and powerful. Our first male was around 100 lbs, and seems tiny now as we mentally compare him to our second one who is already over 125 lbs at a year – plus they put on weight as they fill out between 1-2 years. I underestimated how hard it would be for me as a middle aged woman to manage a dog this big. In my 40s, it wasn’t so hard. In my 50s, it is more of a challenge. Lastly, the life expectancy. Our first sweetheart died at 7 of pancreatic cancer.
The pluses are many – the famous Berner “lean,” the fact they think they are lap dogs (not much room on the family room sofa once he gets up), their sweet disposition – ours have both been excellent with other dogs and people. They are great family dogs, though they do tend to have one person who is “their special person.” As with any puppy, the potty training and manners takes patience (they teethe, a lot. No matter how much bitter I sprayed on our table and chair legs in the kitchen, they have been chewed kind of raw by the dogs). A wonderful family dog, and with acreage, even better.
We had Newfie she passed at 12! Love the large breds. We do both child gates and crate. What I loved about the crate is that it is their “safe” place. We would leave the door open during the day and if they go in to nap or such, we would not disturb them. (Occasionally I would just for temperament reasons, making sure they don’t get protective.) It was their little sanctuary.
She LOVED to be vacuumed which kept down on the hair! As soon as I would take out the vacuum, she would wait her turn.
We made sure to have plenty of chew toys and would rotate them so they don’ get bored. All of our dogs love the split antlers. Our Newfie also enjoyed the taste of the biter apple. Yup…couldn’t believe it. Our Goldens, not so much.
Hi, so glad you are getting a Berner. I have to chime in, our wonderful girl turned 10 years old in November (my avatar picture was probably taken 7 years ago). We just moved to the beach, and she does not like the beach (but she was already 9 y.o. when we moved down here). She was the smallest in the litter, and she is still only 77 pounds. It is too hot for her here in the summer, but she is loving this winter weather, acts just like a puppy. We call it “yippy skippy” when she jumps around in the cool weather. Best wishes.
She’s home! Her name is Sophie and we got her on Monday on the way home from the airport. We rolled up a couple of carpets and sent them out for cleaning, and invisible fence came and she’s blocked out of the living room and dining room. She is so docile and sweet. Right now she’s in her crate taking a snooze. We live on the water and have a beach and yesterday in this freezing cold we took her for a walk along the water. She ran up to the edge, licked the edge, which right now is ice and ran away. The excitement totally knocks her out. Today I took her to Petco - her harness was too complicated and didn’t fit. We didn’t want her mingling with other animals so we put her in the cart and pushed her around the store. We’re trying to get her around as many different people as we can. So far she is super sweet meeting everyone.
For the record, she isn’t in my bedroom! haha We put her in her crate at 10 after going outside, one person gets up at 2, one at 6 to take her out. She hasn’t had any accidents in the crate, I can’t say the same for the rest of the time. Hence, the rugs being taken out. I’m following the doggy dan rules, making sure she understands we’re the pack leader. I’m not sure how much we should be feeding her. The back of the bag says 1 - 3 cups a day. That’s a huge range. She chows down her food in no time flat. I’m switching her today to eating twice a day - a cup each time.
She is trying to be sweet with the cats, they are circling around and she’s gotten a few swats by one of them.
We feed our dog (13 m.o. Briard, over 50 lbs) kibble by hand throughout the day as a training thing. It builds a nice series of positive transactions between us and spreads out her intake. Another thing I do is mix her kibble in with single-ingredient baby food (chicken, apple, beef, in jars from a regular grocery store), stuff some in a Kong, and freeze it. Busy puppy, happy human.
ETA: I can’t say enough good things about Whole Dog Journal. So helpful.
Are you feeding her a large breed puppy food? Regular puppy food is like rocket fuel, and fast growth is not good for the hips.
Depending on what brand you are feeding her, the package recs are usually far too much. The good brands that you get in specialty stores tend to be better in that regard. One cup twice a day sounds like a good place to start for a big puppy.
Feeding by hand is great for developing attention.
She is eating a large breed puppy formula. When in general do you transition to adult dog food? I like the idea of the food vs the treat for training. She is learning to come when we call her name, but it’s still hit or miss.
She’s learning to go down the stairs, which is hilarious. I’m bringing her in and out the same side door I want her forever using and she has to learn to navigate 2 steps and a landing. She’s already learned she comes and goes last. I get it’s only been a few days, but I’d like her to be housebroken already! She is starting to go in the same area outside and I’m starting to be able to see what she looks like when she wants to go, however, if you turn your head for a second, she’ll just go inside. She’s snoozing now in her crate after going beserk in the snow. Not my favorite standing outside last night in the wind and snow pelting down.
Yesterday we took her to Petco and she rode around in the cart and got to meet a bunch of people. Someone told me it’s not safe yet to even walk in petco yet before she’s fully vaccinated so her feet didn’t hit the floor. Of course I had to buy her a little mat to lay on when we’re in the office together.
If she’s having accidents, try to take her out more frequently, such as whenever she wakes up after a nap, and always to the same spot. If you can anticipate it, rather than wait until she has to go, it is faster. Have you started using the key phrase, such as “go potty”? As is, say “Go Potty!” over and over with mounting enthusiasm when she starts to squat, and end up with huge praise, then take her back in. I always feel like an idiot, but it does give them the idea and eventually speeds them up.
This is not the weather I would choose for housebreaking a puppy!
^^^ Oh, man. Mine isn’t a puppy, but this weather is getting to be a problem. I have taken the granddog out twice today, and as far as I could see, she did not perform! I had her on a leash while walking gingerly on the snow packed street with my two bad knees (one of which is getting replaced in 3 weeks). I put down a pee pad, but I don’t know if she know what it is. I even shoveled snow off the dirt to give her a landing zone. No dice.
Day 5 and we are all learning more. We go out a lot, and neither she or us like the wind. She only has minor accidents inside. She’s like a toddler, when she gets a bit crazy and chewy it’s her sign she’s over tired. I am hand feeding her a meal or two a day and am teaching her to sit and be nice before she can eat. She is teething like crazy. She’s nipping at us less but I’d say a big part of when she’s awake she’s chewing on something. She’s so cute, like a little black bear. She’s sleeping through the night now. We take her out at 10 and she stays in the crate until the morning. I felt like a new mom today. We went out today and it was her first time home alone. We were gone about 2.5 hours and she was fine in the crate. I haven’t been this obsessed with bathroom habits in 20 years. My daughter was easier to potty train! I’m looking forward to the 40s in a few days. Teens are no fun to go out in, there is no just running out in a robe and slippers.
You can try keeping her on leash indoors whenever she is out of the crate until she is housebroken. In other words, the dog is with you always – wherever you go, the doggie goes. So never an out of sight momement.
It sounds like a big hassle but I did that with one of my dogs when I brought him home from the pound, and he was housebroken within a matter of hours. Of course I didn’t trust that and kept him on leash for few days – but he only made two attempts to pee indoors on that first day, and the second time he was whisked outdoors he got the message. (But he was older at the time – about 11 months old – and also he is a very clever dog.)
We got our puppy last January. Best piece of potty training advice to My Past Self would be to get a pull-on pair of winter boots – last year I had laced ones and was jamming them on frantically to help puppy’s success. When fall came around again I remembered and finally have outerwear I can get on in thirty seconds. It still makes life easier, and the dog doubtless has precious memories of me clumping around getting snow down the tops of my unfastened Sorels and trilling out what a good girl she is.
We didn’t know if our two-year-old adopted dog was housetrained, so we took her outside every hour for the first day she lived with us. She didn’t go to the bathroom once, inside or outside. The second day she finally did her business outside. She might have already been housetrained and just didn’t feel comfortable with us until that second day.