Author Topic: Anyone Got a Bernese Mountain or Briard? (Read 2016 times)

Marches Farmer · « **on:** March 01, 2018, 03:13:18 pm »

Met one each of these this week and they were great dogs. I've looked at their breed overviews but would be interested to know more .....

Buttermilk · « **Reply #1 on:** March 01, 2018, 07:44:16 pm »

I have a friend who kept Bernese for many years. Non ever lived past the age of six for one reason or another so she gave up with keeping them.

in the hills · « **Reply #2 on:** March 01, 2018, 08:09:27 pm »

I don't know much about either breed but I think I'm correct in saying that the Bernese suffers from a high incidence of a certain cancer that is also a big killer in the breed that I love .....the Flat Coated retriever.

I can't recall the name of the cancer but you'll find research papers about it on the Flat Coated Retriever website. It's very aggressive and not much can be done.

Lifespan of Bernese seems to be 6-8 years.

A high percentage of Flatties succumb to cancer by the age of 8. Our current boy is over 12 now and we've been very luck. I can't imagine not having a Flattie around but the cancer risk puts me off a bit.

nutterly_uts · « **Reply #3 on:** March 01, 2018, 08:47:12 pm »

Briards are a bit guardy but the ones I (barely) know are good with kids

Bernese sadly very prone to cancers and tumors and its rare to get them to 8+ - too heartbreaking for me

Jukes Mum · « **Reply #4 on:** March 02, 2018, 09:36:04 am »

SOmeone was asking about the Bernese on a dog forum recent. In addition to everyone mentioning the high incidence of cancer in this breed, one of the replies was "Hips and elbows. You should be looking at 0 elbows and less than a total of 15 hips. DM (Degenerative Myelopathy ) as its creeping in and the test is available and easy so no affected puppy should ever be born. There is a pre-histio indexing linked to Rennes University doing wonderful research into cancer. It will be a struggle to find a breeder in the UK who indexes dogs but there are a couple. More that those who do generally have health as a very important consideration in the breed so get involved with research. Tell him to use http://www.bernergarde.org/home/default.aspx to look up scores and health and to try to find out from breeders ages and causes of death. Its not called the heartbreak breed for nothing."

greenbeast · « **Reply #5 on:** March 05, 2018, 07:48:10 pm »

We have a bernese x newfie, he's lovely.

But yes, the above medical advice is well worth paying attention to

SallyintNorth · « **Reply #6 on:** March 06, 2018, 11:50:57 am »

Many of the huge dogs have a very short lifespan, sadly.

I've known a few Bernese and they have all, without exception, been super-happy, super-friendly (dogs and people), gorgeous dogs that always make everyone smile.

Quite bouncy, which at that size can pose some issues!