Don't Buy A Bernese Mountain Dog........

This article has been adapted from: DON'T BUY A BOUVIER! By Pam Green (c.1992) (This article, written many years ago,
has become a notorious classic in Bouvier circles. It has been reprinted many times by clubs to use for the education of prospective
Bouvier owners. She gives her permission freely to all who wish to reprint and distribute it in hopes of saving innocent dogs from
neglect and abandonment by those who should never have acquired them in the first place. I have adapted it to Bernese Mountain Dogs -Lindsay Thomson

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Interested in buying a Bernese Mountain Dog? You must be or you wouldn't be reading this. You've already heard how marvellous Berners are!
Well, I think you should also hear, before it's too late, that BERNESE MOUNTAIN DOG ARE NOT THE PERFECT BREED FOR EVERYONE.
As a breed, they have many characteristics that some people find charming, but that some people find mildly unpleasant, and some
people find downright intolerable. They are not a ‘no brainer’ choice, buyers need to research Breeders carefully and make sure they are aware of the health problems that can affect the breed.
There are different breeds for different needs. There are over 200 breeds of dogs in the world. Maybe you'd be better off with some
other breed. Maybe you'd be better off with a cat. Maybe you'd be better off with goldfish, a parakeet, a hamster, or some houseplants.

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DON'T BUY A BERNESE MOUNTAIN DOG IF YOU ARE ATTRACTED TO THE BREED "CHIEFLY" BY ITS APPEARANCE.
The appearance of the Berner you have seen in the show ring is the product of many hours of bathing and grooming. This
carefully constructed beauty is fleeting: a few minutes of freedom, romping through the fields or strolling in the rain restores the natural
look. The natural look of the Berner is that of a large, shaggy farm dog, usually with some dirt and weeds clinging to his tousled coat.
The true beauty of the Berner lies in his character, not in his appearance. Some of the long-coated and most of the short-coated breeds' appearances are less dependent on grooming than is that of the Berner. (See also the section on grooming below.)

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DON'T BUY A BERNER IF YOU ARE UNWILLING TO SHARE YOUR HOUSE AND YOUR LIFE WITH YOUR DOG.
Berners were bred to share in the work of the family (farm work, pulling carts, etc.) and to spend most of their waking hours working with the family. They thrive on companionship and they want to be wherever you are. They are happiest living with you in your house and going with you when you go out. While they usually tolerate being left at home by themselves (preferably with a dog-door giving access to the fenced yard), they should not be relegated to the backyard or kennel. A puppy exiled from the house is likely to grow up to be unsociable, unruly, and unhappy. He may well develop pastimes, such as digging or barking that will displease you and/or your neighbours. An adult so exiled will be miserable too. If you don't strongly prefer to have your dog's companionship as much as possible, enjoying having him sleep in your bedroom at night and sharing many of your activities by day, you should choose a breed less oriented to human companionship. Likewise if your job or other obligations prevent you from spending much time with your dog. No dog is really happy without companionship, but the pack hounds for example, are more tolerant of being kennelled or yarded so long as it is in groups of 2 or more. A better choice would be a cat, as they are solitary by nature.

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DON'T BUY A BERNESE MOUNTAIN DOG IF YOU DON'T INTEND TO EDUCATE (TRAIN) YOUR DOG.
Basic obedience and household rules training is NOT optional for the Berner. As an absolute minimum, you must teach him to reliably respond to commands to come, to lie down, to stay, and to walk at your side, on or off leash and regardless of temptations. You must also teach him to respect your household rules: e.g. is he allowed to get on the furniture? Is he allowed to beg at the table? What you allow or forbid is unimportant, but it is *critical* that you, not the dog, make these choices and that you enforce your rules consistently. You must commit yourself to attending an 8 to 10 week series of weekly lessons at a local obedience club or with a professional trainer, and to doing one or two short (5 to 20 minutes) homework sessions per day. As commands are learned, they must be integrated into your daily life by being used whenever appropriate, and enforced consistently. Young Berner puppies are relatively easy to train: they are eager to please, intelligent, and calm-natured, with a relatively good attention span. Once a Berner has learned something, he tends to retain it well. Your cute, sweet little Berner puppy can grow up to be a large, powerful dog. If he has grown up respecting you and your rules, then all his physical and mental strength will work for you. But if he has grown up without rules and guidance from you, surely he will make his own rules, and his physical and mental powers will often act in opposition to your needs and desires. For example: he may tow you down the street as if competing in a sled-dog race; he may grab food off the table.

This training cannot be delegated to someone else, e.g. by sending the dog away to "boarding school," because the relationship of respect and obedience is personal between the dog and the individual who does the training. While you definitely may want the help of an experienced trainer to teach you how to train your dog, you yourself must actually train your Berner. As each lesson is well learned, then the rest of the household (except young children) must also work with the dog, insisting he obey them as well.

Many of the Dogs in Pounds and Shelters show clearly that they have received little or no basic training, neither in obedience nor in household deportment; yet these same dogs respond well to such training by the rescuer or the adopter. It seems likely that a failure to train the dog is a significant cause of abandonment.

If you don't intend to educate your dog, preferably during puppy hood, you would be better off with a breed that is both small and socially submissive, or a cat.

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DON'T BUY A BERNESE MOUNTAIN DOG IF YOU LACK LEADERSHIP (SELF-ASSERTIVE) PERSONALITY.
Dogs do not believe in social equality. They live in a social hierarchy led by a pack-leader (Alpha). The alpha dog is generally benevolent, affectionate, and non-bullying towards his subordinates; but there is never any doubt in his mind or in theirs that the alpha is the boss and makes the rules. Whatever the breed, if you do not assume the leadership, the dog will do so sooner or later and with more or less unpleasant consequences for the abdicating owner. Like the untrained dog, the pack-leader dog makes his own rules and enforces them against other members of the household by means of a dominant physical posture and a hard-eyed stare, followed by a snarl, then a knockdown blow or a bite. Breeds differ in tendencies towards social dominance; and individuals within a breed differ considerably. You do not have to have the personality or mannerisms of a Marine boot camp Sergeant, but you do have to have the calm, quiet self-assurance and self-assertion of the successful parent ("Because I'm your mother, that's why.") or successful grade-school teacher. If you think you might have difficulty asserting yourself calmly and confidently to exercise leadership, then be sure to ask the breeder to select one of the more submissive pups in the litter for you. If the whole idea of "being the boss" frightens or repels you, don't get a dog at all. Cats don't expect leadership. A caged bird or hamster, or fish doesn't need leadership or household rules. Bernese Mountain Dogs are not an especially dominant breed, but like all dogs some may try and take on the Alpha role if training is not reinforced from puppy hood.

Leadership and training are inextricably intertwined: leadership personality enables you to train your dog, and being trained by you reinforces your dog's perception of you as the alpha.

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DON'T BUY A BERNER IF YOU DON'T VALUE LAID-BACK COMPANIONSHIP AND CALM AFFECTION.
A Berner becomes deeply attached and devoted to his own family, Some are noticeably reserved, others are more outgoing, but few adults are usually exuberantly demonstrative in their affections. They like to be near you, usually in the same room, preferably on a comfortable pad or cushion in a corner or under a table, just "keeping you company." They enjoy conversation, petting and cuddling when you offer it, but they are moderate and not overbearing in coming to you to demand much attention. They are emotionally sensitive to their favourite people: when you are joyful, proud, angry, or grief-stricken, your Berner will immediately perceive it and may believe himself to be the cause. The relationship can be one of great mellows, depth and subtlety; it is a relation on an adult-to-adult level, although certainly not one devoid of playfulness. As puppies, of course, they will be more dependent, more playful, and more demonstrative. In summary, Berners tend to be sober and thoughtful, rather than giddy clowns or sycophants.

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DON'T BUY A BERNER IF YOU ARE FASTIDIOUS ABOUT YOUR HOME.
The Bernese Mountain Dog's thick shaggy coat and his love of playing in water and mud can combine to make him a highly efficient transporter of dirt into your home, depositing the same on your floors and rugs and possibly also on your furniture and clothes. One Berner coming in from a few minutes outdoors on a rainy day can turn an immaculate house into an instant hog wallow.

Bernese Mountain Dogs are seasonal shedders, and in spring can easily fill a trash bag with balls of hair from a grooming session, or clog a vacuum cleaner if left to shed in the house. I don't mean to imply that you must be a slob, or slouch to live happily with a Berner, but you do have to have the attitude that your dog's company means more to you than does neatness. You do have to be comfortable with a less than immaculate house.

While all dogs, like all children, create a greater or lesser degree of household mess, many other breeds of dog are less troublesome than the Berner in this respect. The Basenji is perhaps the cleanest, due to its cat-like habits; but cats are cleaner yet, and goldfish hardly ever mess up the house.

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DON'T BUY A BERNER IF YOU DISLIKE DOING REGULAR GROOMING.
The thick shaggy Bernese Mountain Dog coat demands regular grooming, not merely to look tolerably nice, but also to preserve the health of skin underneath and to detect and remove foxtails, ticks, and other dangerous invaders. For "pet" grooming, you should expect to spend 10-15 minutes a day (e.g. while listening to music or watching television) on alternate days or half an hour twice a week. Of course any time your Berner gets into cockleburs, filigree, or other coat-adhering vegetation, you are likely to be in for an hour or more of remedial work. During summer, you must inspect feet and other vulnerable areas daily for grass seeds. During tick season, you will need to inspect for ticks daily. "Pet" grooming does not require a great deal of skill, but does require time and regularity. "Show" grooming requires a great deal of skill and considerably more time and effort or expensive professional grooming.

Many other breeds of dog require less grooming; short-coated breeds require very little.

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DON'T BUY A BERNER IF YOU DISLIKE DAILY EXERCISE.
Berners need exercise to maintain the health of heart and lungs, and to maintain muscle tone. Because of his mellow, laid-back, disposition, your Berner may not give himself enough exercise unless you accompany him or play with him.

All dogs need daily exercise of greater or lesser length and vigour. If providing this exercise is beyond you, physically or temperamentally, then choose one of the many small and energetic breeds that can exercise itself within your fenced yard. Most of the Toys and Terriers fit this description, but don't be surprised if a Terrier is inclined to dig in the earth since digging out critters is the job that they were bred to do. Cats can be exercised indoors with mouse-on-a-string toys. Hamsters will exercise themselves on a wire wheel. Houseplants don't need exercise.

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DON'T BUY A BERNER IF YOU BELIEVE THAT DOGS SHOULD RUN "FREE."
Whether you live in town or country, no dog can safely be left to run "free" outside your fenced property and without your direct supervision and control. The price of such "freedom" is inevitably injury or death: from dogfights, from automobiles, from the Pound or from justifiably irate neighbours. Even though Berners love home and are less inclined to roam than most breeds, an unfenced Berner is destined for disaster. A thoroughly obedience-trained Berner can enjoy the limited and supervised freedom of off-leash walks with you in appropriately chosen environments.

If you don't want the responsibility of confining and supervising your pet, then no breed of dog is suitable for you. A neutered cat will survive such irresponsibly given "freedom" somewhat longer than a dog, but will eventually come to grief. A better answer for those who crave a "free" pet is to set out feeding stations for some of the indigenous wildlife, such as possums or magpies, which will visit for handouts and which may eventually tolerate your close observation.

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DON'T BUY A BERNESE MOUNTAIN DOG IF YOU CAN'T AFFORD TO BUY, FEED, AND PROVIDE HEALTHCARE FOR ONE.
Bernese Mountain Dogs are not a cheap breed to buy, as running a careful breeding program with due regard for temperament, trainability, and physical soundness (hips and elbows especially) cannot be done cheaply. The time the breeder should put into each puppy's "pre-school" and socialization is also costly. The "bargain" puppy from a "back-yard breeder" who unselectively mates any two Berners who happen to be of opposite sex may well prove to be extremely costly in terms of bad temperament, bad health, and lack of essential socialisation. In contrast, the occasional adult or older pup is available at a modest price from a disenchanted owner, or from a breeder, shelter, or rescuer to whom the dog was abandoned. Most of these "used" Berners are capable of becoming a marvellous dog for you if you can provide training, leadership, and understanding.

Whatever the initial cost of your Bernese Mountain Dog, the upkeep will not be cheap. Being large dogs, Berners eat relatively large meals. (Need I add that what goes in one end must eventually come out the other?) Large dogs tend to have larger veterinary bills, as the amount of anaesthesia and of most medications is proportional to body weight.

Spaying or neutering, which costs more for larger dogs, is an essential expense for all pet Berners. It removes messy seasons, the chance of unwanted pregnancy, mammary tumours and uterine infections in bitches. Wandering, unwanted breeding and testicular tumours in males, prevents serious health problems in later life and makes the dog a more pleasant companion.

Bernese Mountain Dogs are subject to two health problems that can be costly to treat: hip and/or elbow dysplasia and bloat. (Your best insurance against dysplasia is to buy only from a litter bred from Hip and Elbow scored parents and grandparents). Yes, this generally means paying more. Dysplasia has a polygenic mode of inheritance and whilst most breeders will only breed from animals that have passed hip and elbow evaluations two non-dysplastic parents may still produce a dysplastic puppy-although the chances are significantly reduced with clear parentage than if one or both of the parents are affected. In Australia we can generally boast a good level of soundness but puppy buyers must still be aware that dysplasia may occur. While bloat may have a genetic predisposition, there are no predictive tests allowing selective breeding against it. Your best prevention is not to feed your dog too soon before or after strenuous exercise.

Professional grooming, if you use it, is expensive. An adequate set of grooming tools for use at home adds up to a tidy sum, but once purchased will last many dog-lifetimes. Finally, the modest fee for participation in a series of basic obedience training classes is an essential investment in harmonious living with your dog; such fees are the same for all breeds. The modest annual outlays for immunizations and for local licensing are generally the same for all breeds, though some counties have a lower license fee for spayed/neutered dogs.

All dogs, of whatever breed and however cheaply acquired, require significant upkeep costs, and all are subject to highly expensive veterinary emergencies. Likewise all cats.

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DON'T BUY A BERNER IF YOU WANT THE "LATEST, GREATEST, FEROCIOUS "KILLER ATTACK DOG."
The Bernese Mountain Dog is more of a ‘watch dog’ than a guard dog. Many will alert you to a visitor or trespasser but are unlikely to bite.

In contrast to the protection-trained dog, trained to bite on direct command or in reaction to direct physical assault on his master, the "deterrent /watch dog" dissuades the vast majority of aspiring burglars, rapists, and assailants by his presence, his appearance, and his demeanour. Seeing such a dog, the potential wrongdoer simply decides to look for a safer victim elsewhere. For this job, all that is needed is a dog that is large and that appears to be well trained and unafraid. The Bernese Mountain Dog can serve this role admirably, with the added assets of dark colour and shaggy "bestial" appearance that adds to the impression of formidability and fearsomeness. If the dog has been taught to bark a few times on command, such as "Fang, watch him!" rather than "Fifi, speak for a cookie," this skill can be useful to augment the deterrent effect.

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DON'T BUY A BERNESE MOUNTAIN DOG IF YOU ARE NOT WILLING TO COMMIT YOURSELF FOR THE DOG'S ENTIRE LIFETIME.
No dog deserves to be cast out because his owners want to move to a no-pet apartment, or because he is no longer a cute puppy. Or, didn't grow up to be a beauty contest winner, or because his owners through lack of leadership and training have allowed him to become an unruly juvenile delinquent with a repertoire of undesirable behaviours. The prospects of a responsible and affectionate second home for a "used" dog are never very bright, but they are especially dim for a large, shaggy, poorly mannered dog. A Berner dumped into a Pound or Shelter has almost no chance of survival -- unless he has the great good fortune to be spotted by someone dedicated to Berner Rescue. The prospects for adoption for a youngish, well-trained, and well-groomed Berner whose owner seeks the assistance of the nearest Berner Club or Rescue group are fairly good, but an older Berner has diminishing prospects. Be sure to contact your local Berner club or Rescue group if you are diagnosed as terminally ill or have other equally valid reasons for seeking an adoptive home. Be sure to contact your local obedience club if you are beginning to have difficulties in training your Berner, so these can be resolved. Be sure to make arrangements in your will or with your family to ensure continued care or an adoptive home for your Bernese Mountain Dog if you should pre-decease him.

The life span of a Bernese Mountain Dog is about 7-10 years. If that seems too long a time for you to give unequivocal loyalty to your Bernese Mountain Dog, then please do not get one

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IN CONCLUSION
If all the preceding "bad news" about Berners hasn't turned you away from the breed,
then by all means DO GET A BERNER! They are every bit as wonderful as you have heard!

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If buying a puppy, be sure to shop carefully for a *responsible* and *knowledgeable* breeder who places high priority on breeding for sound temperament and trainability, and good health in all matings. Such a breeder will interrogate and educate potential buyers carefully. Such a breeder will continue to be available for advice and consultation for the rest of the dog's life and will insist on receiving the dog back if ever you are unable to keep it.

However, as an alternative to buying a Berner puppy, you may want to give some serious consideration to adopting a rescued Berner. Despite the responsibility of their previous owner, almost all rescued Berners have proven to be readily rehabilitated so as to become superb family companions for responsible and affectionate adopters. Many rescuers are skilled trainers who evaluate temperament and provide remedial training before offering dogs for placement, and who offer continued advisory support afterwards. Contact local Berner breeders or Berner club members to learn who is doing Rescue work.