Tuesday, November 29, 2005

Love at first sight

I had spent hours upon hours gazing at this photo of our puppy. I chose him because he had a beautiful white blaze on his forehead and the sweetest face. I fell in love with his crimped ears and perfect cross on his chest. He was waiting in Germany, unaware of the traumatic journey ahead of him, the journey to his new family.

Back then, before Jeffrey and I joined the Bernese Mountain Dog Club of Nashoba Valley (www.BMDCNV.org), we were ignorant PPOs (potential puppy owners). Unfortunately, we thought we were doing everything right and did not truly understand the terms puppy mills, puppy brokers, or backyard breeders. http://bmdcnv.org/puppy/BrokersFlier.pdf We looked through books about dogs, searched on-line, talked to people. I thought I had done my research:
  • No pet store puppies as they are bought from puppy mills. These are people who breed dogs soley for the purposes of business. Basically, these are the people who don't care about dogs and just want to make money.
  • Find a breeder close by so that we may continue to have a relationship with them throughout our Berner's life.
  • Find a puppy that is raised by a family so that it is well socialized.
  • Spend time talking to the breeder. I wanted to know that they were willing to spend extra time talking to me and answering my questions.

By the end of June, 2003, we located a "breeder" whom I will call the BB (for Berner Broker) who lived close and had puppies at their house. Although these puppies were spoken for, we could meet them and get a chance to talk to the BB. They invited us to their home to meet their very own Berner and two female puppies that just arrived from Germany. The story we were told was that the family bred BMDs and Greater Swiss Mountain Dogs (Swissies) in Germany. They frequently traveled between Germany and the US and thus they were able to bring Bernese puppies with European blood-lines to the US. We were so blinded by our excitement of having a new puppy, we were unaware of red flags, though now in hindsight, I see them everywhere. But I thought to myself, These people are so personable. We've met their whole family. They obviously know a lot about BMDs and are owners of one themselves. They took care to tell us about the health risks Berners are associated with and what to watch our for. They asked us all the questions we expected a breeder to ask us. They seemed very concerned about the welfare of their puppies and offered their home phone number and cell phone number to reach them with any questions. We went home that day dreaming of holding a bundle of Berner fluff in our arms. We were told to wait for their phone call. They would have more puppies soon. Perhaps a male for us. And indeed, a few days later, that phone call came. Three more puppies were coming. They sent us pictures and we fell in love.

Alas, we were overcome, as the majority of PPOs are, by that single photograph and enticements of this BB. We did not realize whom we were dealing with until well after Riley's first birthday. For now, we were basking in the initial bliss of bringing home our first BMD puppy. We prepared the house, we shopped for all the puppy essentials, we looked into puppy kindergarten classes, we prepared to change our schedules to accomodate him. We thought we were being responsible. After all, we are good people, right?

Wednesday, November 23, 2005

To Auntie Dory's House

Jeffrey and I are all packed for our Thanksgiving weekend. We are heading to Las Vegas tomorrow morning. This is one of those trips where Riley obviously cannot go with us. It's true, we actually go on vacations without our Berner boy.
Riley is going to Auntie Dory's house while we are gone. He knows something is up. He watched us pack our bags. He watched me pack his overnite bag, food, and treats. It is 8:30 pm and on any other normal night, Riley would be sound asleep by now. Instead, he is curled up on the couch next to Jeffrey, his head in Jeffrey's lap, eyes open. Any second now, we will hear Dory's footsteps coming up our front stairs and he will jump up, throw his head back, and woof at the ceiling. He will be a wriggling puppy again when he sees her. He has known her since he was a puppy and we started taking him to Beaverbrook to play with other dogs.
Beaverbrook is a conservation park on the Watertown/Belmont line. It is a nice neighborhood park that is used for picnics and BBQs in the summertime and used by dog owners all year round. Dogs are unofficially "off leash" here. Riley knows just about every dog that comes to the park but he only has a few "best friends" whom he will engage in wrestling play. We a part of this dog park community. Everyone knows everyone else's dog's name. Some people know other people's names, but not many. There is always someone to walk with and talk about the latest dog park gossip. It is a strange but familiar community culture. I have met a wide array of people here, simply because I must walk my dog.

Dory is owned by a beautiful dog named Agave. Riley is just one month younger than Agave. They are best friends. They absolutely love each other and this is why I don't mind going away without Riley. If he's at Auntie Dory's house, he will be loved and he will constantly be preoccupied by the boundless energy of Agave. (she is part Lab) Dory is a wonderful dog-loving person whom I know would treat any dog as if it were hers. What started out as, I'll take your dog while you are away and next time vice versa, has become a good friendship. I really like our set up. I won't ask someone to just come over to walk him, leaving him to wander in an empty house day and night. I am even hesitant to leave him with semi-familiar people, especially if they have no dogs for him to play with. And I refuse to leave my baby in a kennel. This way, both Agave and Riley always have a second home. So far, it was worked out well for all of us.



Riley and Agave have very different personalities. They are quite complimentary. Riley is more dominant. He will tell Agave when he's had enough or when he gets first dibbs. But Agave has this wonderfully sweet and subtle persistance that refuses to be told no. So most play sessions begin with Riley trying to hoard all of the toys while Agave keeps taking them out one by one. Then Agave may bring a toy up to Riley to invite him to play. If it is tug-a-war toy, they may play for several minutes, often ending up in "lip lock." They may stay in this position, lip to lip, both sets of teeth holding on, maintaining tension, for several minutes. It is quite cute to watch. Most often, Agave gives in to Riley and he takes the toy, with his tail held high, and he goes for a victory lap. Agave most likely just finds another toy and brings it over to him. Riley will drop the first toy to try and take the new one and another tug-a-war ensues. When Riley finally gets bored of this game, he refuses to take the toy in his mouth. Agave has a very cute way of dangling the toy in his face and will even try to shove it into his mouth. She can go on almost all day long. Riley, on the other hand, is exhausted by her energy. Whenever he gets home from his sleepovers at Auntie Dory's house, Riley sleeps almost for an entire day in order to recooperate.
What is it people always say? A tired dog is a happy dog. How true.

Who is the BMD?

When we returned from our Acadia vacation we began researching the breed. They are one of four Swiss breeds and their name is taken from the canton of Bern in the central farmlands of Switzerland.
Near the end of the 19th century, the breed was nearly extinct.
www.puppydogweb.com/caninebreeds/bernesemtn.htm
www.bmdca.org/pages/BMD_Standard.php
Over the next year, we kept the image of the Berner in our minds. I wanted in every way for this breed's characteristics to meet our lifestyle and personalities. Loyal, sensitive, intelligent, etc. We even took on-line tests to determine which breed fit our personality best. It never came up Bernese Mountain Dog. But I always felt, "this is the dog for us." We found a wealth of websites about the breed and tried to read everything we could find on how to raise a puppy, training classes, housebreaking, health issues, etc. We printed information, we read, and we called to talk to people.
In February of 2003, Jeffrey and I bought our own townhouse. Being the first owners of one of six townhouses, we grandfathered into the condo association laws to allow dogs. We just didn't specify the size of the dog. Now it was set. We owned our own place. We were ready for our puppy.

Tuesday, November 22, 2005

Discovering the BMD

We met our first Berner in Acadia National Park in 2002. Jeffrey and I were just reaching the summit of a hike. I spotted this beautiful and handsome dog in front of us with a group of people. I am always on the lookout for dogs everywhere I go and I did not know this breed. I instantly loved the distinctive tri-color markings: black, white, and rust. This dog's tail looked like a great flag that waved proudly in the air. He was calm, sweet, and protective. I went right up to these people, hearing them speak French, and asked them the breed the dog.
"Bernese Mountain Dog."
"Oh! He is beautiful!" I lushed.
"Yes, they are wonderful dogs."
I continued to stare at the handsome boy as they went on their way. To this day, I remember the image of that dog standing on top of that mountain. But I can't remember the name of that mountain or what that view looked like...