dog health problems
Dog Health » dog health problems » bernese mountain dog health problems

bernese mountain dog health problems

Read and learn more about bernese mountain dog health problems. For more, visit the Dog Health website DoggyDogHealth.com

Q: Do Bernese mountain dogs have more health problems than other dogs?
I’m thinking of getting one but everyone saying they have a lot of health problems is a bit off putting.

A: Every breed has their own list of problems, some more than others. I don’t think Bernese dogs have a crazy amount of problems, but they’re there and you have to be prepared to treat them should they arise.

Q: question for bernese mountain dog owners?
I am interested in getting a bernese mountain dog but I know they have a lot of health problems. If you own or have owned a bernese mountain dog, approximately did you spend each on the dog for health related issues.

A: Hi. I own and breed Bernese Mtn Dogs. I did a LOT of research before buying my first and bought from a line of dogs known to have a high average AOD (age of death). At this point, my oldest Bernese is nearly seven. (I’ve been breeding/showing Samoyeds for over 20 years). We have a surgery scheduled to remove a fatty tumor on her side sometime next month — but — beyond that I have had absolutely *no* expenses related to health issues beyond the normal (compared to what I’ve had with my Samoyeds) — I attribute this to a couple of things: genetics (careful selection of dogs), a limited vaccination schedule, raw feeding and care taken while raising the dogs (no overweight, no over exercise, no slippery surfaces etc). Frankly – at this point I think removal of one fatty tumor falls within “normal” expenses.

Q: Does anyone out there have a Bernese Mountain Dog?
Ours is 8 months old now and he is wonderful. We love him to death but he has some health issues already. Elbows and hips. We fixed his elbow which was $1600 and we hear now he may have hip issues down the road. Anyone else experiencing similar problems?

A: I don’t own one, but they are my *favorite* breed.

Large dogs can suffer from elbow and hip dysplasia. Did you get your dog from a reputable breeder? This is one breed that I would ALWAYS get from a reputable breeder, since this breed is prone to cancer and dysplasia.

All good breeders heath test their breeding stock. And is sounds like you got one from a BYB.
I think that you will be seeing more problems down the road.

That is why you ALWAYS should get a purebred from a Reputable breeder, or a breed rescue.

Q: can you describe to me what a Bernese Mountain dog is like?
friendly, social, energetic, big, prone to any health problems???

A: Hello.. yes, they are big, some are energetic but a lot of them are pretty sedentary after they grow up.

Social= Bernese were bred as farm dogs and as carting dogs. Without intense socialization in puppyhood and continued exposure throughout the dog’s life they can have a tendency to not be terribly social. While unlikely to bite, they can show some alarm barking behavior.

Yes, Bernese are very prone to a couple of types of cancer. Average age of death is 7.5 in the US. GOOD breeders are attempting to breed for less cancers and will look to the AOD (average age of death) on a pedigree as one thing to evaluate before breeding.

Bernese are great dogs.

Please feel free to email me for more information.

Q: What’s the longest lifespan of Bernese Mountain Dogs?
I love this breed and would like to get a puppy. But I know they have a lot of health problems and live for 6-8 years. Does anyone know of any long-livers? I won’t be ready to part with my dog in just 6 years…

A: I own and breed Bernese Mtn Dogs. I first started looking at them 8 years ago (I’m a long-time Samoyed breeder/exhibitor so I had a very good idea of exactly what I wanted).

The average lifespan in the US is 7.5 years. There are lines of Bernese that live longer. Those lines are where I’ve either purchased dogs or bred to their dogs.

There are no real guarantees that a dog will live longer– but a family history of it is a good first step.

I’m planning a breeding next spring to a 10 year old male whose father sired his last litter at age 11 years and died at 12 years.

Please feel free to contact me at animal_artwork@yahoo.com and I’ll point you to a few breeders who believe longevity is more important than winning in a show ring.

Edit: Yes, environment, diet and an altered vaccination protocol have been effective increasing longevity. My dogs are primarily raw-fed… and my vaccination protocol is not up for discussion on public boards.

Editx2: http://www.winksbmd.com/Ourboys.html I’m planning a breeding to Panzer. It will be a loose linebreeding on the Ruschbode section of the pedigree. Panzer will be 10 years old next spring. The pedigree of the dam is 1/4 Swiss import, 1/2 Austrian import and the rest German and American. Panzer’s pedigree is 1/2 German import and 1/2 Swiss. The Europeans feed their dogs primarily raw and follow a vaccination protocol similar to mine— do I believe this is the cause for the greater longevity? It doesn’t seem to be hurting!

Editx3: The website Bernerlover mentions is http://www.bernergarde.org/home/default.aspx go to their database link and you can input info on dogs in a variety of ways. One of the most useful pieces of info is AOD (age of death). I looked just a moment ago and found out the sire of my b*tch is still alive at age 8 (so has beat the average) and it gave me contat info for his current owner. It’ll be interesting to get ahold of her and to keep track of how he’s doing.

Q: Bernese Mountain Dogs?
Right.
We recently lost our 15 year old BMD/Collie Cross – who was the sweetest, most loving animal you could have ever asked for. We’ve decided it’s time to get a new pet and we want to get a purebred Bernese.

I’ve researched them in various ways and know about their health problems, faults of the breed, temperament and life span, but I wanted to hear personal experiences of people owning the animals.

so, I hope to hear from you.
Thanks :)
I’ve had mixed dogs and purebred dogs,and to be quite honest we know this is the animal we want.
they are very big dogs and they shed a lot, but our old BMD Cross was exactly the same so that’s not a major problem. I know they have health problems and a relatively short life, but they are beautiful, loyal creatures and we wouldn’t ever have a small dog again. :]
Oh and we have a toyota landcruiser, so no problems there with being unable to accommodate the dog in a car :P

A: I own 5 Bernese Mtn Dogs… I was at the Bernese Mtn Dog National Specialty in Oregon last month where I was able to meet and see hundreds more.

My first experience with a Bernese was training one as a Mobility Assistance Service Dog for someone else. That culminated my 2 year search for a dog to train as a Mobility Assistance Service Dog for myself. I liked the steadyness and the work ethic combined with their relatively sedentary (once they get past puppy) demeanor when they are not working. That was nearly 7 years ago and I’d been been talking to Bernese breeders for about 2 years prior to that. My oldest Bernese is nearly 6. What I did not expect was to fall in love with the breed as my primary breed (37 years of ownership) is Samoyeds – who have a very different outlook on life.

Things unexpected that I learned about Bernese:

They shed – As a Samoyed breeder I figured I had that covered. I was wrong. They shed CONSTANTLY (the Sams don’t and only do it seasonally) and then… they blow coat. Black hair on floors looks yucky. White fur on floors is kinda cottony fluff.

They don’t drool – Breeders told me that didn’t – but I didn’t believe them because everyone else said they did. They don’t. I can honestly say my WORST drooler is a Sam who only sometimes drools if there is food. My Berners just don’t drool.

They are heat intolerant in the extreme. – Samoyeds = heavy coat- take care with heat. Bernese = BLACK heavy coat – take care when it gets sunny out (sunny and 60 degrees = overheating) or gets warm OR humid. I carry a spray bottle of water around with me if my dog is working and it is sunny – whatever the temperature.

Bernese are FAST! – Seriously. You wouldn’t think they could move that much mass that quickly but they do. However they do not corner well so watch out for your knees.

Bernese like to be close to you – Usually on your feet. *I* found this trait VERY helpful in teaching my dogs to block my knees when I’m having issues. However, its not as fun when its warm out.

Bernese like to play dumb – “huh? no, I don’t get what you want” when its simply a matter of “I don’t want to do that so I’m going to pretend I don’t understand” as you open the door and tell them to go outside.

Bernese have a sense of humor – goosing. ALL of mine have learned not to do it to me (ok, lil miss monica still does it occassionally to get my attention) but they will do it to other people. One of the biggest hurdles we’ve had with training Lou as a Service Dog is his propensity when in a crowd to find a girl in a skirt and lift it with his big cold wet nose. He likes the reaction… smiles and wags his tail while doing a happy dance with his feet.

Digging – Samoyeds dig holes. Bernese dig trenches. If I needed some serious excavating done I’d simply move a dog pen to the area and insert a Bernese.

Food consumption – as pups they are bottomless pits. They have to grow 100 lbs or so in less than a year. As adults they don’t eat anywhere near what you’d expect for a dog of this size.

~~~~

So it sounds like a lot of strange negative traits on top of the awful health issues (which you can try to get around by buying from a responsible breeder).

The good points:

Loyal. They love THEIR people. They have to be well socialized to like any other people – otherwise they look upon them with distrust – basic farm dog temperament.
Watch dog. They love THEIR people – and will bark like the gates of hell have opened if someone new approaches the property. Fearsome sounding and menacing. However, they are most likely to simply watch someone rob your house.
Adoration. They believe you are god. Scowl at them and they believe God is angry. Leave them for 5 minutes and come back and they believe God has returned – then they use their tail to sweep off the coffee table (we don’t HAVE a coffee table anymore because the idiot humans couldn’t learn not to put spillables on it).

Overall, they are pretty easy to live with – provided you do a lot of training with them when they are young.

Edit: I show my Bernese as well as working them. I’ve been showing Samoyeds for over 20 years. I’ve also been training people to train their dogs for over 10 years… I like to think I have a relatively unbiased opinion on the breed. As with any breed they have their pros and cons. For my uses and purposes their pros work for me and their cons I can work around (except maybe the goosing thing … LOL).

Q: What dog would be best around horses and good with strangers?
ok well im looking to have a dog for the future that i could bring to my stable ( i would own it) that would be good with the horses and with new people around especially kids and that would be a good house pet. so what breeds would u think would be best a Chesapeake bay retriever, Akita Inu, Bernese mountain dog, Cardigan welsh corgi, a white or silver lab, Great Pyrenees, or Golden Retriever??? i need a dog also that would be ok with playing and a breed with not that bad of health problems so plzz help!!! thanks

A: Retrievers are hunting dogs, so I believe they would have a stronger prey drive. The Berner and the Pyr are both guardian dogs.

Any of these large breeds can have some health problems and have shorter life spans than medium sized dogs, but the retrievers and the guardians have wonderful personalitieis and are great with children. I’ve even seen a lot of pyr/golden mixed breed dogs.

My preference is the great pyrenees and I’ll give you a link to an excellent Yahoo website where you can ask about the breed.

I’ll also post one or more links to sites where you can read up on EACH of these breeds to learn about their breed traits. You need to do that to see which breed tends to have traits that mesh best with your family’s needs and lifestyle.

Google breed traits, breed name for each breed you’re interested in. There are a lot of websites out there that will have information that will help you learn so you can choose the best dog for your family and your life. In reality, that’s what everyone should do before buying any dog.

As to the recommendation of an Aussie, they tend to be much more nervous and are a very high energy dog. They live to run… and love to run… -!-

Q: Insurance for dog?
Does anyone know of an insurance company that will give health insurance for a 20 month old Bernese mountain dog which has been having problem with walking? I did not have to foresight to take out insurance when he was younger.
He has been diagnosised as suffering from poly arithritis and the condition at the moment is under control with medication, I am thinking of the long term and wonder is I could find a health insurance for him? Or, is it too late?

A: I hate to tell you that it’s too late. My dog was recently diagnosed with asthma. I tried to get insurance on him but NOBODY will cover pre existing. I found one that would pay..afte he went 12 months without having any problems. It’s 80.00 month with 75.00 deductible per visit. I took mine…visit, shots and meds only 73.00, Good luck but don’t get your hopes up.

Q: 10 Month old Puppy VERY mouthy HELP!!!?
I have a 10 month old Bernese Mountain Dog. She has been with me since 12 weeks. She is spayed with no health problems.

The only problem I have with her is that she bites, barks, and growls to get her way and/or attention. It is extremely frustrating and quite frankly it hurts! She takes obedience classes, goes on walks, swims at the beach, has playdates, so being bored is not the issue.

She will come over and bite me to get me to pet her…or If I tell her no forget it…its like she goes in a psycho mood and goes right after me..biting whatever she can get her mouth on. I have tried everything. Yelping…high pitched OUCH…this makes her bite more..Getting up and walking away…she just follows and bites me from behind…rolling her over and holding her down works until i let let her go and she comes right at me. She likes spray bottles in her face so that didnt work. I will admit I swatted her a few times, but again that just caused her to attack more and harder. Giving her a toy to chew when she is in the “biting Zone”is pointless, she wants nothing to do with it..just makes her more mad.

I have been using a time out in her crate for the past couple of weeks. Sometimes it works but other times she just comes right out and a few minutes later is back to the biting.

I am at a loss for ideas. She is a happy social friendly dog who loves everyone she meets but I just cant get her to stop doing this to me. She does not do it to anyone else. Please can someone shed some light onto what is going on before I loose my mind….Thank you in advance.

A: No you haven’t tried everything. The most important thing to do is to make her listen to you. So you tell her to sit and down and stay. Those are your rules. After a minute or two, release her and if she does it again she goes back in a down stay for 4 minutes. Soon she will learn that this only gets her a ‘lay down’ and she will not try it anymore. Leash her and step on it if you have to but if she isn’t listening to your commands then she isn’t hardly trained.

MORE mental and physical stimulation.

Q: What dog would be best around horses and good with strangers?
ok well im looking to have a dog for the future that i could bring to my stable ( i would own it) that would be good with the horses and with new people around especially kids and that would be a good house pet. so what breeds would u think would be best a Chesapeake bay retriever, Akita Inu, Bernese mountain dog, Cardigan welsh corgi, a white or silver lab, Great Pyrenees, or Golden Retriever??? i need a dog also that would be ok with playing and a breed with not that bad of health problems so plzz help!!! thanks

A: I have a Bernese and he is WONDERFUL…he comes to my barn with me all the time and just chills out. If he meets new people all he wants to do is make friends with them. I live in LA and it gets kinda hot for him so he’s not the best companion for long trail rides…if you want a dog for that maybe go with a lab or some kind of dog with short hair and long legs. :)

Related Posts

Write a comment