Regarding the pup who barks in his crate in the early morning:
I would like to suggest that you remove the pup from the crate, and take him
out quickly for a no-nonsense kind of potty trip. Then, put him in bed with
you and cuddle him until he is sleepy again, or pull some bedding on the
floor and lay down next to pup, perhaps offering him a toy first, in order
for him to expend some energy in play. Of course, some of us are just early
risers; I am generally awake at around 5AM or so and my dogs like to sleep
until about 7AM!
Of course, I housetrain my pups and always have, in a matter more similar, I
believe, to many of the Europeans. I hope that more folks will consider
trying this; there is nothing quite like soft warm puppy breath on your face
and hearing pup's contented sighs as he curls up next to you to fall asleep.
Mine are never crated during this process but, rather, I sleep next to pup
on the floor or wherever and when pup stirs, I am there to comfort pup and
escort pup into the yard for pup to relieve himself. My dogs are allowed to
sleep on the bed or couch, wherever they want once they are large enough.
My sleeping nearly half century old body is always "planted" in the same
general area. My dogs are crated in my vehicle, for our rides, etc. so they
are not unused to being crated such as at a veterinary clinic, where this
would be necessary.
Regarding breeding bitches, I think that one would want to evaluate each
litter before a new one is bred. For example, most of Yoda's litter
eventually succumbed to cancer and one to meningitis. Yoda's litter was
VERY conscientiously planned and contained lovely representatives of the
breed and Yoda was the love of my life, so to speak, my soulmate. His
mother, to the best of my knowledge, died of cancer? and his father, to the
best of my knowledge, at a young age to a kidney related problem?? For me,
this would send up red flags (not saying absolutely do not do it) here and
there and everywhere about repeating such a breeding (it was not repeated)
or breeding any relatives. Given the breed's medical challenges, would this
not be enough, by itself, to justify waiting until a litter has reached at
least an age where OFA is do-able, to repeat a breeding, breed close
relatives, that sort of thing? Since most Bernese, given their fragility,
health-wise, would not last all that long "in the wilderness," should we not
attach more human-type considerations to the breed's situation, which is,
after all, created by man, as is the breed. I too read that constant
breeding of a bitch actually might suit her better BUT we are not takling
about wolves here but, rather, a breed whose problems might become
catastrophic. Should not the bigger picture be taken into consideration?
After all, "we" are doing what Nature would NEVER NEVER do; creating beings
with fragilities that would never permit its long term survival in a natural
environment and not just a few, but thousands upon thousands of such.
Regarding ANY of our many and respected better breeders breeding to merely
supply the pet market with better dogs, I do see the logic but I can not
support such an idea as it shows no respect, in my mind, for the bitch whose
life is precious and whose very essence demands more consideration than that
of being made to assume producer status. We should make cars to meet
consumer demand; this should never apply to creating lives, which have
birthrights due more consideration, a certain reverence, actually.
Lisa Allen
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