We (99 lbs) are considering one of these horses for a pet. I have found them on the web starting at 1K. If you have any advice or cautions about them, please send me a PM! Thanks
Bernese mountain dogs are great dogs. Where you live, they'd love it. They love snow. We have friends that have several. Obviously, there's health issues with these huge dogs, but they have great personalities.
I’ll post the basics here in case anyone else is interested. If you want more details, feel free to PM. The one pictured is our second Berner. When well bred they are great family dogs, but they are big so I would strongly recommend avoiding puppy mills and only considering a puppy from a reputable breeder who keeps them as pets and who breeds for health and personality. When dealing with any large breed, health problems get expensive fast, and temperament issues can be disastrous. They are generally calm and easy to train and they handle distractions MUCH better than hunting breeds. You do need to train consistently and early while they are still a reasonable size. They require regular exercise, but relatively little compared to many breeds. We generally walk 1.5 miles after which he is worn out. He can go about 2.25 miles and that’s about it. Less when it is hot (over 65). Running around the yard chasing a ball or whatever with the kids is a 10 minute deal before he is ready to lie down. They like cold and struggle with hot and humid so AC in the summer is pretty much a must in our climates. The last one HATED water, this one loves to wade in and splash around to cool off but he can’t swim, too much muscle on the back end means he sinks, hence the life jacket in the boat pic. The biggest downsides are short lifespan, potential health issues, barking at/scaring the crap out of guests, and shedding. They are incredible shedders and need regular brushing and even then you will find balls of fur floating across the floor like tumble weeds in old westerns. They also don’t dry fast. I had to get a special high velocity pet dryer to blow him dry after splashing because he would stay damp for days and was getting skin infections. That is not a problem with rain or snow because the outer coat shields them well. Compared to St. Bernard’s (which my parents had), they are small, super smart, obedient and trainable, and they don’t drool much except after drinking. Compared to labs, they are calm, slow, lack endurance, and are shedding machines. They are like big teddy bears and crave a lot of human attention more than other dogs I have owned which is great if you can provide it, but can lead to behavior problems if you can’t. He is always at my feet when I am home and if you ignore him too long or stop petting too soon, you will get whacked with a big paw. Food wise, they eat a lot when growing but not much more than a lab when older. Females can be quite a bit smaller, 85-100 is typical. The one pictured is a male who is a bit larger than average at 125 and our last one was a big one at 140+. The males tend to be more like clowns, the females can be a bit more territorial (better guard dogs).
Matt Fine , great write up. Exactly as my friends would say as well. Now my friends with the Bernese, and also my neighbor's that have had 2 greater Swiss MTN dogs, have said that these mountain breeds typically don't like to go into water because going in the water in a frozen mountainous area usually is pretty deadly. Kinda how like my brothers black mouth curs don't ever go in the water, but instead of freezing issues, it's due to alligators where that breed is from.
Yep, I’ve still got these 2 looking for a good home, lots of lookers but no takes that met my criteria.
