Berner Garde, Silvers Twisten Oliver's Story & My thoughts on Breeding.

Berner Garde

In January those of you who read this on a regular basis know that we went to the Bernese Mountain Dog Club of the Greater Twin Cities.  At that play pals event they had a mini clinic on Berner Garde.  Berner Garde  is data base with a sort of genealogy for all Bernese Mountian Dogs.  It contains Birth and death dates,  health information, tittles, and even a spot to put a picture of you dog!!  It's very neat and is very useful when researching breeders and dogs. Although the data base is very helpful in the search for a puppy, during the meeting we learned that it is important for "just" pet dogs to enter their info.  This gives feedback to the breeder as well as future puppy buyers of the kinds of puppies being produced.

Silvers Twisten Oliver

After attending the clinic we entered Aspen into Berner Garde data base and started searching. If you want to look him up his BG# is 77808.  I was very surprised to see Aspen's family even on the data base. I found some birth dates but not much else.  One of Aspen's sisters can be found but no information on the owner.  I kept searching until I ran across Aspen's great grandfather Silvers Twisten Oliver.  There was a birth date, death date and health information.  In the space provided for rescues was BARC. I couldn't help but wonder what had happened with him? Why was he in a rescue?

I was unable to contact the person who had rescued him initially because his info was not available on the BG site (you have the option to remove your contact info from the public).  I then decided to googled the original owner of the dog.  He was no where to be found. At this point I decided to contacted the owners of Aspen's grandmother Sharon's Mellow Marla (Oliver's daughter). The individuals that owned Aspen's grandmother were very reluctant to tell me anything about the dog other then she retired in 2008.  They wouldn't even tell me if she was alive.  They continued to be very defensive with questions.   I'd hit a road block.  I wasn't sure if  Berner Garde operators would give out the rescuers info, so I requested that they give him my email, but it turned out that they were able to give me his email address we got in contact.  He was able to answer all my questions and told me Oliver's story.

Oliver was rescued in 2006 with another berner named Sammy from a horrible place!  He and the other dog were the last of the breeders berners and had been placed in a news paper add for sale.   When some people went out to the farm to look at the dogs they saw who they think to be Aspen's grandfather carrying the jaw of another dog!!  The breeder explained that the other dog had been killed by coyotes but even so he left the dog out there for the others to eat.  Sammy the other dog was only about 43lbs!! After seeing the conditions they contacted the Rescue and both dogs were removed. Sadly Oliver died only one month after being rescued at the age of about 5 with some sort of cancer :-( For only a month Oliver knew what it was like to live in a home.  He was a stud dog his entire life and that was pretty much it.  He never got to go for car rides, snuggle on the couch, play tug-a-war, chase a ball, go to the park, get treats... it's sad.  Sammy went on to move to CA and lived there 4 years a very happy dog.  He died at the age of 11.

Breeding Programs

While I cringe at the thought of supporting what I would consider a puppy mill, I am so very thankful we got Aspen out of there.  Maybe it's a little bit of fate that I didn't do what I was suppose to? I truly think that Aspen and I were ment to find one another.  While I will never go down that road again Aspen was a once in a life time find!  He has taught me so much about dogs, life, and even myself. He is our best friend who is loved and adored everyday.

As for our future puppy I have some new ideas about breeding now and have picked up some pretty strict rules.  

#1 I will not buy a puppy from someone that does it for a source of income.  It's is impossible for the goal of making money not to interfere with the breeding program.  Think about it more puppies more money regardless of how thoughtful they are in selecting mating pairs.

#2 They must have all their dogs on Berner Garde and have up to date info.  This way I can do my own homework.

#3 The breeder must have ALL health clearances done and I want to see hips, elbows, eyes, heart, thyroid, DM, VWB.- I think that's all of them.

#4 They must be active in BMDCA.  They hold breeders up to certain standards.

#5 They also must be active in show.  I know sometimes dog shows seem sort of "snobby". Some people at the shows are but it cannot be argued that they are looking for evaluation on their dogs.  Evaluation so that they can maintain or even make a better dog.

#6 I want a breeder that is also involved in rescue.  

#7 They must truly love their dogs. Meaning never ever getting rid of an adult dog after retirement. I want a breeder who has a bond and attachment to their dogs.  The way they want me to bond and attach to their puppy. I want our next dog from a long line of dogs getting rides in the car, playing tug-a-war, sleeping on the couch, playing ball, going for walks, and being loved... What about you?

I value ALL of these things because I LOVE the Bernese Mountain Dogs.  I want breeders to produce a better long lived Berner.  This said even if I found the most perfect breeder in the world... things can still go wrong and your dog can still get sick :-(  In life there is no certainties, but I do believe that carful breeding can improve the odds.  The point of all this is that we want to be educated buyers and we want to support the health and longevity of the breed. After all isn't that why we have pure bred dog in the first place?