bernese mountain dog breeders • burmese mountain dogs

Regarding the breeders

To obtain a current list of breeders (listed by state).

How to get your puppies listed on about bernerbreeders.com

What is a good breeder?

Perhaps as important as selecting a breed and a puppy from stock one finds suitable to one's taste, is an open and good rapport with the pup's breeder. Breeders should be willing to advise buyers about diet, obedience training, exercise management, and general breed information.

A breeder who is conscientious about developing a line of hearty dogs and happy owners of their happy puppies should be interested in the following:

helping buyers ascertain whether the Bernese Mountain Dog is the best choice for them and their circumstances

interviewing buyers about the potential home environment, including the number of family members and ages, daily family schedule, quarters for a large dog, and the buyer's willingness to cooperate with a recommended dietary, exercise and training program

gauging the buyer's knowledge of dogs to assess at what level the breeder should begin educating and continue to educate

obtaining the buyer's pledge to cooperate in progeny testing (assessing hip and elbow status and other traits as puppies mature), certifications, and record-keeping

A reputable breeder - Takes responsible care of all of his or her dogs (breeding stock & puppies), and provides a foundation of companionship, affection, interaction and attention, nutritious quality dog food and fresh, clean water, adequate shelter, immunization, proper vet care, parasite prevention/treatment, grooming, exercise, socialization. Screens potential owners thoroughly, and does not sell to those who are unsuitable. (A reputable breeder wants to know as much about you, your household, your schedule and your ability to properly care for a puppy (throughout its entire lifetime), as you want to know about the breeder's puppies. If you feel like you are being screened as if you were adopting a child, that's normal.)

evaluating individual puppies for placement in optimal family situations NEVER sells puppies to puppy brokers, pet shops or puppy outlets of any kind. **

Guidelines that our breeders follow:

Each breeder referred through the bernerbreeder.com referral program agrees to the following:

Breeder will provide a written sales contract containing a statement as to the health of the puppy. The health of the puppy shall be guaranteed for a minimum of 72 hours and made with the understanding that the purchaser's veterinarian shall check the puppy within 72 hours and if the puppy is unfit for sale, the puppy may be returned for replacement or full refund. Additionally, the written contract should specify how the breeder will honor a refund or replacement which may be necessary due to unforeseen circumstances.

Breeder will provide copies of hip and elbow evaluations and current eye examinations of sire and dam, to puppy buyers prior to purchase. In the event that current eye and hip and elboe examinations are listed on the CERF, OFA or Berner-Garde ( www.bernergarde.org ) listings, providing a copy of these lists will be sufficient. It shall not be a requirement to have OFA and CERF forms, but breeder must provide proof in writing that hips were x-rayed and evaluated after the age of 2 years and eyes have been examined within the last 12 months. If the dam or sire is under the age of two (2) years, then preliminary hip and elbow evaluations from an acceptable certifiying body must still be available (OFA, OVEm PennHIP, etc).

Breeder will provide a written recommendation as to feeding, general care, housebreaking, training, feeding, medical care, and grooming.

Breeder will be willing to take back a dog at any time in its life. However, if a dog falls into the hands of Bernese RESCUE and breeder is unable to physically take the dog back, breeder may offer support in other ways, i.e., financial or assistance in placement of dog. Breeder understands that failure to assist Bernese RESCUE in placements of his/her breeding, shall result in removal from bernerbreeders.com Referral Program List.

No puppy will be placed in a new home prior to 8 weeks of age.

Health records showing dates and types of immunizations and wormings shall be provided to all new buyers.

Breeder whose name appears on the list distributed is a Current member of the national club.

Registration papers for the puppy will be supplied to the new owner at the time of the sale, unless otherwise agreed to in writing. Contingencies in sales contract may include but not be limited to proof of spay or neutering and will be signed by the seller and the buyer. Also, a written minimum pedigree of at least 3 generations for the puppy sold will be provided either prior to or at the time of sale.

Courteous assistance should be given to potential puppy buyers when these inquiries are received through the bernerbreeders.com Referral Program. Educating the serious purchaser will ensure that puppies are placed into homes that will endure.

Important Note: Many pet stores and puppy outlets tell prospective puppy buyers that their puppies come from reputable breeders, even though the large majority of these places actually get their puppies from puppy mills and commercial breeding facilities. The bottom line is: NO reputable breeder will ever sell their puppies to a pet store or puppy outlet, and NO pet store or puppy outlet will ever admit to getting their puppies from a puppy mill.

~ download pdf file of the breeder agreement ~

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10 Reasons NOT to buy a puppy from a pet shop/backyard breeder/puppy mill//internet puppy finder website

1. Health.

When you buy a puppy from a pet shop, you're spending a lot of money for a dog whose parents you know nothing about. Have both parents had their hips and elbows x-rayed for dysplasia? Have the parents been tested for PRA (Progressive Retinal Atrophy and inherited eye disorders), which causes blindness? Tests are expensive, but responsible breeders do them because their goal is to produce healthy pups. What's the pet shop's goal? If they say "healthy pups," ask them for proof.

2. That guarantee isn't worth what you think it is.

Pet shops make a big deal about their "lifetime guarantees". But ask them what happens when you need thousands of dollars to correct crippling hip dysplasia in your six-month-old puppy. The guarantee requires you to give the puppy back so they can put it to sleep, which is cheaper for them. Then they give you another puppy, one who might also develop dysplasia. A guarantee like that is worse than no guarantee at all.

3. The AKC myth.

Pet shops want you to think "AKC papers" equals healthy puppies. It doesn't. The only thing AKC registration means is that the breeder can claim that both parents are purebred and that both parents are AKC registered. The mother (dam) could be a truly awful example of the breed -- or worse, suffering from disease or illness -- and the puppies can still be registered. Don't believe it? Call the AKC at 919-233-9767 and ask them. A responsible breeder will of course register her puppies if the breed is one of the 150 or so recognized by the AKC, but that's only the beginning.

4. Good luck with housebreaking.

The puppies you see in the pet-shop window have spent their lives in cages. They've never seen grass, or dirt, and they've certainly never seen carpeting. They've been forced to eliminate in the same place where they sleep and eat. A responsible breeder keeps the puppies very clean, and makes sure they have separate elimination areas. By the time they're ready to go home, well-bred puppies are often well on the way to being housebroken.

5. How about socialization?

Imagine buying a puppy that has never been inside a house before! The doorbell, the vacuum cleaner, the dishwasher -- those things can be terrifying to a puppy who has never seen them. What about neighborhood kids, riding in the car, or just walking on a leash? A responsible breeder exposes her puppies to all kinds of new situations, and makes sure they are confident, happy puppies when they go off to their new homes.

Plus, when you go to a breeder you generally have more than one puppy from which to choose. A responsible breeder temperament-tests her puppies to find out which ones are outgoing or shy or dominant. Then she matches up owners to make sure that active puppies go to active homes, and that a calm quiet puppy ends up in a home that's just right for it. If you're going to spend all that money, it makes sense to look at several examples of the breed and then pick an experienced breeder who will help to select the a dog that's right for you.

6. What will that puppy look like when it grows up?

When you buy a puppy from a responsible breeder, you can usually meet the mother and see pictures or video of the father (sire). You can discuss with the breeder the faults each parent possesses (maybe the mother has an over bite, or the father is a little taller than the standard). You can't predict exactly how the puppy will turn out, but you'll know what to expect, and you'll know that your purebred puppy will resemble his breed. Why spend so much money on a pet shop puppy without even knowing what the parents look like?

7. Price.

For the money that pet shops want you to spend, you'd expect a lot more. Think about all the things responsible breeders do that pet stores don't: They choose the parents based on health and temperament issues; they pay for expensive tests to make sure both sire and dam are free from disease or illness in order to help minimize that the puppies will have any of those issues; they raise the puppies with an eye toward getting them housebroken and socialized; and they help make sure the right puppies go to the right homes. A responsible breeder never breeds just to make money, and their prices are usually lower than in pet shops. Save some money and get a better quality puppy at the same time.

8. What do you know about the breed?

Pet shops can tell you a little about the breeds they sell. And they can point you to a rack of generic breed books. That's it. A responsible breeder will be a wealth of information about the breed you're interested in. She'll be able to tell you about unique breed characteristics, ways to get involved in activities your dog might be suited for, and most importantly, she knows what specific health issues to watch out for.

9. Do you want to support the puppy mills?

How do you know most pet shop pups come from puppy mills? Because no responsible breeder would ever sell their puppies to a pet store, for two reasons:

1) Responsible breeders care about the puppies they produce, and want them to go to very carefully selected homes.

2) Keeping track of litters is an essential part of responsible breeding. If two puppies from a certain litter die from liver failure at a young age, the breeder knows there's a problem in the line and will not breed the parents again. What does that say about the breeders of pet shop pups?

10. What's that pedigree worth?

Pet shops make a big deal out of their pedigrees, which is interesting because they just contain a bunch of names. Can the pet shop tell you how long the puppy's grandparents lived, and what they died of? How many of the parents littermates are still alive? How long do dogs in this pedigree usually live? A responsible breeder can answer all of those questions. You get not just a pedigree, but all of the important information behind the pedigree.

This list is a point of reference and a tool that can be used or referred to when communicating with a breeder. If there are things in here that you do not understand, read more about dogs, more about the breed, and more about choosing a breeder. The puppy you select will have a better chance of growing up to be a healthy Berner who can be a loving companion for many years, if you do your research first. There are plenty of puppies available, but finding the right one for you is up to YOU to find, recognize, and develop.

Just as you will have a great many questions for the breeder, don't be surprised if the breeder has as many questions about your suitability as the adopter of her puppy! As a matter of fact, if the breeder is willing to part with a puppy without checking into your ability to provide the proper home, beware! A good breeder should be very concerned that her pups will have the very best environment, and won't wind up running loose in the street, dumped at the SPCA, or returned to her because they got too big or just don't go with the color scheme anymore!

This list is a suggestion. Tailor it to suit your requirements. If health and longevity are of utmost importance to you, give more weight to that section. If temperament and obedience is more important, give additional weight to those issues. This is not intended to be a questionnaire for you to give a breeder to fill out. It is designed to give people who have never bought a dog a basis for evaluating different breeders. All breeders are not alike, and they will each emphasize different priorities in their breeding programs. What you will want to do is to find a breeder that you are comfortable with, someone who won't change her phone number after you buy the puppy. The breeder should want - or better yet require - feedback from you as the puppy grows. She should want to know of any problems or the lack of problems in order to continue to make the most informed breeding decisions.

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The Pat Long Breeder checklist

This list was developed by Pat Long to be used as a point of reference and a tool that could be used or referred to when communicating with a breeder. If there items that you do not understand, visit our education page and learn more about the dogs, more about the breed, and more about choosing a breeder. The puppy you select will have a better chance of growing up to be a healthy Berner who can be a loving companion for many years, if you do your research first. There are plenty of puppies available, but finding the right one for you is up to YOU to find, recognize, and develop.

Just as you will have a great many questions for the breeder, don't be surprised if the breeder has as many questions about your suitability as the adopter of their puppy! As a matter of fact, if the breeder is willing to part with a puppy without checking into your ability to provide the proper home, beware! A good breeder should be very concerned that her pups will have the very best environment, and won't wind up running loose in the street, dumped at the SPCA, or returned to her because they got too big or just don't go with the color scheme anymore!

This list is a suggestion. Tailor it to suit your requirements. If health and longevity are of utmost importance to you, give more weight to that section. If temperament and obedience is more important, give additional weight to those issues. This is not intended to be a questionnaire for you to give a breeder to fill out. It is designed to give people who have never bought a dog a basis for evaluating different breeders. All breeders are not alike, and they will each emphasize different priorities in their breeding programs. What you will want to do is to find a breeder that you are comfortable with, someone who won't change her phone number after you buy the puppy. The breeder should want - or better yet require - feedback from you as the puppy grows. She should want to know of any problems or the lack of problems in order to continue to make the most informed breeding decisions.

The Breeder Checklist (adapted from Pat Long) ~ will need adobe acrobat to view

The Glossery of Terms (helpful when talking to breeders) ~ will need adobe acrobat to view

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To find breeders

Please follow this link to search for a breeder in your area.

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