Wednesday, February 8 2012

11-20-2008, 04:01 PM

Hey everyone , im new here and expecting my first berner in a few weeks.

We are basically ready for her and have raised a puppy before, so none of our questions are about that.

We have not chosen our girl yet, we just know we are guaranteed one but I had a questions about berners and how their markings change as they grow.

I've searched online to try to find info, and I've searched this forum to try to avoid posting a double topic but have not had any luck so...

I just wondered how the white markings on a berner change . Also about when they change age wise.

I know the white on the muzzle shrinks and the rust on cheeks grows a bit-- the nose also goes from spotty to full black, but what i'm actually wondering about is white elsewhere on the body.

I've heard that white spots on the back of the neck sometimes happen or appear/ grow on a newborn and then it will change to new hair that is black later on. I've also heard that checking the skin to see if it is pink or a darker grey blue is a good way to tell if it will grow in white or black later. i just dont know when that furry coat is more or less permanent other than for slight changes.

These pups are about 5 weeks old I believe and I wondered if their body markings were more or less permanent now aside from shrinking facial white markings and nose changes.

That was really all I wondered and I figured I would come here to some people that had more experience with the breed and raising it to look for an answer!

Thank you for any help you can provide. I was just super curious to try to picture what our future family member will look like in a few years! They change so much from puppy to adult hood!

Thanks!

11-22-2008, 02:22 PM

Welcome to Bernertalk! How exciting to know in just a few weeks you will have a puppy! I am partial, but....I think Berners are the BEST dog in the world!

What made you decide on Berner? It seems as though not too many people have ever even heard of them. Thats the main reason my husband started this website. We didnt know anyone who had a Berner, and only a few that had ever heard the name.

To answer your question about the markings, the only thing that changed on Riley was the white. He had a white spot on the end of his tail and a white spot on the back of his neck. The breeder that we got him from had actually named him Spot! But both were gone within the first few months. Also the white on the front of his face that goes up between his eyes got thinner and thinner for about the first year. There was a time when I thought it was going to completely disappear, but its still there. His seems to be on the thinner side of most of the berners we have seen. But really they are beautiful dogs no matter what

.

Please let us know when you get your puppy. Have you picked out a name yet????

11-22-2008, 03:10 PM

thanks for the response, it was pretty much what i had figured

i have known about berners since i was very young. my mothers boss had a few as pets and i visited them often. ill be honest and as a young girl i really was just drawn to their colours. they reminded me ALOT of golden retrievers -- look and personality-- but just a different colour.

any how i vowed then that at some point in the much later future i would have a berner! as i grew up i learned about the breed and all of their troubles that came along with their wonderful-ness.
i let my husband know about them and introduced him to a few i knew, and he fell in love too. he has never had a dog so he is just over the moon excited right now. so, 20 some odd years later, here i am

it has taken us nearly 4 years to find the right berner for us and we are just thrilled we will be welcoming her home soon. id honestly rather more people be like me and take a long time finding a pet rather than, hey i have this dog now, what is so special about it!?/ what do i need to know! we are hoping we are lucky enough to have our girl with us for at least a decade, and hope she can make a veterans list at some point!
we had considered rescue/ adopting a berner but lacked the fence required by all organizations. we will be getting one up soon and hope to rescue a few berners in the future!

no solid choice of a name yet. we had actually wanted a boy first but were slow to act, so our only option was a girl, it made all of our names not work, so we are still working on it! we are pretty sure on one at this time but it my change when we go pick her out/ up.

again thanks for the answer on the white, i figured that white on the back of the neck was supposed to thin out and disappear (in most cases) ill just keep that in mind and take a peek art her skin under the fur if she happens to have a mark

i know she will be wonderful regardless but i figured would ask anyway.

ill definitely be back to post photos of our little one and our confirmed name in a few weeks time!

11-24-2008, 11:16 AM

Hi and welcome. Lovely you are getting a new berner pup.
The white on the back of the neck is called a swiss kiss, it will eventually go although Ollie still has a couple of white hairs left and he is now almost 2-1/2 so expect those two or three will stay, I haven't seen much a change in his markings except the chestnut markings have a got a deeper chestnut as he has got older.

12-16-2008, 01:20 PM

Originally Posted by BernerTalk08

thanks for the response, it was pretty much what i had figured

i have known about berners since i was very young. my mothers boss had a few as pets and i visited them often. ill be honest and as a young girl i really was just drawn to their colours. they reminded me ALOT of golden retrievers -- look and personality-- but just a different colour.

any how i vowed then that at some point in the much later future i would have a berner! as i grew up i learned about the breed and all of their troubles that came along with their wonderful-ness.
i let my husband know about them and introduced him to a few i knew, and he fell in love too. he has never had a dog so he is just over the moon excited right now. so, 20 some odd years later, here i am

it has taken us nearly 4 years to find the right berner for us and we are just thrilled we will be welcoming her home soon. id honestly rather more people be like me and take a long time finding a pet rather than, hey i have this dog now, what is so special about it!?/ what do i need to know! we are hoping we are lucky enough to have our girl with us for at least a decade, and hope she can make a veterans list at some point!
we had considered rescue/ adopting a berner but lacked the fence required by all organizations. we will be getting one up soon and hope to rescue a few berners in the future!

no solid choice of a name yet. we had actually wanted a boy first but were slow to act, so our only option was a girl, it made all of our names not work, so we are still working on it! we are pretty sure on one at this time but it my change when we go pick her out/ up.

again thanks for the answer on the white, i figured that white on the back of the neck was supposed to thin out and disappear (in most cases) ill just keep that in mind and take a peek art her skin under the fur if she happens to have a mark

i know she will be wonderful regardless but i figured would ask anyway.

ill definitely be back to post photos of our little one and our confirmed name in a few weeks time!

I completely agree with you! We were through two years and three breeders before we got our boy Toa, who is now 13 weeks old. He is our first puppy and we are so glad we decided to go with a Berner!!!! Enjoy your pup, every day is hilarious with him!

12-16-2008, 01:24 PM

All of the puppies from the litter where we got our Toa (10 pups) had the swiss kiss, but by the time they were 8 weeks, there was only one pup that still had it... Our berner is 13 weeks and the only markings that have changed so far is that his nose is getting blacker, and the brown is getting a little rustier. Still has a good white blaze, and paws haven't changed, and still has the white tip... of course, he's only 13 weeks so that may all change.

02-14-2009, 08:12 AM

you guys are all so lucky ! my family and I trying to find a good breeder we hope to bring a furry little girl into our lives soon too. we have a 9 yr old golden and he is amazing!!! I'm so nervous to choose a breeder- its been a long time since we've gone thru this process and the internet makes it worse!!! Did anyone out there have their puppy shipped home or did you all pick them up in person? we drove from NJ to Buffalo for our golden..... And prices vary sooo much on these guys.... from $800-$1800!!! my husband says you get what pay for but some of the high end breeders don't seem so hot either! We will be spaying our baby not breeding (of course!) but still would like to see all of the health clearances on mom and dad etc. also I read on berner-guard site that females shouldn't be bred before 2 yrs and 99% of the pups I have come across have moms around 1 1/2 yrs !!!!! Sorry to go on and on..../any help is appreciated!

02-14-2009, 10:12 AM

been a while since i have been here but welcomign the puppy home in the middle of winter -- we erally had our hands full.

ive gotten to see many pupps change over time now and can see how they differ.

mouse had a tiny swiss kiss, maybe 50 hairs or so and they have faded out to maybe 7 or 8. other pups in her litter had very large ones and will have those always.
i never knew that it actualy used to be int he breed standard and was only written out 20ish years ago. that definately explained it for me.

Mouse is growing nicely and has done fairly well for herself.
we did figure out very soon after getting her (like.. the day of ) that something was wrong with her eye. i was apparently the only one who noticed/ saw it, but happily our vet did too after a month of checking her out. he kept an eye on it, but i was confident that Mouse could not see out of one eye. after a month we went to the eye specialist and it was confirmed. blind inher left eye, and partial vision in her right. she is doing well and over coming some fears she initially had. she was born this way so knows no different, and it really helps her. she is a cooky girl who is currently teething like a beast and it is causing her to spike fevers. im happy our vet is great and loves her to pieces.

As for mouse's markings, other than the typical rust getting rustier, white thinning out stuff, her blaze has moved quite a bit. her blaze curved over her eye when we got her, and it has straightened out alot. it is indeed very neat to watch them change!

here is a photostrip of Mouse growing -- 8 weeks, 12 weeks, and 13 weeks. she went from puppy to dog over a few days!

15 weeks Mouse :: 81213jpg.jpg picture by FurryPhotos - Photobucket

this one is just her face from week 8 to 13 ( i think) i havent updated it for it to be up to the week she is now

http://i41.tinypic.com/2pyx5s8.jpg

02-14-2009, 08:04 PM

Congratulations! Mouse is sooooooooo cute ! Thanks for sharing all the pictures too. It made me miss having a puppy. There is just nothing as cute as a Berner pup. I am sorry to hear about her vision problems. Do they know what caused it or if it is genetic? Berners do have a lot of health issues, but I have never really heard of any that effect the eyes. I was curious if this was something that Berners are prone to or if it is just something that any dog may be prone to ???? But I agree with you that it is probably a blessing that she was born this way, so she doesnt know a difference. My Mother has been blind in one eye since she was two years old. She doesnt remember seeing out of two, so I think it makes it easier to adjust. (dont tell her I am making a comparison to a puppy ) lol But Mouse seems as happy as can be! I especially like the pics at what I am assuming is the dog park. She looks like she is having so much fun! How is the training going? As much fun as it is to have a new puppy, I dont miss all of the things that come with it

! Let us know how she is doing, and keep the pictures coming, they were so much fun to look at! Again,,,,,, Congrats on the new baby!

02-22-2009, 03:34 PM

so far her vet and eye specialist all say her problem is congenital, and a fluke. her litter was quite large and it could have possibly have had some connection to that.
there was some worry at first that it may be genetic, other puppies with some relation to ours were popping up with eye issues. so far after a few months of research and comparing vet notes and specialists, they are all sure that they were just very coincidental cases. i believe to be safe, they will not be crossing the genes of any of the puppies involved/ their relatives. all of the eye info will be put into bernergarde to help with the future of their relatives/ breedings.

Mouse is nearly 5 months old now and oh my, her brain has flown out the window. she was so wonderful , though stubborn, and now she is just full blown stubborn and wants no part of listening. i cant wait for her to get over this and get back to being herself again!

im having the most trouble with her sudden "forgetfulness" of manners since i know she can behave and listen to multiple commands, and now she is choosing not to. i am losing my patience quickly! i think i will have to pass over training to my husband (though he is terrible at it) at least until she settles down a bit more.

and yeah... i think i am done with puppies. though adorable and fluffy, im ready to do the trade off of well behaved, no hormones flaring, dog instead of a puppy.

my husband had never raised a puppy before and i felt he needed to go through it, at least once, to understand their development, and how dogs just dont raise themselves

he too has said, no more puppies. he "gets it"
haha

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11-24-2008, 11:16 AM	#4 (permalink)
Senior Member	Hi and welcome. Lovely you are getting a new berner pup. The white on the back of the neck is called a swiss kiss, it will eventually go although Ollie still has a couple of white hairs left and he is now almost 2-1/2 so expect those two or three will stay, I haven't seen much a change in his markings except the chestnut markings have a got a deeper chestnut as he has got older.