Dog Shopping

[Tim and Bethanie 1]

Never dealt with a mountain dog, but like you oh my when I see a picture of one I fall in love. Hubby claimed they look like big mutts and that I couldn't possibly think of getting one lol. Like Reba states, a dog with an undercoat requires a lot of grooming. You can't just toss one in the bath, they have to be rinsed, and rinsed, and rinsed again otherwise the shampoos get in the undercoat and you end up with a dog that has serious skin problems. When taking to a groomer, it takes anywhere from 2-5 hours during the shedding of the undercoat to properly clean out the undercoat bathe and dry . The photo above was taken two days after I had already groomed this dog, she was only getting a brush out and perfume for her role in a wedding. So that little bit of undercoat laying on the ground was nothing compared to the norm. Usually I can pull enough hair out to make a medium dog.

Try looking at a greater swiss mountain dog, short coats but look almost identical to the Bernese. Less work!

[Donna A 4]

i got my pomeranian thru www.breeder.net and just looked under pugs and found a puggle breeder. im sure they will want alot less then a pet store. when i was shopping for my pom the pet store wanted around 800 and i got it on that site for 400. u will need to put in your zip code and it will show breeders near u.

[CanGal 1]

Thanks everyone for your inputs ... Like I said we are still looking and checking around. As for grooming, I don't mind doing it. I guess I see whatyou all mean about the undercoat though. I can't seem to have really really short hair shedding dogs though because I am allergic.

[Tim and Bethanie 1]

Thanks everyone for your inputs ... Like I said we are still looking and checking around. As for grooming, I don't mind doing it. I guess I see whatyou all mean about the undercoat though. I can't seem to have really really short hair shedding dogs though because I am allergic.

They have that product out now you use on the coat that helps to alleviate some allergy problems, I hear that it works really well.

If you don't want shedding don't go with any kind of shepherd, or husky either wowza the hair that comes out of those breeds! Have yet to meet a Husky that enjoys a bath either, my least favorite to groom. Also check out some of the larger terriers or any rough coated breed, you know from having a terrier the shedding is minimal, so long as you can avoid the naughty terrier traits some have lol. I have a Soft Coated Wheaten mix I very seldom get much hair off of the floor, now my springer/hound mix is another story. This is a nice site, gives you quick little descriptions on many breeds. http://www.terrificpets.com/dog_breeds/

[Indo_mommy 0]

wow....... 50 donation and ill get a doggie from the humane society lol

Exactly what Brandon and I did on Tue. We adopted a Shepherd/Rott mix dog from the Humane Society.

Adoption fee + microchip + family photo + simple leash + small donation = $120.

Phoebe is now the center of attention in the household. Everything she does and 'says' makes us gush. We're such soppy dog owners.

Congrats for Phoebe, Elen. She's so cute! Can't wait to see more pics of her.

[dollface41601 0]

We have a bischon frises and he is hypo-allergenic and only sheds minimally after his weekly bath, hes white, fluffy, and oh so cute, and very well behaved...he looks just like this...

[CanGal 1]

They have that product out now you use on the coat that helps to alleviate some allergy problems, I hear that it works really well.

Bethanie do you now what it is called?

As for shedding, I've always had non shed dogs around all my life, at home and now. Right Now i've currently got a yorkshire dog, he's my baby, he's turning 10 in a few weeks so he's getting up there. But he's still got alot of ####### when he wants to have it lol and he's in perfect shape and health condition. The only time he really bothers me is if I don't brush him for a few weeks or so but It's not like that happens very often, I try to do it once or twice a week and I keep his hair quite short. I find if I just stay on top of him I'm fine.

As for a shedding dog, I don't know if like lets say a Bernese Mountain Dog would bother me or not. I find it's the dogs that just shed no matter how much you groom them (usually a shorter hair dog like a lab or a dalmation or shepard or whatever that I really have issues with) where as my parents have a friend who have a I don't even remember now that I think of it but it also has a veyr thick undercoat and she sheds but only if they don't keep it up and they told me if she's brushed weekly and such she's not half as bad as she would be if they didn't. She has never bothered me. I'm thinking essentially if we do end up getting a bernese pup though one day that as it got bigger we would create a living space outside for it.

[babybunny 2]

so did we decide? were getting a grey hound

my ex had this funny looking grey hound name Ralph.

see at the time i knew nothing about them dogs. I told him feed his dog

he is too skinny.

Reba they are so cute!

I have a customer who called one day wanting to schedule a groom/bath for her dogs. I go through the usual round of questions with her. She had a Mastiff, St Bernard and a Golden. Okay so I expected the Mastiff and St Bernard to be big, but oh my goodness. She walks in with these three dogs and I am not kidding the Golden was as big if not bigger than the other two. She tells me "welllllllllllllll we took him in as a stray when he was a puppy and he had to learn to play with these two big lugs, so we think he just adapted and grew to fit in". Let's just say I ended up only doing two dogs that day, and had to take them in a shower room, standard tub wouldnt do the trick!

Over time I have fallen in love with Tibetan Mastiffs, this breed has such a docile disposition. Laying down on the job after a long day pulling out undercoat! ! Greatest job in the world. This gal is about 120lbs.

lets trade..

3 of my baseball cards for your dog...

[CanGal 1]

Bernese Mountain Dog Puppies

aren't these the sweetest pups you ever saw?? I want to bring them all home hehe

[babybunny 2]

Bernese Mountain Dog Puppies

aren't these the sweetest pups you ever saw?? I want to bring them all home hehe

hahahhaha he is cute..

I will trade you uhmmmm 3 baseball cards and the gum for that dog!

[Reba 2]

As for a shedding dog, I don't know if like lets say a Bernese Mountain Dog would bother me or not. I find it's the dogs that just shed no matter how much you groom them (usually a shorter hair dog like a lab or a dalmation or shepard or whatever that I really have issues with) where as my parents have a friend who have a I don't even remember now that I think of it but it also has a veyr thick undercoat and she sheds but only if they don't keep it up and they told me if she's brushed weekly and such she's not half as bad as she would be if they didn't. She has never bothered me. I'm thinking essentially if we do end up getting a bernese pup though one day that as it got bigger we would create a living space outside for it.

its not the fur that causes allergies, its the dander. So even if you have an Old English Sheepdog, with fur down to there, it may not bother you as much as maybe even a Boxer. Depends on the dog, not the fur.

As for a Mountain dog living outside full time, probably not a good idea. They're Swiss Mountain dogs, not bred to live outside in the Texas heat. Anything over 75F is going to be uncomfortable for them, and anything over 80F can be dangerously hot for them. I try as much as I can to keep my dogs in during summer, with air conditioning.

Here's an article about giant breed dogs and heat stroke.

http://www.canadasguidetodogs.com/health/healtharticle4.htm

If you do end up with a giant breed dog, and you have to leave it outside, consider a house big enough for it (gor a giant breed, it'll be more a shed than a dog house!) with its own air conditioner http://www.atrendyhome.com/noname10.html

Our dogs have direct access to our basement crawlspace, where its about 10 to 15 degrees cooler than outside in the yard. Which is fenced with a 6 foot wood privacy fence, they can't get out, nothing else can get in (except perhaps small rodents and snakes that can get under it of course). Invisible shock fences won't keep a determined giant (or any dog really) in the yard, nor does it keep any other animals Out of your yard.

I really can't stress enough that our summers here in the US and even most of southern Canada are just too hot for giant breed dogs to be outside fulltime. Any dog outside full time in the summer heat is very dangerous, and cruel to the dog.

If you can't keep a dog inside the house 90% of the time, don't get a dog.

A giant breed like a Bernese Mountain dog or Saint Bernard require DAILY grooming, not just once a week. Shedding is a big thing with them, all year long, not just at the change of seasons. Tho its 100 times worse twice a year to blow the summer coat and then the winter coat! We sweep daily and theres still piles of fur everywhere. Get yourself a REALLY GOOD vaccum!

Have a look at this article here titled Bernese Mountain Dog - Stunning to look at, not so easy to own

[CanGal 1]

Thanks reba for the input ... if it were up to me I'd love to have the dog inside, it wouldn't really bother me. It's my hubby, he just says maybe it's just to big to be a house dog, he believes big dogs need to be more outside. I agree with the heat, and I definately knew about that.

[CanGal 1]

Now i'm obsessed about reading on the bernese dog. My eyes are going to bug out. Ok so I found out that the females shed their undercoat about twice a year and the males shed theirs about once a year but when they do shed, it's major shedding. But after that time there really isn't a big issue. The cheapest ones so far that I've found are about 1000 dollars. Of course I'd go check out the breeder and such first but from what i've found on here they seem to be the most decent. And I phoned up the jewlery store lady lol and she did get her dog from them about 2 years ago and she said he's been wonderful. No problems at all and that they seemed like very serious breeders. Might have to check them out. They live in North Carolina and call their breeding service Swiss Kisz Farm. They breed arabian horses as well. Those are pretty