Terry, You are exactly right, in order to better Berners, breeders (and all owners!) have to share knowledge and information!! It's something many people have been working on for decades. We have a database started by Martin and Barbara Packard many years ago that enables all of us to share health information which will enable us to better understand and fight genetic diseases. Thanks to their efforts we have had the ability to determine that several types of cancer are heritable. We also are better positioned to study and to have research done on other diseases also determined to be genetic in our breed. We can all assist in this effort by sharing information with Berner-Garde.
The BMDCA has done a breed wide health survey, and on the basis of that we have a better understanding of just what diseases we have in our population of Berners, and what sort of incidence those diseases have. It has enabled the BMDCA health committee to make better informed decisions of where and how to spend money on a number of research studies. The BMDCA has a good list of studies that they have funded or that are in progress in this country. (Average age from the reports of 261 Berners in the survey who were deceased - about 7.0 years.) We would welcome similar information and understanding about the breed in Europe as well. But the information seems to be sadly lacking. No one knows what health problems they face in general, There was one study in England of 500 Berners to determine average age - 7.0 years. There was a 1994 report from Switzerland studying causes of death of 275 Berners, the average age - 7.0 years. There was a more recent health survey in England. I haven't seen any list of details of just what sort of health studies have been funded in Europe. But based on the little information I have, I would have to suppose that they probably face the same diseases, the same lifespan problems, and the same overall issues that we face. Some of the individual breeders in Europe, as some of the individual breeders in this country, are doing wonderful jobs at selecting for health and longevity and type and temperament. Some of the individual breeders in Europe, as some of the individual breeders in this country, are more concerned with producing a product to sell. We have the bad with the good in all countries, both breeders and owners. We all need to do more to share information and to understand how to improve the breed. Have you updated Berner-Garde information about your dogs lately? www.bernergarde.org Pat Long (& Luther) Berwyn PA
