Posted by:
Amyjo
(
)
Date: June 29, 2019 02:30AM
Hockeyrat Wrote:
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> Amy, how old is she?Whats her name? I love big
> dogs. It’s closer to being with a person, plus
> they’re more fun. Is she going to go to puppy
> school,that’s if she’s old enough and has her
> shots .
I've had big dogs before. My parents had a pair of Saint Bernards on our farm where I grew up in Idaho. Rastus and Lucia. :) They were quite the couple. ;o) I also had three SPCA dogs when my children were growing up that were between medium and large. So I have some experience with larger dogs. Though this Swiss Bernese will be the largest I will have had since Rastus and Lucia. And mom and dad kept them outside on our farm. Maisie will be kept indoors.
This sweet lolita is now only 3 1/3 months old, and already very large to pick up. I can still pick her up, but she is getting larger by the day. She has big paws, which says a lot about how much larger she will get. Female Bernese tend to grow to about 75-80 lbs. The males about 10 lbs larger. I wanted a female because they're decidedly more feminine, and I wanted a companion dog that will be easier for me to work with. Not that a male dog isn't. My Cairn terrier is male. A larger dog on a leash I figured may be easier to walk if she isn't as large as her male counterpart. (My logic at work.)
I plan to sign her up for obedience training. It will be good for her and me both. There was a dog at one of the schools where I live that is an honorary mention there who was a Swiss Bernese. She was their only cart pulling trained dog in its history. (Something the Swiss Bernese are known for apparently.) She is my inspiration for my puppy - not to pull carts, but to pass obedience training. ;o)
This is a photo of that dog in Memoriam:
http://wltc4dogtraining.com/sitebuilder/images/DSCF0019-468x352.jpgShe is what mine should look like when she grows up. Her mother looks like that.
Mine I'm naming Maisie. Her family in Ohio named her Macy, so it is close sounding. It will be part of her AKC registered name. Her family (of origin) are Swiss/German Mennonites. Like my Swiss German Mennonite ancestors who immigrated to Pennsylvania from Bern, Switzerland more than 200 years ago. There are quite a few Swiss Bernese breeders throughout Ohio and Pennsylvania who are Mennonite and Amish. One of the families shares my common ancestors name. So we're likely related, but I didn't make contact with them. I already have cousins I'm in contact with via my Mormon heritage. Via a 2002 Oxford England DNA study of that one surname of 13 living descendants with various spellings it was able to confirm that they were all related to the same ancestor. My cousin (a Deist genealogist, now deceased,) was a part of that study in 2002. He was the one to make the Swiss connection for my family. Our Mormon genealogists were not. He was one of the 13 included in the study. If not for him I wouldn't have known, nor for the 23 and Me I took for Mother's Day two years ago. My cousin's widow (also my cousin and his,) sent me his and hers genealogy recently that showed not only the Swiss connection but that they were from Bern.
It is bewildering to learn it over the course of 2-3 months between the DNA and the cousins I've only met online. She's elderly, but she and I grew up in the same hometown. She's as sweet as apple pie. And I feel extremely blessed to have made her acquaintance. If not for her, I'd still be in the dark.
My puppy had her puppy shots. Until I took her to the vet. The vet doesn't recognize the breeder self-administering them, so she has started them all over again. But that's alright. At least she'll be covered, and has everything she needs should I need to kennel her, including her rabies now. I plan to have her spayed since I don't want to use her for a brood dog. Although she would make beautiful pups. These dogs only live between 7-10 years on average. That is going to be hard for me because my dogs on average have lived longer than this. But I'm already attached to her. They have genetic health risks that I'm prepared to deal with out of love for their breed.
Maisie is very intelligent. I can see her breed being used as service dogs in fact because they have the temperament to be able to be used in that capacity. They are working dogs by nature. She's housebreaking okay. It isn't easy peasy. But she's catching on quickly. She has a hearty appetite which is good because she's a large breed. I just have to make sure she doesn't gobble up the Cairn's food when he's not looking lol. So I keep them separated food wise and feeding schedules.
> I’m drinking iced tea and my husband is watching
> WW1 in colour.
WW1 sounds intriguing. I read about a woman from here in upstate New York who cracked a code "Purple" it was called during WWII, as a mathematician that the Japanese used. It was a major achievement for the allied forces leading up to Pearl Harbor. She was one of quite a few women who were code crackers during the war that were unsung heroes. They kept a low profile but made major strides for defense.
I'm up late. Fighting another upper respiratory infection. May need to see the doc again. Oy. Thank God for the weekend! :o)
Enjoy that iced tea! Sounds yummy.
Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 06/29/2019 08:47AM by Amyjo.