Our Story
Our Berner story began when we were young college students and new parents with our first little baby (who is now an adult!). We were visiting family in Denver, and decided to go for a walk in a local park. We were meandering along the path when we both saw it – the most beautiful dog we had ever seen. He was walking along side his owner, large and majestic. It was love at first sight for my husband and me both. We stopped the gentleman, and asked breathlessly: “What kind of dog is that?!”
Once we were home in student housing, we sat together at the computer, and googled the breed. We were in awe of these dogs, from their stunning tri-colored look, to their protective, family loyalty, and their eager willingness to spend their time laying across your feet. We quickly decided that one day, when we were out of college, and living somewhere with space, we would most definitely own our dream dog: a Bernese Mountain Dog (much to the disapointment of my husband’s family, who has raised labradors for over 50 years)
From then on, we would stop anytime we saw a Berner. It was rare to see them, but we were desperate to learn all we could about the breed, and talk to anyone and everyone who knew anything about them. We began to notice that they were often used in advertising, from a poster at a store, advertizing 35mm film, to dog treat packaging. We would point them out to each other, and go out of our way to see them each time we shopped – our young children would play “spot the berner” when we shopped. We looked on Berner websites weekly, and watched any videos on youtube that featured a Bernese Mountain Dog. We read about the good, the bad, everything we could find about the health of dogs we didn’t even have.
We were obsessed, lol!
After 8 years of dreaming, we finally were in a place where we could bring a Bernese Mountain Dog into our family. We took the plunge, and for my birthday that year, my husband reserved a puppy for me.
It was a long journey for our first Bernese Mountain Dog, but it was worth every bit of the wait. Ask my husband or I how we feel about Berners now, and we will both tell you: “Our home will never be without Bernese Mountain Dogs again!”
As you can probably tell from our pictures, our Berners are members of our family. They've listened to many bedtime stories, watched many hours of late-night TV and early-morning cartoons, and snuck into our beds to comfort children during thunderstorms. They've come on hikes, vacations, road trips, and moved cross-country with us. They've sat quietly next to us when we've had bad days, let us cry on them when we were grieving, and licked away tears. They are in integral part of our family. We consider ourselves very blessed and honored to have this special breed in our lives.