Hi Arlene,
I'm not naive and I acknowledge the fact that a lot of berners livewell into their early teens, but I honestly have to admit - I am now freaking out and I am now scared out of my skin.
* I'm one of the people who have just experienced the sadness of losing a wonderful berner who was not quite 5 years old. Winston was diagnosed with Malignant Histiocytosis on December 31, 2002 and was euthanized yesterday. Despite the fact that I am grieving for him, I know that someday I will again have a berner to love and hold. The five years that I had with Winston were absolutely wonderful and I treasure each moment we shared doing all kinds of things - like obedience, drafting, visiting nursing homes, going to berner club meetings, walking together, pulling his cart in parades, giving my granddaughter cart rides, just being a berner and a very happy owner. We were always together and he showed his love to me by the way that he looked up at me with the sweetest expression on his face. I wouldn't trade the time with him for 20 years with another breed. It is the quality of the time spent with a Berner that is the important thing. We hear the tragic stories on the berner-l, but people don't write in to say - hey, my 13 year old berner is still jumping up into the back of my Jeep (that was our friend's berner) or.... "my 12 year old berner and I just got back from our daily walk"... those are normal day to day things and they just happen. But you don't hear about those things - and there are many of those things that are happening each day, so just relax and enjoy your Berner. Take each day one day at a time and know that you are giving love to each other and that is what counts.
Although Winston's life was way too short, he is alive in my heart and soul and will always be with me. Some day we'll meet at the Bridge.
Hugs to you and your berner,
Joye Neff
