Aishling, Welcome! I live in New Jersey with our first Berner, a girl 18 months old...and my husband and 3 year-old daughter.
Jewel, the dog, is very tolerant of my daughter, and I trust her completely. But really, the size is too big that my daughter really can't participate much in her care. (Although Jewel will obey a "down" or "Wait" command from my daughter). Jewel's wagging tail just happenes to be about face-level for my daughter. My daughter much prefers the company of our Burmese cat who's also very tolerant (and small enough for her to carry and dress up in doll clothes). I can't take both of them to the dog park together, (little kids not allowed) and I have to go to training obedience classes while my husband watches our daughter, so I've needed to make some time for the dog and I alone. On the good side, I never have to worry about spills and dropped food on the floor. All-in-all, I think they are great with kids, generally, but its alot of dog for a kid to handle. They are just too big to romp with a little kid outside. And my biggest fear is that she will inadvertantly knock my daughter down the stairs some day. We've trained her to wait at the top until my daughter's gone down, but it still scares me. In the heat...Jewel prefers the comforts of the air conditioning and doesn't tolerate much time outside. We even have curtailed 8:00 PM training classes in the hottest summer months. And no long walks unless its really early am. Hope this helps! Rita --- Aishling Peterson <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > Hello, > I am a newcomer to berner-l in an effort to learn more about a > breed that I hope one day to introduce as part of my family. > > We have two small children and are just about to move from Southern > CA to my home state of RI. It is our plan to bring a dog, as a > family pet, into our home in the next 18 months or so. We have had > problems with aggressive dogs in our home in the past. We need to > make sure that our family is ready and the breed of dog is > compatible with children and that we are suitable owners for the > specific breed of dog. > > I would love to hear from Berner owners with young children (under > the age of 3). > I would also like to know what Berner owners who live in climates > that experience hot summer heat do to make their dogs comfortable. > > Thank you and I look forward to all that I can learn about your > experiences. > > Aishling P. > Carlsbad, CA ===== Support anti-Spam legislation. Join the fight http://www.cauce.org/ __________________________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? Yahoo! Mail Plus - Powerful. Affordable. Sign up now. http://mailplus.yahoo.com
