 |
|
 |
MOHAPP'S EPIC BERNESE MOUNTAIN DOGS
http://www.webspawner.com/users/mohapp/
http://ss.webring.com/navbar?f=j;y=mohapp;u=defurl
PLEASE HELP US ALL BY CHOOSING A BERNESE MOUNTAIN DOG OR PUPPY WISELY! Some friends recently saw a Bernese Mountain Dog in a Pet Store. Picking out a puppy at a pet store is a horrible idea! You know nothing about health clearances, temperament, the blood lines, and the list goes on and on.
Many of us that have fallen in love with this breed are doing the best we can to attempt to discourage these puppies from being bought from Pet Stores, Puppy Mills,uninformed back yard breeders, and Brokers. If you love this breed AVOID them.
"It is embarrassingly sad to have to spread the warning that dogs purchased by brokers for U.S. auction deaklers are not destined for the 'American dream'. (Julie Crawford - AKC Gazette - October 2001, page 67.)
If you are currently looking for a Bernese Mountain Dog Puppy, I applaud you in the your choice of breed. HOWEVER, every dog breeder believes that their breed of dog is special. Who can judge how special a breed of dog is? The popularity of the Bernese Mountain Dog is growing rapidly. This is understandably so as I myself, LOVE this breed.
Please remember, that more so than many other breeds of dogs, there is more risk with this breed. The life span is not where we want it to be (i.e. reported median age being seven or eight). Many Bernese Mountain Dogs live much longer, however not without careful planning and breeding and proper care. If you add this dog to your family, and trust me the dog WILL be a member of the family, you have to prepare yourself for the following:
The dog may get cancer at age three or seven - OR it may live well in to the double digits. The puppy may develop hip dysplasia or may have good or excellent hips. You do NOT know this when you pick up your eight week old pup. This breed is prone to other health issues so it is important that you do your research on the breed so you have an idea of what to possibly expect and are prepared. The link at the bottom of this page (The Bernese Mountain Dog Club of America) has many health articles you will want to check out.
My philosophy is that this breed can have a longer longevity with proper breeding and care. Some breeders disagree with me. I have had many friends in the breed lose dogs at age three, six, or seven to cancer. NO bloodlines are free of this!
I have been fortunate so far. In my ten years, I have never lost a dog to cancer. However, much of that may be LUCK and I am painfully aware of that fact. However, some of it "may" be to careful breeding and careful use of vaccinations and feeding. Currently, my first Berner is just shy of ten and a half. She has arthritis and is slowing down but there is still a sparkle in those eyes! These are her geriatric years. My second Berner is almost nine years of age. Other breeders have not been so lucky with life span. Some of it is due to the nature of the gene pool and some of it is very careful selection on the part of the breeder.
Some breeders utilize the winning dogs in the show ring for breeding hoping to produce their next Champion. However, a dog's life in the show ring is relatively short versus the entire life of the dog. So, with that being the case, choose breeders who give you the rationale of their breeding being that of longevity and health. Too many breeders want a Champion and may sacrifice on soundness to achieve this. Fortunately, you can find those that are reputable who are interested in Champions but equally interested in breeding the healthiest of dogs out of blood lines with the fewest problems.
You want a dog that was bred for health and longevity and you DESERVE that whether you ever want to show or you want a companion dog. Companion dogs are more important than show dogs if you look at the amount of time a dog spends with you as compared to the show ring. The show ring is important to maintain the standards of the breed and so you will want to check the pedigree to see a number of champions in it. If you see this, this may be an indication that that the breeder was being careful and not merely doing random breedings to produce puppies for profit.
I will help you in any way I can. I do not have any litters planned currently.
ALWAYS KEEP IN MIND THE FOLLOWING:
"Good breeders care about placing good dogs in good homes. They may be passionate about canine competition, but winning isn't the most important thing to them. A commitment to breeding excellent dogs is, plus decency toward dogs and humans alike. "The dog world will expose you to some of kindest people you will ever want to meet. IT WILL ALSO EXPOSE you to competitive and insecure personalities who USE dogs as EGO CRUTCHES. In the case of the latter, you wouldn't want their stomachs; you wouldn't want their low self esteem; you might not want their puppies either."
(Excerpt from: THE PUPPY REPORT How to Select a Healthy Happy Dog, by Larry Shook - Ballentine Books, New York - p.83)
"Unless a man has a natural love of dogs he will never make a success of
keeping them, for he must be willing to cheerfully sacrifice his comfort and
leisure hours doing what is necessary for them. He must see in them
something more
than simply a means to an end. The best animals in the world have always
been bred for the love of them or the love of breeding and caring for them,
rather than purely for the profit they bring; and the person who does not
like dogs
had better not attempt to keep them at all." (Milo G. Denlinger, "The
Complete German Shepherd")
When you do search for a professional breeder you may encounter different degrees of assistance. There are different personalities in breeders. Always check their references because most of them will be checking yours. However, if you come across one who you feel mistreats you in your search for a puppy, this should not be tolerated by anyone. If the breeder is a member of a club either at the Regional level or the National level than WE need to hear about it. I serve as one of the Breed Stewards for the Bernese Mountain Dog Club of America and IF you believe this has happened to you please contact me and I will do what I can to help with that situation as well.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ This site is frequently changed to update what is happening with my own Bernese Mountain Dogs that I truly enjoy and who have taught me so much about dogs, pets, companions, friends, and life.
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
WELCOME to my web page featuring information regarding my BERNESE MOUNTAIN DOGS. Having Bernese Mountain Dogs for nine and a half, I was involved in breeding and showing them during for four years. This aspect of the breed and the contact in the venue of the world of DOG SHOWING and affiliation with members of dog clubs, other exhibitors, professional handlers, AKC judges has been an understated "eye opening" experience.
Primarily my learning achieved its highest by the realization summed up in the powerful words already stated above. Over and over I am reminded of what this wonderful breed of dog - affectionately REFERRED TO a "Berners", bring to us. WHEN ANYONE SEARCHES FOR A BERNESE MOUNTAIN DOG, REMEMEMBER - IT would be much more FAIR to that puppy if only it was the OTHER WAY AROUND.
There are many classifications of humans associated with this breed. These include: dog breeders boasting about number of champions they produced (no matter how many dogs passed through their hands along the way, a pet owner,a "want to be" show dog owner, or a hopeful awaiting puppy buyer (better known in the "business" as a PPO - prospective puppy owner). We are all fortunate to have this type of wonderful dog and any breeder needs to remember the adage: "If Bernese Mountain Dogs were allowed to choose their owners, many of us would be lucky if we were cat owners!"
"We give dogs time we can spare, space we can spare and love we can spare.
In return, they give us their all. It's the best deal man has ever made."
M. Facklam
IMPORTANT TO NOTE:
Prior to the sharing of information regarding my Bernese Mountains Dogs, IT IS VERY IMPORTANT FOR EVERY READER TO BE AWARE OF THE FOLLOWING:
(Historically, many breeds of dogs have been ruined by mass breedings or production of them because of a phase of interest in the public. As a result, puppy millers, and unscrupulous breeders looking for profit, continue to do a horrible disservice to this breed by not paying attention to health lines, temperament, education, etc. in order to capitalize on making a fast buck!! Other breeds have gone through the same thing.)
Currently, THE BERNESE MOUNTAIN DOG faces the same tragedy. As it has become more popular, people look at the beauty and want one without paying attention to some important information. There are puppy mills, pet stores, and back yard breeders trying to capitalize on this. Even countries in Europe are trying to get on this band wagon and ship puppies to get the almighty $$$$$$$. (NOT ALL Breeders in Europe are like this.)
I have had the blessing of producing four litters of Bernese Mountain Dogs thus far.
My first litter of six was from my foundation bitch, DAMAINTI FROM BALIHARA RANCH - lovingly known as "Mora". Mora is a European import from the Republic of Slovakia. She has produced two litters and is the dam of seven dogs and the grand dam of eighteen puppies. Mora has passed her Canine Good Citizen Test with flying colors.
Mohapp's Milestone's Stella - "Stella" is my first CHAMPION as well as my first home bred Champion. She has produced six lovely puppies thus far, two of which were show potential. Stella is out of my first litter from Mora.
Mora's second litter produced a Singleton pup (i.e. the only pup in the litter). I named her SOULA (depicting each having one soul) and her AKC registered name is Mohapp's Mirror In the Sky. Soula, in an attempt to make a statement regarding puppies need siblings produced a litter of THIRTEEN puppies delivered on Mother's day, 2006. This is unusual in the sense that it was the product of a breeding utilizing frozen semen and to the best of my knowledge could easily be a record for Bernese Mountain Dogs using that method of breeding.
The breeding was purposely done after much research to bring back a long lived blood line with sound orthopedics and and some of the sire's litter mates of which some have lived well past 12 years of age!
Soula now lives with a wonderful family with two young children and is well loved. I am fortunate to be able to hear news about her and so grateful that she is in a great home and has a family surrounding her.
|
||
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
This page created using the webpage creation facilities of Webspawner.
Copyright © 2008 Mark J Mohapp, MSW. All Rights Reserved.