Hi Tracey, Don't be too hard on your Mom... Not so long ago it could have been me... Our first Berner - and first dog - we bought from an ad. in a local paper (1986). We knew zip about pedigrees, BYBs, or anything really. Granted the learning curve was subsequently steep and fast, but only because Hannah had multiple problems. I do seem to remember asking something about a club for Bernese people, but was told it was just for professionals! Then, in 1996, my son introduced me to the internet and we did a search for Bernese, and my education began in earnest, thanks to the Berner-L - I had been a member of the GB club for a number of years by then, but it's surprising how much more I learnt just by listening to people throwing their ideas back & forth. There are still so many folk without the resources I've been lucky enough to have, and if you've bought one dog from a farm, a flea market, a pet shop, and had no problems, why would you suspect the next would be any different? My parents still think I verge on madness and tunnel vision when it comes to the dog world... They have a miniature Dachs, bought from a local paper ad. She has epilepsy and a bad spine, but they just accept that as something that happens. They don't see the need to spend even days on research, let alone months. Admittedly, they were appalled by the background of the 3 rescues (2 puppy farm females and a dog from an extremely abusive home) I've had and saddened by the early demise of others, but they accept that this is going to happen to some dogs and as far as they are concerned, they are doing their bit for dog-kind. They do try to persuade me I'm a fool to keep taking in dogs that obviously have a multitude of problems and get really aggravated when I insist that Bernese will always be part of my life. All we can do is hope to nudge PPOs gently in the right direction, and gently educate the public by all the means we can. It's going to take a while for the internet generation to get the word around, but the advances in the past few years have been wonderful. We just have to be patient and find the right words to effect even the most stubborn of pet owners!! Liz Bradbury in Scotland, with Roxie the bouncing Berner; Newfs Toby and Maggie; & the 6 Feline Fiends. http://www.btinternet.com/~liz.Bradbury1
On Tue, 15 Jul 2003 11:08:30 -0500, Tracey Conner wrote: >Last month I learned where my mother had gotten her cute little toy >poodle >
