We Are Getting a Dog!

The year was 1999, before the internet, before Google brought vast information from every corner of the world to every computer. As a reward for my getting accepted into university, my parents granted our wishes to add a furry member to our family. 

The Quest for the Perfect Pup

I've always been partial to St Bernard, especially after watching the film Beethoven. Something about having a large dog you could fully bear- hug to your heart's content appealed to us. However, the slobber in the film was no exaggeration, as some acquaintances would inform us. My parents quickly squashed the idea. 

When you tell people you are looking for a dog, everyone has their opinion on what you should get. Someone suggested a Portugese Water Dog. My siblings and I found a picture of the breed and decided we'd prefer dogs with non-curly coats that don't require constant visits to the groomers. 

A family friend suggested that as first-time dog owners, we should get a female dog, as they are more manageable. She also suggested a German Sheppard Dog for its high intelligence. Wouldn't you know it? Her GSD's breeder just happened to have a 1-year-old female still waiting for a home! They sent us a picture through the post (digital camera? Cell phone? what are those? lol). A beautiful black wolf-like dog sat proudly facing the camera. It was hard to say what her paw- sonality would be like. Why was she still at the breeder? Why did no one want her? Our family friend told us the breeder would let her go at a cheaper price. My parents thought she looked scary, associating her wolf-like appearance with an untamable wild animal. We thought it odd that he didn't invite us to visit and interact with her. It was back to the drawing board.

After going through all the breed lists we could find, we decided we'd like an Alaskan Malamute (as beautiful as Huskies but more bear-like) or a Bernese Mountain Dog (to me, they look like a smaller version of St Bernard with reversed colouration sans the slobber). Another family friend happened to have a Bernese Mountain Dog, so we paid a visit. We noticed a large black boulder-like mass just beyond the glass door leading into their backyard as we entered their home. It's one thing to learn how big a breed could get on paper, it's another to see one up close, and he was massive! They told us that their dog was not particularly friendly nor well-trained, but that was because they kept him as an outdoor dog. He didn't have much opportunity to interact with humans to learn the social cues. We gave him a few tentative pats on the head and vowed that no matter which dog we got, he/she would be kept indoors.

Doing Our Homework

We borrowed books from the library and pored through every dog magazine to compile a list of breeders in Ontario. We learned all the pitfalls of choosing a dog on impulse. We also learned the questions we should ask to select a responsible breeder. We learned that responsible breeders would only sell their stocks to suitable families. We knew we should visit a few kennels before deciding who to purchase the pup from. We learned that we should try to interact with the mama and papa dogs to see what type of temperament we can expect from their puppies. We learned that we should play with all the puppies and steer clear of the most dominant and timid puppies. We also agreed to bring the pup home at the beginning of the summer holiday so everyone would be home from school to take care of the pup and train it. We also decided to get a female dog, as our family friend suggested, so it'd be smaller and easier to manage. 

We also decided the dog would be named "Popcorn" before we even picked a dog. 

Alas, How Quickly The Plan Derailed

Just because you plan to bring a puppy home at the beginning of the summer vacation doesn't mean that puppies will be available for purchase then. I wanted to do our homework by calling the breeders, learning about them and their pups, and checking out the facilities to make an informed decision. I quickly learned that many breeders have a long wait list and no litter available until next year. Finally, I got in touch with an Alaskan Malamute breeder with some puppies available. However, upon learning that we've never had dogs before, she quickly told me to give up on this breed. She said they are not for first-time dog owners. 

Desperation started to set in as I crossed off all the Alaskan Malamute breeders from the list and started down the list for Bernese Mountain Dogs breeders. It was hard to stay rational when you had 3 tween siblings pining after a long-sought-after dog. In the back of my mind, I also worried that if we didn't get a dog now, our parents might change their minds about canine ownership. So finally, when one breeder told me they just had a new litter of nine puppies, I threw caution to the wind and didn't dare to ask them too many questions in case they didn't want to sell to us.

The Adventure Begins

So on a brisk June morning, our family piled into our 7-seater van and drove 3 hours to visit the puppies. We turned into the narrow winding road leading up to the farmhouse. We saw two large, imposingly large Berners running along the fence, barking fiercely at us. We were greeted by a couple in their 50 or 60s with an undiscernible heavy European accent. They told us to wait outside and returned with five black furry squirmy male puppies. They placed them in a playpen and beamed at us. My siblings started playing with the pups. Being the only "adult" with some semblance of English ability, I attempted to ask them questions I probably should have asked on the phone pre-visit. Having just been in Canada for 3 years, my English was limited. To this day, I have no idea exactly how we understood each other. 

I asked if we could also see any of the female puppies. Unfortunately, all the females were already sold. They only have 5 males left. Okay, maybe it's not much of a deal breaker. All of them appeared to have reasonable temperament. I asked if we could see the mom and dad. They pointed to one of the growling giant beasts behind the fence and told me that one of them was the dad. They do not want me to go near them. Slightly alarmed, I asked if we could see the mom, to which they answered no. However, I couldn't understand their reasoning due to the language barrier. 

I returned to the playpen and informed my family that none of our original "checklists" for puppy selections was met. Oh, but maybe there should have been an additional item on our checklist- Never take youngsters to look at puppies because they'd fall in love with them too quickly. The thought of waiting another year and checking out other breeders was too much to bear. What if we checked out all breeders on the list and still wanted to return to this farm, but all the puppies were sold by then? My dad expressed concern about driving so many hours per trip to visit each individual breeder. I was also too overcome with the desire to have a dog as soon as possible. All rational thoughts vanished, and we decided we must pick a puppy that day! I told the breeders we'd like to buy a puppy from them, and no question was asked. 

So we lined the 5 puppies up and called out "Popcorn" to see who would respond, and we chose the runner-up to be our pup. We paid the deposit and went home to wait. A month later, we wrote "Popcorn" on his registration paper, took the now doubled-in-size BMD home, and thus began our 12-year journey together. 

A Lesson Learned

Looking back now, we made almost every mistake one could ever make when choosing the first puppy. While Popcorn lived to be 12, he did suffer through neurological diseases, first meningitis as a puppy and later Wobbler's syndrome. Sometimes I do wonder if another puppy from a different stock would not have these issues. A few years after we got Popcorn, I thought I'd ask the breeder if there was any history of neurological diseases in their lineage. However, I was unable to find their listing in the magazines again. 

Conclusion

Do I think we got Popcorn from a dodgy breeder? No. Although we could have exercised more caution in selecting our first puppy, I doubt it would have significantly changed our experience. Despite the occasional Bernese Mountain Dog stubbornness, Popcorn lived a remarkable twelve years, displaying a generally pleasant temperament. Now that I have been a vet for years and have met and treated many Bernese Mountain Dogs, I know this breed can suffer from many issues. If it's not a neurological disease, it would probably be hip dysplasia, intervertebral illness or cancer. Bernese Mountain Dogs don't do any disease subtly. They have the most fatal forms of cancer and severe musculoskeletal problems, often with earlier onset than other breeds. In retrospect, we were fortunate to have him in our lives, as he brought us immeasurable joy. His memory will always hold a cherished spot in our hearts.