tricks more
Just have to share this story since this subject came up. I work with Special Ed (emotional disorders) Hank goes to work with me. One day a week is Dog Day. Part of this time is spent teaching tricks to Hank. We had one young man who would not participate, but since no one else could teach Hank to go to sleep, (Hank really resisted this) Johnny stepped up to the challenge. He was always stepping up to the impossible -- not very effectively at that. He was as angry and frustrated as any child we have had in our middle school program. He was sometimes violent, always verbally abuse to his peers and most staff. And yet: He taught Hank to go to sleep by gently rubbing Hank's tummy and ever so softly saying, Hank, head down... head down. For a brief time every week, this young man found tenderness and trust... The memory of the two of them together is dear. Hank Johnny developed quite a bond over the months he was with us. Johnny eventually learned to regulate his periods of frustration by asking for Hank to be with him. More than afew hours were spent with the two of them literally curled up together under Johnny's desk. Johnny ended up in a day treatment facility, but recently was admitted into high school. I only hope those times with a dog - a Berner - will stay with him. They do for Hank and I: I still use this command when we are listening to students read. Some trick me thinks. Jeanne
Re: BERNER-L digest 4251
Hi, I was reading the thoughts about trying to get Oprah to do a show on puppy mills. 2 1/2 years ago, I was able to reach the show. I had just lost my Golden suddenly to SAS, she was 3 years old. I made several phone calls and sent several letters, but never received any response. We bought Shasta from what we believe was a puppy mill. My heart was broken and I wanted the public to beware. It did teach me a lesson. When we bought our 2 Berners, we researched, and dealt with reputable breeders. Like I said, I tried many times to reach her and I have never heard anything since. Good luck to those of you, maybe you will get a response, Karen Ransom and pals, Rocky, Sugar, Grizzly and Harley - Original Message - Wrom: WCONEUQZAAFXISHJEXXIMQZUIVOTQNQEMSFDULHPQQWOYIYZUNNYCGPKYLEJG To: Bernese Mountain Dog Mailing List [EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Friday, January 31, 2003 11:01 PM Subject: BERNER-L digest 4251 BERNER-L Digest 4251 Topics covered in this issue include: 1) Hugo wonders if anyone has a Quad Chair? by [EMAIL PROTECTED] 2) Re: tricks by [EMAIL PROTECTED] 3) Re: unique tricks by [EMAIL PROTECTED] 4) Random thoughts, Stevie and BEHAF by [EMAIL PROTECTED] 5) RE: Random thoughts, Stevie and BEHAF by Andrea Brin [EMAIL PROTECTED] 6) Potty confusion...I think! by lisa stucke [EMAIL PROTECTED] 7) RE: Idea for Oprah? by Rose Tierney [EMAIL PROTECTED] 8) Re: unique tricks by [EMAIL PROTECTED] 9) Molly Bass:-) by Rose Tierney [EMAIL PROTECTED] 10) E-coli in urine - Trimethoprin-Sulfa by [EMAIL PROTECTED] 11) Re: BERNER-L digest 4250 by [EMAIL PROTECTED] 12) RE: Idea for Oprah? by Jennifer Burgess [EMAIL PROTECTED] 13) RE: Random thoughts, Stevie and BEHAF by Pat Long [EMAIL PROTECTED] 14) Blowing coat question by Cheryl Otis [EMAIL PROTECTED] 15) Eosinophilic Gasterenteritis by Valerie Young [EMAIL PROTECTED] 16) FW: Idea for Oprah? by Dawn Kjeldsen [EMAIL PROTECTED] 17) Looking for a trainer by Beth Saunders Grier [EMAIL PROTECTED] 18) 2003 specialty list by Andrea Brin [EMAIL PROTECTED] 19) Re: 2003 specialty list by Lynne Hawkinson [EMAIL PROTECTED] 20) Old Email by Jeannie Schoen [EMAIL PROTECTED] 21) article on puppy mills by Mark Mohapp [EMAIL PROTECTED] 22) Re: article on puppy mills by Courtney Erickson [EMAIL PROTECTED] 23) Companion dog Airliners by Cheryl Otis [EMAIL PROTECTED] 24) (no subject) by [EMAIL PROTECTED] 25) Fw: [BMDCAmembers] Fw: Montana Collie trial update by jesse shelley gonzales [EMAIL PROTECTED] 26) Re: (no subject) by Claudia Brydon [EMAIL PROTECTED] 27) agility by Mary-Ann Bowman [EMAIL PROTECTED] 28) Re: BERNER-L digest 4250 by Liz Caldwell [EMAIL PROTECTED] 29) Re: FW: Idea for Oprah? by Liz Caldwell [EMAIL PROTECTED] 30) Stevie's Progress by Karen McFarlane [EMAIL PROTECTED] 31) Male berner in Wantagh by [EMAIL PROTECTED] 32) A very funny website by mtndog [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Airline help
Hi everybody! I know that in the past we've talked about certain airlines and which ones were good about our babies! Does anyone have any information on American Airlines? We're flying home for a long visit from Zurich to Miami. Do any of you have any helpful hints on how to make Cooper as comfortable as possible on an 8 hour flight? I'm just a little worried! Thank you for all the advice! We love the letters! Lindsay, Jamie and Super Cooper http://supercooper10.tripod.com/dog/
hair loss
hi i'm very new to this list i noticed someone talking about hair loss in berners i know this can be a problem with them, but is there something that helps? ( then tell me if it will work for me, too!) :) rob h and SPURGEON
Agility training (was Re: (no subject)
In a message dated 1/31/2003 4:03:17 PM Eastern Standard Time, [EMAIL PROTECTED] writes: I have an 8 mo old Berner who is quite smart. We would like to start training him for agility. Hi Denise, My thoughts follow, but I do agility for fun and not competition so this is a pretty inexpert view. There are so many skills involved in agility, it's never too young to start working on many of them. You just want to keep in mind that Deuce's joints are still developing and therefore somewhat vulnerable and...that he's a teenager so his brain can go 'out to lunch' at any time without notice g. So, my approach to agilty with a young dog is to work heavily on my relationship with the dog, teach them to work at a distance, follow my body, that kind of thing. I'll do the obstacles with my young dog BUT no where near competition height. I'd do low jumps, set the A-frame wide open (just prop up the center a bit if the chains won't go far enough), lowered dog walk, lowered teeter, etcand avoid a lot of repetition. What you're training for is the dog to do each obstacle in a FULLY controlled manner...not as a wild eyed hot shot. It's those flying leap moments that I think pose the most risk for youngsters so preventing them is the real challenge of doing agility with a teen. Agility puts the most stress on the front assembly of the dog, less on the hips. To get an idea of why this is so important to know, take a close look at a dog's skeleton. You'll see that the front end is made up of a succession of bones that aren't held together by much at all. No nice, tight, full contact support like you see in the ball and socket joint of the hips. In the front, it's bone to bone with little holding things in place but ligaments. Keeping that picture in mind will help guide you in deciding what and how much to have Deuce practice. And the decision IS up to you... some teachers are more knowledgeable about working with a large dog than others but the final decision on what to do and not during class is yours. Drop an email to Kris Osojnicki, [EMAIL PROTECTED], for info on the Berner Agility elist. I'm sure there's lots of experience there to take advantage of. ~ Sherri Venditti
RE: Random thoughts, Stevie and BEHAF
actually we have gotten a good response from a few companies. dogon wrote me back asking for all the info. once we succeed with this i would like to create a lending library for apparatus so to speak for berners in need. there has to be a way to make hugo more comfortable. andrea
RE: E-coli in urine - Trimethoprin-Sulfa
Hi Jean, The drug you mention is not new, personally I prefer to stay away from sulfa drugs as they can be hard on the kidneys. You might ask if Clavamox is suitable. Usually when the urine culture is done at a laboratory the chart will indicate the drug range. E-Coli turns up in all sorts of places, I had one girl with it involved in a very bad ear infection and asked the vet about this her reply was lick bum lick ear now obviously her tongue isn't that long but we are a multi dog household and on occasion the another dog would enjoy licking her sister's yeasty ear. It is quite normal to have some evidence of e-coli in the gastric system. The whinging and whiny stage is pure love, assuming he is intact I would be inclined to have him fully collected to be sure there is no blood in the prostatic fluid. It may well be the cause of the blood in the bladder. Boy's unload their excess fluids into their bladder to be exited along with the urine. Prostates on males are not always easy to examine fully unless the vet has very long fingers! Rose -Original Message- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]] Sent: January 31, 2003 8:52 AM To: Bernese Mountain Dog Mailing List Subject: E-coli in urine - Trimethoprin-Sulfa We have a 2 1/2 year old male who, while our two bitches were/are in season suddenly had a watery-bloody smear on his foot and on the floor, which when drawn out from his bladder by a catheter turned out to be lots of blood (the specimin was claret-colored) in his urine and tested to be an e-coli infection. His prostate was a bit enlarged, but our vet said they did not seem to be infected and she thought that was just the result of the girls smelling good. The blood, though, seemed to be more than just his being excited. Has anyone had a similar problem? Our vet has determined that this is resistant to Keflex (cefalexin) and to Batril, and has now prescribed a sulfa drug, Trimethoprinsulfa, which she says works well in big dogs and horses. However, she said it can cause dry eye in Dobermans - but she found no indication of problems with the drug in bernese mountain dogs. Does anyone have any ideas as to what causes this kind of infection? If there is something I can do to prevent it, I certainly will. He's a picky eater, and doesn't eat pooh, as far as I'm aware, so I'm at a loss as to how he would have contracted something like this. A friend has suggested that we give him colloidial silver in his water as an antibacterial meaure - apparently it works well with urinary tract infections in humans and some people have had good luck with it in dogs and other pets. He sldo seems uncharacteristically whiney - so I wonder if he is in pain. I can't tell if it is sypathy he wants because of the girls, or if he is really, really uncomfortable. I tend to think he hurts and is looking to me to help make it better. I would certainly appreciate any information anyone has on this new and troubling problem. Including any experience - positive or negative - with this new drug. Thanks. Jean Coker Jacksonville, Florida
Berner Tricks
My 5 year old Berner Thor does all the basics (down, stay, shake a paw) but his favorite is to speak on a specific command. If I look at him the right was and say Thor, Who let the dogs out? He will reply with a loud string of WOOF WOOFS!!. Still can't get hom to sing it in tune though. Thor the comedian and his TM buddies Taku and Mobi (no singing talent) _ Tired of spam? Get advanced junk mail protection with MSN 8. http://join.msn.com/?page=features/junkmail
RE: Blowing coat question
Hi Cheryl, Was Tanner recently neutered? Any surgery will cause a dog to blow coat regardless of weather. Usually dogs (altered or not) and spayed females will shed according to the season though many of us here in Ontario have seen our dogs start to shed and then stop with the severe fluctuations in the weather. I usually note the big shed between May and June and a lighter hair loss in the fall, the intact females blow coat 10 -12 weeks post heat and go virtually bald after a litter. Continual hair loss that is noted to be heavy should prompt an owner to check the thyroid on the dog. Rose -Original Message- From: Cheryl Otis [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]] Sent: January 31, 2003 11:08 AM To: Bernese Mountain Dog Mailing List Subject: Blowing coat question Is there a general age for the first time an altered male will blow his coat and how long does it last? Tanner is just 10 months and has just about lost all the long hairs along the ridge of his back and all around his neck. The under coat is comming out from everywhere except his tail. He is really looks a mess, I can pull the hair our by the hand fulls but he is not dry, flakey or itchy. We have had a mild January here in the N.W. but our girl Tessa is not shedding out. Regards, Cheryl, Tessa and the Incredibly Shedding Tanner Portland, Or. __ Do you Yahoo!? Yahoo! Mail Plus - Powerful. Affordable. Sign up now. http://mailplus.yahoo.com
RE: Eosinophilic Gasterenteritis
Hi, Yes it is. Symptoms are suppressed with the use of prednisone which is used to calm an over active immune system that is causing damage in the body. Rose -Original Message- From: Valerie Young [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]] Sent: January 31, 2003 11:28 AM To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: Eosinophilic Gasterenteritis Kathleen - is this considered an autoimmune disease? Valerie
RE: Looking for a trainer
Beth, I believe there is a website for the Association of Pet Dog Trainers, many behaviorists belong to this organisation and primarily work with dogs with social issues. I would not train Emma in the home with a professional dog trainer. This breed can have a fear period at seven to ten months and bringing a stranger into the home who no doubt attempted to train her as part of the interview is invading her comfort zone. She will do better on neutral turf in a group of friendly dogs from whom she can learn some confidence. A good trainer educates the human to interpret and work with their dog and not just take over the dog to train and hand back to you. There are too many people professing to be experts with no credentials. Perhaps Vilma on this list knows the site address?? Rose -Original Message- From: Beth Saunders Grier [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]] Sent: January 31, 2003 12:08 PM To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: Looking for a trainer Does anyone know of a dog trainer in the Charlotte, NC area who is familiar with Bernese Mountain Dogs? My husband and I are the proud owners of 7 month old Emma and would like to work with a professional trainer. So far, in our search for a good trainer we have been unsuccessful, I have interviewed a couple of people however, both said they could not work with Emma because she is shy and will not bond with them. Any assistance you could provide us is greatly appreciated. Beth, Mike Emma Charlotte, NC This message may contain legally privileged or confidential information and is therefore addressed to the named persons only. The recipient should inform the sender and delete this message, if he/she is not named as addressee. The sender disclaims any and all liability for the integrity and punctuality of this message. The sender has activated an automatic virus scanning by Messagelabs, but does not guarantee the virus free transmission of this message.
HUGO
There are several wheelchair companies on the net, just type in Dog Wheelchairs. The one I had was from Wheelchairs for Dogs. Com. Mary Heald bought mine from me for her Henry last August. If you want her address. Please e-mail me privately, she may still have it. But another thought is to look on E-Bay for the Quad chair, as I found another dog wheelchair on E-bay which gave me an idea of what to charge for mine. Chance and I continue to hope for Hugo's recovery, glad the acupuncture is working, we had good results from it as well, Daisy and Chance
Berners in the Seattle Area.
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Need a new trick
Hi everyone, I need your help. Loki, our 6 1/2 month old female, is in puppy intermediate obedience class. We have 2 weeks before graduation and each puppy is supposed to learn a new trick to show the class. Do any of you have some fun suggestions? Thanks, in advance. Bernerly yours, Melissa, Loki and Griffin Chan
Belated Birthday Greetings
Well I'm feeling a little sheepish here!! I was so excited to get Deck's prelim results on Tuesday, I completely forgot to post birthday wishes on Thursday!!! So, Happy 1st Birthday (Jan 30th) go out to Susa's 1st litter: Cdn CH Susa's Fifty Two Pick Up Deck Susa's Dutch Blitz Happy Both boys are big and strong and doing well. Their mother Madison and father Chief are doing well also. We did celebrate on Thursday with a big juicy bone!!! ;-) Kim Morrow Susa Reg'd Saskatoon, SK http://www.bernesedogs.com
Summary of list of tricks I got for my class.
We have some really talented Berners out there! I've got so many tricks to choose from. I think Berkley will have to learn more than one very big grin! Here's a summary of the tricks I got. Hope I got everyone's in here. Thanks to everyone who responded to my request! Kelly Williamson Berkley - BMD (what do you mean I have to learn more than one?!?) Cisco _ Golden (you're not going to make me learn some too ???) Leesburg, VA Balance a large dry dog biscuit on his nose Retrieve above biscuit (or even just hold and carry and release) shark -- my Bean will flip his head back and snap up at the air say your prayers (front paws on edge of chair and nose under paws) turn around in place clockwise and counter clockwise, spin vs wind or twist I taught my young berner boy to jump up on his grooming table stand there for me. It was impressive to the others in the class grin IF your pup is strongly food motivated, teach him to follow your treat through your legs - like doing a figure 8 around / through your legs (you can lift one leg as he passes through) FUN game to play - the dogs seem to enjoy it - and it looks neat! Besides - it helps your pup to follow the 'target' treat - helps in other training! take a bow. He stretched with his butt up in the air, so I just started shaping this behavior. is to teach your dog to hold a dog biscuit (like a milk bone) on his nose, then flip it in the air and catch it in his mouth. I've taught Boomer to bark in three volumes on command: Bark, which is LOUD, Woof which sounds just like woof and whisper which is hardly audible. People love it and so does Boomer, he's such a show-off. (a lot of people suggested this) Answer the phone (pick up a childs toy phone when you say 'ring.' Add a bark for more flash.) Go harvesting (put toy food into a basket) Tell a story (keep on barking) a simple retrieve can be renamed - retrieve stuffed sheep or cow - this is 'herding'. a friend of mine's sheltie would retrieve 2 stuffed sheep deposit them in a basket - 'the barn'. retrieve hidden toy - stuffed rat - this is the popular terrier game of 'hunt the rat'. teach the names of more than one toy teach to retrieve one particular one. retrieve wad of paper to trash can - pick up the garbage or do the recycle. we used to have a toy pedal operated garbage can a brussels griffon would retrieve a wad of paper open the can drop it in. haven't done it...but the cutest trickster I've seen was a Sheltie. When her owner sneezed, she raced across the room, grabbed a box of tissues, and returned to offer them to her owner. Very cute... I've taught the Rottie to wipe her feet when she comes in the house. Did it with treats initially. I would spin the treat in circles over the throw rug while saying wipe your feet and now (at 8 years old) I tell her to wipe her feet all the time and she does it. The feet wiping one helps me out ALOT!
Hugo's little setback
Hugo's had a little setback (please skip this message if you're tired of these updates). The mobile vet and the surgeon had said any physical therapy would be beneficial. The vet showed me ROM exercises and also said do whatever I can do to get him kicking and moving. So I used food treats as incentives and got him kicking his back legs to try to move about a foot to reach me and the food. It wasn't easy, he wasn't going in a straight line and he doesn't seem to be using his front paws much. In the process he must have hurt his neck muscles (he was stretching his neck a lot). So for the past two days he's been reluctant to lift his head off the floor and even whimpered at times when he did it. I tried topical arnica and an icepack and called the surgeon today who prescribed Robaxin. I have mixed feelings about giving him this so I am trying one dose and will see how he does. I am feeling terrible because I did this and I've set him back, physically but also psychologically. He was already reluctant to try to move before this. Someone made a good point that humans can work through the pain of therapy because we know there is a benefit, but dogs don't know. Anyway, I am hoping he'll feel better soon so we can get him moving again. I have a call into the hydro-therapist in San Diego (about 2-3 hours from here) to see if she thinks she might be able to help Hugie. I am so grateful to everyone who is emailing me and helping me find answers to help him walk again. You are all wonderful people with such good ideas and it helps so much not to feel alone with this situation. Donna and Hugo, Southern Calif., (8 yr old BMD, ruptured disc, surgery 4/02, surgery 12/02 bulging disc, stroke)
Re: agility
At 12:01 AM 01/02/2003 -0600, you wrote: Hi Everyone- I have an 8 mo old Berner who is quite smart. We would like to start training him for agility. Have found a trainer who gives an 8 week course for this. My question is this- is he too young to start training for this? I wouldn't want to do anything to harm him - I know he has alot of growing to do and wouldn't want to jeopardize his hips or legs. Anyone have any advice for me? Love listening to all of your suggestions and advice everyday. I've learned sooo much. Thanks again for any help you can give me. Denise Deuce I've just started my 4.5 month pup in agility classes (though she's a belgian tervuren, not a berner, there is a St Bernard in the class). There is no jumping. There is a lot of attention work in the first eight week session. Then there's obstacle familiarisation which builds awareness of the dog's legs and what he's doing with them e.g. walking through a ladder on the ground, walking along a plank raised one brick high off the ground, tunnels and tyres placed at floor level. It's fun for the dogs and builds confidence and a good relationship with the handler. I would recommend it to anyone. Boris (my Berner) will be 5 in June and I enrolled him in the beginners class last year. The first session he was doing identical exercises to the puppies in the puppy class. The second class built up jumping very gradually. In fact, I think that even then the jumping was more like walking over a 10 high pole. Two more classes later and he will now jump 16 if he's feeling inspired and it's unlikely I will ask him to jump any higher than that. The main thing for me is that he is enjoying it. He adores all contact obstacles (Oh, how I wish my others did!). Imagine a 110 lb berner thundering over a dogwalk, drool flying out of his mouth in anticipation of the treat he earns for hitting and waiting at the end of the yellow contact zone. It makes me smile just thinking about it. I say go for it. Just don't do any jumping with Deuce until he is at least a year old (some trainers even say 18 months for a large dog and may even ask for written agreement from a vet if the dog is younger). Don't try to do too much too soon, some people that I've taken classes with have got frustrated that they are not running a full blown course by the end of the 8 weeks. Take your time and build everything up gradually, but above all - Enjoy it.! I do, and so do my dogs! Wendy, Boris, Tanja AADC and Tyra Boris Beard Ottawa, Canada http://members.rogers.com/bernerboris/bernerbooks.html
Denver, CO
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Transporting large animals
We had occasion to move a 70kg (160#) anaesthetised Irish Wolfhound from the car to get her inside the house. She used to panic if she came out of an anaesthetic at the vet hospital, so we brought her home to wake up. We used a large carpet piece (that fitted into the back of our wagon) to carry as a stretcher. It took 2 people of course, but worked very well. It wouldn't do for a dog with a spinal injury as it doesn't keep the dog's back straight. Gael, Ellie and Tara Gael Robert Goldsack Sydney, Australia [EMAIL PROTECTED]
limping
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E-zine for Junior Handlers
Hi all, I'm sure everyone's starting to think the only reason I joined this list was to forward on webpage addresses. :) I assure you, it ain't so! Exactly one month after the original deadline, I am proud to present .. Junior's World E-zine (a virtual magazine written for Junior Handlers by Junior Handlers). A few Junior Handlers (and aged out Juniors, as well) have been working very hard to put make this idea a reality, and would appreciate everybody taking a quick look! : ) If anyone is interested in taking a look or forwarding the address onto other interested parties, feel free to do so. It's http://www.geocities.com/bridgit_bowles/Juniors_World_Ezine.html I know the address is quite long, but bear with us, it IS the first issue! Thanks for letting me share! Bridgit [EMAIL PROTECTED] PS. There was somebody on this list that was interested in seeing the article and photos an Avalanche Rescue Dogs.. sorry, but I've lost your email address! The article is included in Junior's World, though. _ STOP MORE SPAM with the new MSN 8 and get 2 months FREE* http://join.msn.com/?page=features/junkmail
Challenger
Remembering the families, colleagues and friends of those whose lives were given in the quest for science and a better future for all of us. RIP Marion Brown Teversal Bernese Mountain Dogs South Africa Dogs Never Lie About Love (Jeffrey Masson)
