 Barked: Sat May 19, '12 9:38am PST |
 | |  | | Hi Charlie,
Yes I did suggest a Bernese earlier in the thread, but mostly jokingly, as most people do not consider Bernese when they think of a performance dog. However, because of the general nature of a Berner (they usually like to work and they really want to please their owner) they can be good performance dogs. That is if you want to compete for fun and to not take first place every time 
There are some amazing agility Berners out there. I think that people do not give Bernese enough credit when it comes to athletic ability. Traditionally Bernese were all purpose farm dogs and this meant that they needed to be agile as well as strong. Some of today's breeders do not breed with this in mind however, and there are huge boned Berners who have lost much of that agility. But for the most part, Bernese are still athletic and they are faster than you think they might be (if they are kept lean and well conditioned, that is). As for my own Berners, Maggie was quite fast, but her physical structure really limited her abilities and I had to retire her quite early because of recurring injuires. Bosley does fairly well in agility, but considering that he is 100 pounds, he will never be the fastest dog, but he tries hard and has fun. He moved through the levels fairly quickly, considering we trial very little. He also always has a group of admirers because it is so rare that you see a Berner doing agility around here. Right now, he is the only Berner in Alberta that is competing seriously in AAC and CKC agility.
Bernese are also known to do well in obedience, tracking and of course carting. Some lines also excel in herding since their is herding/droving in their Swiss background.
Bernese do not deal with the Alberta summers very well. Their thick black coats make them overheat very easily. In the summer we limit exercise to early mornings and evenings and only take in a few of our favorite trials.
If you are ever serious about getting a Bernese, let me know. I am very active in the breed club and breed rescue and can help direct you to a responsible breeder with stronger working type dogs. There has been a huge influx of really irresponsible breeders around here in the past few years but since they advertise so much, they are the only ones people seem to know about. I am sad that Bosley's breeder decided to retire - but after breeding Berners for 25 years she had decided she wants to travel more and didn't feel like she had the time to commit to raising puppies. |  |  | |  |
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