Big Paws Only Dog Forums

haven't had that problem yet....my dog likes to pee on my decorative rocks in my flower garden....good thing that i don't have any flowers....

I just have a few quick points to make and to add.

-YES, you should test your Berner.  As a responsible and caring owner I would think that you would want to.  Not only will it make sure that she is not handing down defects to her pups such as cancer, bad eyes, hip dysplacia (sp?), ect.  It will give you a heads up as to anything that she might have wrong with her that you didn't know about.  If you catch things sooner then they are usually cheaper and easier to fix.  If you do not want to spend the money on testing your dog now do you realize how much it is going to cost you anyway to have the litter?  The c-section, puppy check ups, shots, extra puppy food for the mom, food for the puppies, countless hours of lost sleep because they all whine at the same time....

-NO, no, no, no, no! you should not breed her before she is 2 years old.  It runs a higher risk of her getting hurt, dying, or her pups dying.  It also runs a higher risk of her pups having birth defects.  As well as the HUGE factor of her being too young to be a mother.  If you wait for her to mature she most likely would be a great mom.  When you breed too soon you stress the mom out and you can end up with her not taking care of her pups properly.  I would never breed my dogs before 2 years.  I would rather that they never had pups

-It is up to you as far as breeding with or without papers.  I personally do not think that it is a good idea.  There are already enough Berners in the world to adopt or buy.  If you personally just want to breed because you think that she is a great dog I do understand.  However, that is still not a good enough reason to breed her.  Most likely at least one third to half of that litter will end up homeless or in a shelter.  Do you really want to make the decision to breed her and know that half of her litter will some day be looking at being put down just because they aren't cute anymore?  I have a shih-tzu who is gorgeous....I have had a ton of people that wanted to use him as a stud...he doesn't have papers and people don't care....but i care....shih-tzus are cute puppies but they aren't so cute when they are peeing everywhere and biting on ppl's kids and before you know it they are sitting in a cage at the local spca.  i love sparky and i would never trade him for any other dog but not all ppl commit to their dogs like that.  if you do breed be very picky who you let take the puppies.

those are too cute!!!!

no, i'd ask to be in a small class with 3 other dogs....he'd be fine....the trainer should be experienced enough to handle a large dog.  i've worked with HUGE mastiffs, pyrs, danes, german shepherds....e ct.  and i'm 125 lbs.  i can handle them b/c i've delt with them b4.  main thing is to ask the trainer what kind of collar to use and all that b4 hand so you are prepared.  if he or she is an experienced trainer then you should have no problem.  if you are nervious then look into hiring a private trainer.

he is gorgeous!!!!  jigs should be proud of her handsome BF!

alot of breeders that feature *pet quality* will go ahead and remove the dewclaws when they are babies so that they don't catch on things when they are older.....

what beautiful pics!!! welcome to bpo!

it is really bad.  one of the girls in my training classes owns a GSD that has been at the vet for the past 2 weeks from her kidneys failing and not wanting to eat....guess what they were feeding her?  the nutro wet puppy packets b/c they were trying to put some more weight on her....luckily she didn't die and they got her off that food.