-- ----- Original Message ----- From: "Kenneth L Babcock" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> Shedding/ Get a new vacum. Maybe two. >is my home large enough/ Size is less of an issue than clutter (think of that tail--it is a coffee table sweeper). And a bored Berner is a destructive dog; I am not walking my crew right now because one of my dogs has a significant lameness and she gets way too whipped up if I take the others out, which aggrevates her problem. In the last two weeks Mic the Berner boy has eaten my tax papers, trashed a pillow, dismembered an innocent baggie all over the living room floor, and started picking fights with his sister Cassie the Rescue Pyr. I am doing short obedience routines with him, and playing strenuous games like tug of war, and he has acess 24/7 to the fenced yard . . . but he is highly active and energetic and he wants MORE activity. >temperment/ Varies quite a lot. Shyness and sharp-shyness (which leads to fear aggression) is more common in this breed than a casual contact level person might think; we also have some dogs which harken back to the farmyard guardian days who exhibit some territorial aggression. This might not be the most common temperment in this breed, but it is a substantial sub-set and you should exercise caution when finding the right breeder for you. Make sure you meet plenty of relatives and that they are the temperment you want. >barking/ Mic is not the biggest barker in my house (I have Great Pyrenees for that!) but what he (and many other Berners) will do is wait until you are trying to pay attention to some task or program and then bark at you for attention. We practice techniques like walking away, refusing to look at him, and completely ignoring him when he does this sort of thing and it helps, but my g** he is persistent. >I'm told the berners are similar in temperment to the Golden? I think Goldies in general are a little softer and easier in the personality department. Obviously, temperments vary from dog to dog. However, something about the Working breeds makes them a little harder to live with if they do not have a job to do. I know I can't slack off with giving Mic things to do for me or there is simply no living with him. Think, Type A person. There are other Berners, like my friend Kathy's Max, who will tolerate anything and everything and be extremely mellow. Again, meet the family and that will help; Mic is not very like his mother, auntie and older sibling that I met--he is like a rather difficult grandparent. I think Berners are a little more needy than Goldies. They really want to be all over their people, all the time. You have not talked about health at all. That is a *very* important consideration, especially given the amount of cancer in this breed. You should make sure your breeder does some sort of hip and elbow certification for displaysia, and it should be good or excellent in at least one, preferably both, parents. She should be having CERF for the eyes. I strongly recommend heart checks and also a check for Von Willibrand's disease. She should be able to tell you what she is trying to accomplish with her litter. She should be active in the National or local club. She should have someone other than herself assessing the quality of her dogs to avoid kennel blindness, preferably by showing the dogs to their Championships in conformation and perhaps also some sort of performance, such as drafting or obedience. Eileen Morgan March 30th Clinic Information: http://www.enter.net/~edlehman/USEAAR2.html The Mare's Nest http://www.enter.net/~edlehman --- Outgoing mail is certified Virus Free. Checked by AVG anti-virus system (http://www.grisoft.com). Version: 6.0.458 / Virus Database: 257 - Release Date: 2/24/2003
