1. breeders of quality puppies are overworked trying to answer questions and making sure their puppies go to good homes, and
2. more and more people will be selling Berners just for the apparent high profit, with little regard for the long term happiness of the owners (to say nothing of their lack of concern for the long term health of the Berner breed!).

This web site can do at least three things for prospective buyers.

1. You can learn a lot about our breed, from the multitude of web links and our Berner Internet search engine.
2. We provide you with the means to contact Berner owners with whom you can ask all manner of Berner questions.
3. We'll try to give you contacts with breeders in your geographic area that meet our minimal criteria in their breeding practices.

This site offers at least two advantages for participating Berner breeders.

1. The listed owners have all volunteered to answer many of the basic questions you are probably spending many hours a week answering now. That is, we can act as an initial education/ screening resource for you the breeder.
2. By placing your name in our database, you are helping to direct prospective buyers away from unscrupulous sources and to yourself or other IBMDC breeders.

Many people want to know how healthy berners are, how long they live, and facts regarding the breed's susceptibilty to diseases such as cancer and hip dysplasia.

An old Swiss adage of "3 years a young dog, 3 years a good dog, and 3 years an old dog" may be an overestimation of the average lifespan of Berners. This likely still offers accurate insight, however, into the aging process throughout life of a Bernese. There are no published statistics that say how long our berners are now living. Most thoughts on this are influenced by personal experience in how long Berners live. It is unfortunately found that a number of Berners die at 6 to 7 years of age. Please also understand that these sort of tragedies are like the nightly news: bad news is more likely to "make the broadcast". Tragedy seems to sticks in our minds, more so than the "quiet" news of a senior Berner.

Berners over ten years of age are the exception and highly regarded treasures by their owners.

Hip dysplasia and elbow dysplasia, while treatable in most cases, can be life altering diseases. Both diseases are found in a number of Berners today. Most Bernese in the US who are used for breeding have been evaluated for hip dysplasia. This is not true in all other breeds and is one reason we know so much about the amount of HD in our breed. Evaluations for ED are becoming more common as some breeders attempt to arrest incidence of this crippling disease in offspring from their programs. Researching family history for incidence of these diseases will find that likely all families are affected. Parents who are certified normal for HD and/or ED can produce the diseases in offspring. Breeders seeking to produce healthy, long lived dogs will typically be interested in knowing the facts about the family health history in the dogs used for breeding.

So what keeps us coming back to Berners, even though the breed has these problems? It is the temperament of this breed that endears them to us. The Berner is devoted to his/her family (they are definitely family dogs, not wide ranging, sporting dogs). Although a Berner may initially be indifferent to strangers, most show interest once it is known the owner has accepted the person as a friend. Many Berners are guarded when strangers approach. Some Berners, on the other hand, tend to immediately welcome strangers. Berners are above average in intelligence: This is demonstrated in daily life with them in many ways. Berners as a breed are famous for their sense of (burlesque) humor — they will nudge you at the most inopportune moments (spilling your coffee first thing in the morning). While they are thrilled to retrieve a stick the first time you throw it, should you repeat the trick, the Berner quickly summizes, you obviously don't want the stick back.

While all breeders would like to produce only dogs who are healthy, of good termperament and who live a long time, there are no such guarantees with any living being. As with ownership of any breed, it is advisable that you be willing to face the tears as well as the smiles our breed offers. No matter how much homework a breeder does, and tries to breed the best possible litter, genetics is a gamble and we just cannot control all factors. There are always risks. Hopefully if we, the breeders, do our best, it is a calculated risk. If you, the puppy buyer, are not prepared to become well educated about our breed so you can assess the specifics of the calculated risks in a particular breeding, then it is recommended you not purchase a Bernese.

Every breed of dog presents challenges to conscientious breeders. Buying from a conscientious breeder does not "guarantee" that your puppy will never suffer from health problems. Buying from a conscientious breeder will increase your chances of having a support system should your puppy become ill. A conscientious breeder will help you when you have problems (of any kind) or if they cannot actually help, will at least offer emotional support so that you do not have to face the problem alone. A conscientious breeder will cheer with you when your pup does well and will cry with you when she does not.

Although it may be true that some families of Bernese are healthier than others, the facts surrounding this are not known so it cannot be accepted as true. It is known however, that individual litters are sometimes healthier than others. Sometimes a breeding from a particular program is risker than another breeding from the same program as conscientious breeders seek to address many characteristics in each breeding. While we can certainly point fingers at genetics, we must also consider environmental influences when it comes to health problems.

In summary, we can not imagine life without a Berner even when problems arise. The love and devotion this breed gives far outweighs, in our opinion, the problems that can arise.

Comments by: J Barrett (pet owner), and R Reynolds (breeder and pet owner).