I just spent four weeks in Switzerland and had the opportunity to watch a little TV while I was there. They had a program about a chap who goes around doing artificial insemination at dairy farms (not exactly "CSI Miami" but if they want drivel they just dub "Friends" in German). The program followed him to a "typical" dairy farm. He had to ride this very long cable car up to the alpine meadow where the lady dairy farmer lived. After chatting with her at the house they headed out to the barn so he could do his thing. They showed the dairy farmer and the technician being escorted to the barn by the guardian of the cows, a beautiful male Berner.
As I watched him trotting proudly along, doing the job he was bred for, and serving as a very important and valuable part of the enterprise, I couldn't help but reflect on the current state of the breed. I come from a line of country folk. My great uncle had a very large dairy in Missouri when I was a boy. It is a very hard life and it breeds very hardy people and animals. If my uncle had a puppy that he couldn't allow to walk up and down stairs for fear it would injure itself, he would just take it out and shoot it. He wasn't a cruel man, he was a pragmatist. On a farm you pull your own weight. There is no room for a dog with bad hips, bad elbows, a compromised immune system, or needing constant medical care. So it must also be on a Swiss farm. These dogs didn't start out being the potential medical disaster that so many of them are today. What in the world have we done to the breed we profess to love so much? And what can be done to save it?
I admit I have no ready answers. I was just struck by the dignity of this Berner as he led the way to the barn. I have also determined that I will spend more time "working them working dogs". It's what they were bred for, it is the fullfillment of their existence, and I owe it to them to help them achieve the dignity of the noble working dog.
Tim & Christl, with Gandalf & Holly
Loving memory of Urmel, Frodo, Baerli and Magic (all lost to cancer)
Chateau Bernois
Nimes, France
Add photos to your e-mail with MSN 8. Get 2 months FREE*.
