The first time I saw a Bernese Mountain Dog was in 1991.
My husband and I had finally got a house with a garden wide enough to wellcome a dog. So, we decided to buy it.
We don't think about a particular breed, but we were looking for a big size dog, sweet and sensible. We visited several breedings (big sheds where they sell many dog breeds), and in one of these dreary places, we saw a puppy of about 7/8 months that tried to jump out from the little enclosure of wood in which it was closed.
On a piece of paper stuck to the enclosure there was written: "Bernese Mountain Dog". We were touched by its quick witted look and its wonderful three colors coat. We don't bring home the dog but we started to take information about that breed, its origins, its features until we decided that Bernese Mountain Dog was the dog we wanted.
In May 1992 we went in Switzerland to take Alice, a sweet flock that, since then, became our shadow.
With Alice we discovered that the most beautiful feature of BMD is the character: faithful, self-confident, playful and obedient.
About a month later, Grethel came to keep Alice company and, in the same year, Fedor to came by us.
We spent with them unforgettable moments: there were always with us everywhere we went, both for shopping in the city and in the long walking in the near mountains.
We also started to go in the dog show obtaining unexpected success and comparing our experiences with the ones of other lucky owner of BMD.
In 1993 we took Alice and Grethel in Switzerland to X-ray them at the hips and at the elbows in order to check that there weren't any problems of dysplasia. in Italy these kind of tests weren't (and even now they aren't) compulsory. We had a favorable result and so we decided that it was time for our first litter.
We carefully choose the one we considered the more suitable male for mating and, on the 15 June 1994 Grethel gave us a wonderful puppy: Alex.
The desire to breed seriously was great, even if we knew that, in this case, we incurred sacrifices and many engagements. We were ready to risk!
In these years of breeding we had wonderful moments and other ones of great sorrow and resignation for the death (sometimes sudden) of some of our dogs.
But the passion for this marvelous breed drive us to continue with the purpose of obtaining morphologically correct Bernese Mountain Dog, making particular care for health and character. We directed our efforts on quality and not on quantity (our average is of about 10 puppies in a year!); the breeder are carefully selected and chosen among the best lines of blood in Europe and overseas countries.
Our female give birth to at home. We look after them and we help them if necessary. we also follow the puppies every day during their growth. When they are one month old, they are joined together with the other dogs that to favor the necessary socialization to become sensible dogs. They can be delivered to the new owners not before 9 weeks of age, vaccinated, deworming and with microchip.
We carefully select also the future owners: we most know if each one is ready to love a dog, to sacrifice a part of his time for it and to take care of it, from the time when it is a puppy, to the time in which (we hope) it will become old.
For this reason we are happy to receive the visit (of course without any engagements) of anyone who want to know the features of this wonderful breed or see our dogs and know their character. |
