Playing with our pups!

George still thinks he's a lap dog.

 
Sweet Miley is always good for a snuggle.

George at about 5 months old, and 55 ish lbs.

I just love these two!

George giving me kisses.

I love how Miley and George are so relaxed about things. You can hug them, pull their ears, lay on them, it just doesn't phase them. They love attention.

Checking out the Christmas tree.

George has outgrown Miley, and is officially the taller one. He is such a sweet boy, and is doing well learning that he has to be gentle not that he's growing into his big feet!

Miley was tuckered out after all our play.

Just keep walking, just keep walking. What do we do? We walk!

George and Miley are doing well.  Tomorrow they are going in for a nail clip, ear cleaning, special bath, the works.

I make it a point to spend time with them each night, as well as groom them. I want them to get used to it, and learn how to behave during a grooming session. They are going to be so big, and I know this is something we need to master while they're small!

I took them for another vet visit on Sept 9, and I meant to write about it... but forgot.  They are now fully vaccinated, microchipped, and licensed! Miley was 14 weeks old, and weighed in at 33lbs.  George was 12 weeks old, and weighed 28lbs. They are getting so big!!

I took them to the vet again today, October 11, to get another dose of flea medicine (we use Comfortis). I like it because it's taken orally, and you can pet or handle your dog right afterwards. We have children, so it's very handy for us.  I only took Miley with us this time, and figured George is probably just a few pounds less than her. She weighed 48lbs! In one month she gained 15 lbs, and she's only 4 months old!! I LOVE THIS BREED!

I speculate she will grow to be at least 100lbs, hopefully more. If that's the case, she's almost halfway there!

In other, very exciting news, Miley and I are doing our first walk-a-thon tomorrow morning!
It's called Walk 4 Paws, it's 2 miles, and it's the biggest fundraiser of the year for our local animal shelter. I had thought of taking George also, but he's not quite obedient enough on a leash just yet. We're still working with him on that.

Two of my friends will also be walking with their dogs. My one friend Laurel has the sweetest, very LARGE, Great Dane named Nala. My other friends, Kristen and Sam, will be walking with one of their Golden Retrievers.  It's great to be able to socialize our dogs, and to be there with friends. If you would like to sponsor Miley and I, you can click on this link.

We would appreciate your support! 

My son decided he wanted to crate train. I only potty training kids was that easy. ;)

George on the other hand was less than impressed with my sons efforts to "be the dog"...

Oh great... A crate.

I have started crate training Miley and George. I think I should have started earlier, but I wasn't sure how to do it. I figured it was better to wait, and learn to do it right, than to do it wrong.

Thanks to a friend of mine who has a Great Dane, I scored a free crate! I purchased an identical one at Tractor Supply, set them both up at home, and let the dogs go freely in and out. I wanted them to be comfortable with the crates before I closed the doors on them.

The first two days... Nothing. They didn't even go near them. I even put a ham bone in each one... Still nothing. We were off to a flying start...

I had the crates set up in the dog room those first two days, and with no success, I moved them into the family room.

I set up a series of baby gates around the entrances to the crates, and let the dogs into the area. To my surprise, Miley went right in! George... not so much. He hung around for quite some time, sticking his nose in and out of each crate. Finally he went in, and promptly went to chewing on his ham bone.

After awhile, when I could tell they were relaxed, I quietly and slowly closed the doors. They looked at me for a second, and went back to chewing.

I set the timer for an hour, and I'll let them out. Being their first night I want this to be an extremely positive experience. 

My hope is they will crate and potty train by the time the snow flies so they can be out and about in the house with us. 

This is the link to Basham's Berners . I've mentioned them before, it's where we bought George.


I also found this picture of George (was originally named Phillip)  when he was just a tiny little guy!

Here we go...

George and Miley are doing wonderful!  They have stopped peeing inside the puppy room (A tiled, 12 foot x 12 foot room, with large dog door)! They are doing excellent going in and out as needed.

With he weather being warmer they like to camp out on top of the air conditioning vent in their room. Even puppies appreciate central air!

 

I've been working with them using Cesar Milan's different tips for dogs. For us, a finger snap is used to indicate I want them to come. They have been responding very well!  We've been working on walking on a leash, following me off a leash, coming when I call, and of course... FETCH!

They are doing better and better everyday.

Their personalities are starting to really shine through. Miley is loyal, loving, and adores me.  She wants to be where I am, and seems to just wait around for me to pet her... which I do... all the time.

George is more the rowdy one.  Of course, by rowdy I mean he likes to jump and bark. He is the picture of a puppy. 

Even though I have 6 kids, taking care of George and Miley doesn't feel like two more things I have on the "to do" list each day.  I love playing with them, training them, brushing them, and just spending time with them. I love their snuggles, and that they wrestle, and climb on each other to get to me.

They each got a bath yesterday. They did very well in the water, and they were WAY filthier than I thought they were. Must be the mostly black, double coat... I washed them three times before the water ran clear, and when they dried they looked like little puff balls.

Of course, getting them dry was an interesting venture. I may be investing in an actual dog dryer. Why? Because I like to do things right the first time...

That and, well, using my own hair dryer was not a success.

They are going back to the vet after September 1st to get their next shot, as well as the rabies vaccine.
Then, WALKS! I can't wait to get them out and about!! It will be a great way to exercise in the evenings for me, and a lot of fun for them!

I hate exercising, so being able to go walking with my little furry sweeties will definitely make it more bearable!!

Until next time, we bid you adieu.

A weighty matter

I took King George and Queen Miley to the vet for their new puppy checkup, always a good idea when buying a dog.  All in all they received an excellent bill of health. George weighed in at 15.4 lbs, and Miley at 18.6 lbs.

I will be excited to see their growth, and if George will, in the end, be larger than Miley.

In other Bernese news, it continues to amaze me how tolerant these dogs are! One of my boys, A, is almost 3 years old, and he is an animal lover! Mostly he loves to hold and hug on our dogs. He got ahold of Miley, and stayed like this with her for several minutes. She didn't fuss, she didn't squirm. She just sat patiently as my son got his fill of puppy love.

This is my 10 month old, E. This is a fairly common sight in our home. The puppies seem to instinctively know she's a baby, and have been even more gentle with her than they are with the other children. We just love them!

Long live the Queen!

The Eagle has landed. I repeat, the Eagle has landed.

After I brought George home, I realized we couldn't JUST have George. He was lonely, and he needed a friend. While I understand there is an adjustment period for puppies to acclimate to their new homes, George was not the same puppy I had met at Basham's Berners.

This would not do.

And we were off! I began my search anew for a female companion for George. We figured if we bought an unrelated female, we would be able to breed them if we decided to. I contacted Heidi (the owner of Basham's Berners, where we bought George), and told her my specifications. The bigger the better, large blaze, boxy face, and female.

She contacted me that same day to tell me she knew of a breeder who had a puppy that might be just the one we were looking for.  Later that night she sent me a few pictures of a pup named Miley.  Heidi and Bailey had done an excellent job choosing one for me. Miley was EXACTLY what I was looking for.

I contacted the breeder the next morning to quiz her on her ideals, practices, and basically interrogate her the way I had Heidi. Little did I know that Heidi had already beat me to it. The owner of Miley was a woman named Lisa Buxton. Lisa lives in Utah, and also has 6 children. I was thrilled to meet someone who shared my love for children as much as my love for Berners.

After speaking with Lisa, I was confident Miley would be a good fit.  Miley was already 10 1/2 weeks old, so I felt it was critical to get her shipped out to us as soon as possible. Lisa was headed to the airport the next day to pick up her husband, and offered to ship her the next morning. We had a lot to do in a short amount of time!

I wrote up the contract, Lisa booked the flight.I sent her the deposit, she took Miley to the vet. We had less than 24 hours to pull this whole transaction together! Thankfully, with us each being the mother of 6 children, we excel at multitasking!

We were able to get everything in place, and Miley flew out from the Salt Lake City airport at 7:30 the next morning. She connected in Detroit, and landed in Buffalo at 4:43.

I was there early to pick her up, and waited in the Delta baggage claim office for her flight to land. Soon, a gentleman emerged with a large crate. MILEY!! I was so excited! She was everything I had hoped she would be, and super friendly! I took her to my car, cleaned her up a bit, fed, watered, and pottied her. Then she rode in my lap the whole way home.

I could tell right off the bat that she was even more affectionate than George. Maybe it had to do with her age, or that she was a female, or being isolated during the flight. Whatever the case, Miley and I hit it off right away.

When I got her home, I put her into the dog side of the yard. George was inside the house, and had yet to figure out the dog door. I knew Miley would be the motivation he needed to get through that door!

She looked at him...

He looked at her...

And the videos tell the rest:

Video 1                http://youtu.be/byyDneO9HYA

Video 2                http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9gUjkU6sspc&feature=youtu.be

Video 3                http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BZvaYrUXGLw&feature=youtu.be

Video 4                http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQyYwm9yIAg&feature=youtu.be

Video 5                http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KsoDIB5P7tw&feature=youtu.be

Video 6                http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xj679v1Jcc8&feature=youtu.be

The King has found his Queen, and they live happily ever after.

Ladies and Gentlemen, King George and Queen Miley Von Thomas!

In the beginning...

There was King George.

King George is our first Berner. He is about 8 weeks old, and we got him from Heidi and Bailey Basham at Basham's Berners in Corning, New York.

King George, or just George for short, is a playful, eager to please, adorable little guy... well... little for now anyways. His dad, is 145 lbs, and his mother is about 85.

We first discovered the Bernese Mountain Dog (or affectionately known as the Berner) when we decided it was time for a family dog. My husband and I have both grown up with different breeds, and one thing we knew was we didn't want a high energy dog.  We have 6 children, and the last thing I wanted was to add a dog that would be bouncing all over the place.

We wanted something big, that much we knew. I liked the look of dogs with longer coats, and I loved the tri color markings of black, white, and brown.  I didn't want a pointy muzzle, like the Collie, or the fierce look of a German Shepherd.  Great Danes were too tall, the Newfoundland drooled WAY too much for my taste, and the Saint Bernards fell into that same category.  Decisions, decisions. It seemed like we would never find the "right" dog for our family.

Then...

I stumbled on a website that had the Bernese Mountain Dog. It was love at first sight. They were beautiful, loveable, huggable, and HUGE! The more I read about them, everyone said how easy going they were, loveable, great with kids... SOLD. Where could I get one of these dogs?!

Like any responsible pet owner, I looked for a reputable breeder. One who could show us the lineage of each puppy, and could prove there were no major health issues running in that line.  I searched, and I searched, and I searched, and I searched... and then I searched some more.

I didn't have a good feeling about some of the breeders, they seemed to have "puppy mill" weaved in between their ushy, gushy, sweety-pie descriptions.  It just didn't feel right.

After awhile I stumbled onto a facebook page for Basham's Berners.  After reading their website, I decided to contact the owner, Heidi.  Her and her daughter, Bailey, breed the puppies.  Heidi and I hit it off right away. She had all the same values I had concerning breeding, puppies, everything.  After talking with her for over an hour, I decided it was time to meet with her.

She had one male left, who she called Phillip.  I drove down the next day to see him, check out the way she did things, and see what happened.  I took my two oldest kids, M and A, with me.

We showed up at Heidi's at about 7:00pm. As we walked up to the yard, two large Berners came barking and charging at the fence. They both proceeded to jump up, and put their front paws on the fence, barking at us.  My kids and I all froze.  THIS was the dog I had read about?! Are you KIDDING me?!

We were all terrified, and smiled nervously as Bailey came over to let us into the yard. I was thinking, "There is NO WAY I am going into that yard with those huge dogs. Not happening!"

Heidi and Bailey put the females away, but left Henry, the 145 lb male out. We cautiously entered the yard.  Henry came over and sniffed us all, and I made my bravest mommy-isn't-scared-honey-it's-really-okay face to try and encourage my kids... hoping this miniature bear wasn't going to eat us all in one fell swoop. To my utter surprise, he sniffed us, and walked over to Bailey (did I mention she is only 13, and shorter than me?), and leaned on her legs. She started petting him, and I realized then that everything I had read was true. They WERE big, cuddly teddy bears!  I knew this was the dog I wanted. Both my kids warmed up to him soon after that, and by the time we left an hour and a half later, they were laying on the ground with dogs licking them, and playing.  It was great.

Henry is the sweetest dog I have ever met. Gentle, but huge. Protective of his family, but a sweet heart.

We bought Phillip, and brought him home.  We changed his name to King George.  And that, ladies and gentlemen, is how it all got started!