If any of you Berner lovers are looking for a good read this summer, pick up Bad Dog, A Love Story by Martin Kihn. I just finished the book and loved it. It’s about a guy, Marty- a high-functioning alcoholic who’s trying to get sober, and his dog, Hola- an out of control 5yr old Berner who’s apparently “untrainable.” Marty hits rock bottom and decides to finally get sober and get his life back together. He deals with his battle with sobriety by becoming completely obsessed with competitive dog training. He sets his and Hola’s goal to pass the Canine Good Citizen test. It was not an easy or pretty process for Marty and Hola; however, it was definitely entertaining. The book had me cracking up from cover to cover. I loved reading about Hola and seeing the similarities between her and my Berner Chewy. Even some of her so called “bad” habits- like her constant need for attention and the lengths she’ll go to get it. My favorite is her “nudging.” I call it Chewy’s “warthog maneuver” because he comes over, shoves his nose under your arm, and “roots” for pets and rubs. Most of the time he manages to do this just as I sit down on the couch with a full, hot cup of coffee in my hand. After I clean up the spilled coffee, he always seems to win and gets his rubs because he’s a bit of a spoiled boy. There are tons of other quirks of the breed that are mentioned that I loved reading about. It made me feel like I was reading a book about my own dog, and I’m sure others will feel the same way. It’s definitely worth checking out. It even taught me a bit about training! (Apparently you’re supposed to ignore the attention seeking behaviors- I find it pretty difficult to ignore anything my little guy does. Oh well!)

If any of you Berner lovers are looking for a good read this summer, pick up Bad Dog, A Love Story by Martin Kihn. I just finished the book and loved it. It’s about a guy, Marty- a high-functioning alcoholic who’s trying to get sober, and his dog, Hola- an out of control 5yr old Berner who’s apparently “untrainable.” Marty hits rock bottom and decides to finally get sober and get his life back together. He deals with his battle with sobriety by becoming completely obsessed with competitive dog training. He sets his and Hola’s goal to pass the Canine Good Citizen test. It was not an easy or pretty process for Marty and Hola; however, it was definitely entertaining. The book had me cracking up from cover to cover. I loved reading about Hola and seeing the similarities between her and my Berner Chewy. Even some of her so called “bad” habits- like her constant need for attention and the lengths she’ll go to get it. My favorite is her “nudging.” I call it Chewy’s “warthog maneuver” because he comes over, shoves his nose under your arm, and “roots” for pets and rubs. Most of the time he manages to do this just as I sit down on the couch with a full, hot cup of coffee in my hand. After I clean up the spilled coffee, he always seems to win and gets his rubs because he’s a bit of a spoiled boy. There are tons of other quirks of the breed that are mentioned that I loved reading about. It made me feel like I was reading a book about my own dog, and I’m sure others will feel the same way. It’s definitely worth checking out. It even taught me a bit about training! (Apparently you’re supposed to ignore the attention seeking behaviors- I find it pretty difficult to ignore anything my little guy does. Oh well!)