RE: Long Weekend

Esta, I agree with several other Listers that it really depends on the dog. But for our dogs, we have had friends come and stay at our house. When Jay and I went to Guatemala to meet our son, close friends came with their 2 Aussies (our dogs all get along famously) and stayed for 5 days. It was

Doug Smith and old Berners

I, too, want to thank Doug for his efforts. When we heard about Jenny and Canoe last fall on the List I wrote to Doug and he hooked me up with the rescue folks and now we have another wonderful dog in our lives. While we were greatly saddened by Canoe's bloat episode and subsequent death, and we

[Fwd: RE Berners Babies]

---BeginMessage--- Before we brought our son home from Guatemala at 8 months I read and put into practice the wonderful suggestions in the book Childproofing Your Dog - by Brian Kilcommons. Now that David is going to be 2, he has a nice relationship with our 3 Berners and 2 cats. But he IS a

RE Canine Good Citizen

There is also a nice book authored by Jack Wendy Volhard entitled - The Canine Good Citizen: Every Dog Can Be One. It outlines in detail the various requirements for the test as well as history and positive training tips. Catherine Young Madison WI Shadow, Mickey Jenny

Return of The Fun Survery!!

Hi all, I had so much fun recording the answers to my first Fun Survey that I'm doing another one. You can either copy the survey into a new email and record your answers or just send the answers. I'll be recording data for 3 weeks and then I'll post my results. Have fun! 1 --- Do you live in

RE Puppy Games

Hi Wendy! At our training classes we play recall games (alot!) as well as the following -- 1 -- Shark-infested Waters -- this game works the Stay command with distractions (so it may be a bit advanced for puppies.) 2 Rows of chairs, one for each team. The first player goes to the first chair and

RE Favorite dog books

I second the titles, Don't Shoot The Dog (Karen Pryor) and The Culture Clash (Jean Donaldson). Excellent books! I'd also add How To Teach A New Dog Old Tricks (Ian Dunbar). It has lots of easy to follow/understand information on teaching dogs manners and helping them to be family companions.

Fetching Berners (aren't they all?)

My boy Mickey is both a fetching (retrieving) Berner and a fetching (fabulously handsome) Berner G I don't even remember teaching him to fetch - we just started doing it one day. I'd throw and he'd bring it back. Then I really shaped it with treats and using 2 toys (throw one - he fetches - throw

RE Milwaukee Show

Who's going to the Specialty in Milaukee, WI on March 1st 2nd? Jay and I would love to meet some fellow Listers -- put some faces to names and see those Berners! Catherine Young Madison WI Shadow, Mickey Jenny

RE Dog Park Incident/Attracting Aggression

Since I've been assisting at dog training classes I've learned alot about reading dogs' body language. And the few times I've been to the dog park, I've been stressed-out by what I've seen! Fortunately, we have 50 acres out in the country (3 of which are fenced for the dogs) so getting adequate

RE Dog Names

Our Mickey was a from his breeder's C litter and since he was brave and outgoing and friendly (to counteract Shadow's debilitating shyness) we named him Aquabi Captains Courageous. Hadn't thought much about the call name until I was driving home with him and at one point I looked down at him in

RE Dog Bath Tubs

After Mickey and I visited Vilma last Fall I came home with photos of her dog room and told my husband I wanted one!! filled with envy in WI, Catherine Young Shadow, Mickey Jenny

RE Adding Second Berner

We have 3 Berners right now -- this fall we took in those 2 older girls that Doug mentioned, but as some of you may recall, Canoe bloated and we lost her. Jenny (9 yrs and going strong!) has adjusted well and we are a big happy family - mom, dad, toddler, 3 dogs and 2 cats. Sometimes I wish that

Berner Raffle Baskets

I'm probably not the only one on the List who'd like to learn more about putting together a basket for the basket raffle. So - how do I do it? Who do I contact? Does anyone have any tips? I've been scheming and thinking and looking for things to contribute (and I've found some pretty cute/unique

RE Food Groups

Actually, the 4 food groups are -- ice-cream biscotti pie freshly-baked bread with butter * Catherine Young Madison WI Shadow, Mickey Jenny *mashed potatoes with butter and sour cream are an acceptable exchange

RE Altered Class

Yes! Yes! Yes! I think that such an opportunity would really be good for all breeds -- breeders would get even more feedback on the quality of their breeding programs, pet owners would have an opportunity to engage in a wonderful cooperative activity with their dogs and, along the way, gain an

Gunner

Kathy, Such sad news. And yet, such wonderful, beautiful memories. I loved your descriptions of Gunner's foibles, esp. the leaf story. Accepting him as he is was a great thing to do. Our Rescue, Shadow, is a dog that I have come to accept as he is. He is terribly, terribly shy and I know that to

RE dog-dog interaction

Kathleen, Fear biting is not necessarily something that always goes along with fearfulness or shyness. I have a pathologically shy Rescue Berner (Shadow) who is very timid around people, and in the house, but is much more comfortable outside and with other dogs. And he's not particularly mouthy

RE:weird things dogs have eaten

Several folks have related how their dogs broke into sealed/hidden containers and ate the food therein. Since this summer I've been assisting with training classes for Dog's Best Friend here in Madison. I've heard some pretty wild stories. But this most recent one takes the cake. Bronte, an 8

RE Kennedy

Oh Jim, I feel for you! We just lost our new girl to bloat about 2 weeks ago. She was a rescue we'd only had for about 2 months and then, she was gone. It is so final. And the grief seems unbelievable. My husband and I had no idea that our hearts could be swept away so quickly by a new dog. I am

RE tallking berners

Well, Mickey doesn't really talk. But when I was a kid we had a family dog (cocker spaniel/lab/something)that knew lots of tricks, among them were speak and talk. Speak meant to bark. And talk meant to sort of go woo-woo-humma-humma-hoo-awoo... Cutest thing. He could also sneeze which was to

RE feeding practices

We feed our dogs Canidae and healthy table scraps as well. Frequently this includes the following -- dollop of canned pumpkin dollop of kefir or yogurt cooked veggies that are leftover spoonful of leftover soup rice noodles applesauce (just the apples ma'am) They also often get little treats or

Re Endless Questions

When Jay and I took Mickey with us to an art fair in IL this summer it took us 20 minutes to go 10 feet we got so many people wanting to pet/visit/talk about our beautiful Berner boy. At one point I was resting sitting on a curb when a police car drove up and stopped. And I thought, oh brother,

Canoe's bloat

Hi everyone, Friday night one of our rescue girls, Canoe, bloated and her stomach twisted. We rushed her to the ER vet and they performed surgery. Unfortunately, her kidneys and other organs have sustained some damage due to blood and oxygen loss and she is struggling to heal. At this point she

Learning lessons the hard way...

Vicky Whitney wrote -- (No lectures, please, on how I should have been doing this since he was a baby puppy -- I've learned my lesson, and make a solemn oath that I'll do so with the NEXT puppy. Damn, I hate learning lessons the hard way . . . ) Same goes for me! Except that I completely

Hips, Elbows, X-Rays, Breeders, Owners...

Whew! Now that I'm caught up on my Digests I must say that there have been some lively discussions! (we've been busy with Jenny and Canoe, getting them settled in and realizing that yes, we DO have 4 big dogs!) Our breeder sold us a pup with one blue eye for the same price as hershow quality pups.

RE Dog Chapel Book

I love Stephen Huneck's work -- he has 3 picture books for kids out with lovely illustrations of his beloved (and now deceased) black Lab Sally. Sally Goes to the Beach, Sally Goes to the Mountains and Sally Goes to the Farm. I used them frequently in my story times for toddlers at the Borders