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I read somewhere that Berners over aged 2 sometimes have difficulty being rehomed, but I don't believe it. My experience is that they are such people dogs and so willing to please that if you are patient and kind and take the initiative to be a good pack leader, with daily walks etc, that you will have great success.
On grooming, I think Gail949 has the right answers. I also use a steel comb that has two lengths of teeth (one short, one longer) and I have found nothing beats this for getting out the dead undercoat. I agree with Gail949 to brush/comb against the natural lay of the hair - you get so much more hair out! I also use a very fine toothed comb for under their ears because it's such a problem area. Since puppyhood, I have made them wash their paws in a tub (it's actually a cow feed tub so virtually indistructible) and trained them to do this by offering a cookie or a bit of ham and not giving them the treat unless all 4 paws were in the water. We live in a very rainy and wet area plus we live on acreage with muddy fields and I am a bit of a freak about a clean floor (thank goodness, no rugs in our house!) so paws must always be done before they come in.
Another thing, especially in rain and snow seasons, is to shave thehair of their pads with an electric razor but so far, I've always taken them to a pro who puts them up on a table. None of our dogs have ever liked the sound of the scissors when I'm clipping and I find I get rather nervous which they pick up on, so more than not, leave it to the experts. I do try to do it myself every so often but I don't think I do as good a job as the dog groomer who only charges me $10/dog. For nail clipping, I use a "guillotine" clipper (very scary!! but I'm soooo careful) They're not overly crazy about when I clip their nails so I give them a bit of cookie for each snip and VOILA! I've been debating on the dremmel tool and after reading Gail949's answer, I'm going to be brave and try it!
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