Welcome to Cape Bernese
The Bernese Mountain Dog Kennel
in the heart of Cape Breton Island, at the Shore of the Bras d'Or Lake,
in Nova Scotia, CANADA.
You are here: >Berner Puppies<
Attention:
This is not an online store for puppies!
And it is not about buying a cute little Bernese Mountain Dog puppy from the shelves neither.
As a registered dog breeder we feel it is our responsibility to make all possible efforts to find out the best fit between the puppy and the new family.
We always encourage a possible new dog owner to check out the breeder and we recommend meeting the puppy’s parents and the dog’s home and surroundings.
And if the time comes, of course our kennel is no exception.
But until then we would like to ask you to respect our privacy.
Every responsible Bernese Mountain Dog breeder always insist to get to know the prospective puppy owners.
And we have a lot of questions for you.
To tell you right away: we have very strict policies and rules in place.
Of course it would be OK if you don’t like to share them with us.
But it will not change anything: we never ever ship out one of our Berner puppies to somebody we don't know or who contacted us anonymously over the Internet.
And under no circumstances we will hand over a puppy on a public place, on a rest area or on a supermarket parking spot.
Please be sure about this: adopting a Bernese Mountain Dog puppy is a lifelong commitment.
If you don’t have the time or the resources to do some research or because you "...just want to buy a pet for the kids..." without waiting, or if you want to buy a puppy "here and now" without answering all these silly questions to the breeder, you are not on the same page with us.
If the availability and the "purchase price" should be the only important information you are looking for at this page, you are definitely on the wrong website!
Everybody else is welcome to keep reading.
Our Next Litter
Our Next Litter is planned for 2018.
As of today we did not start a new formal waiting list and we do not take any deposits or down payments and we cannot accept new applications at this moment.
We will start to meet with potential new Bernese Mountain Dog owners not before details about the next litter are more clear.
Please refrain from contacting us for details about the next until you are invited to do so.
You are invited to watch our website or our Facebook page for new announcements, like about upcoming litters and other news. As soon we know more, it will be posted on our website.
As soon we know details it will be posted here!
Our policies and what it would take to provide a new home for one of our puppies can be found under >Berner Puppies<.
Litter June 2015
Our last litter from Moritz and Senta was born 15 June 2015. All puppies from our 2015 litter found their wonderful new home.
Please do not enquire for "available puppies" anymore.
This was Santa’s 3rd litter. That is why Senta has retired now. So there will be no more litters from her.
But if everything goes well, we hope to have our next letter from Elisa and Moritz.
This might be sometimes in late Summer 2016, depending on what Mother Nature will decide.
As soon we know, more information will be posted on this website.
Yes, I know, very often I am a little bit behind with updating this website. But maybe you would like to stay in touch with us via Cape Bernese Claudia on Facebook?
If you would be interested to become a new owner of our next Bernese Mountain Dog puppies, but you have never been in contact with us before, we would appreciate if you would read through the information about our policies and about the application process on this page first.
At the end of this page, you will find our direct e-mail address (***.gmail.com).
Please send us some information about you, including whatever you think we, us the breeders, should know about you.
And if we could successfully answer all your questions, please don't forget to ask us to send you our little questionnaire for you to complete.
Moritz and Senta had two litters before our June 2015 litter.
In June 2013 the A Litter was born. We welcomed seven healthy puppies, 5 girls and 2 boys. They became magnificently in the 10 weeks with us. Since then, they enchant their new families on the warmest.
More information about this litter you will find here: Bernese Mountain Dog Puppies 2013
The B Litter from Senta and Moritz was born on 19 March 2014 .
We welcomed 11 (Yes: Eleven!!!) Bernese Mountain Dog puppies, 6 boys and 5 girls.
More information about this litter you will find here: Bernese Mountain Dog Puppies 2014
Depending on how Elisa will develop, we plan to continue breeding with Elisa someday in the near future.
But before making our final decisions about breeding a certain dog individual or not, the young Bernese Mountain candidate has to go through several medical and other test. One of them is a digitally X-ray. The images have to be send to a certified specialist. This applies to Elisa as well. To have this test done (and for some others) Elisa has to be minimum 2 years old and she has to have her development finished.
But for now Moritz and Senta are just fine and healthy Bernese Mountain Dogs, and we hope to get the next healthy litter from them.
Really a purebred Bernese Mountain Dog?
We encourage everybody to do a lot of research before deciding on buying a Bernese Mountain Dog, or a dog in general.
And if you have decided to get one of those adorable Bernese Mountain Dog puppies, we can’t outline enough that every new puppy owner should check out (and to have it double-checked again) the health records of the parent dogs, how they grew up, how their living conditions are now and how they became socialized. This should definitely include the previous generations of the parent Bernese Mountain Dogs you are looking at.
A good source for checking the health records is the Berner Garde Foundation and of course the local veterinarian of the breeder.
Any reputable breeder will offer you to have a closer look at the health records of his fury animals and he will offer you copies of the health records of your puppy.
If you should consider becoming a dog breeder yourself, here you can find a good article be by Naomi Kane about breeding dogs: “Reality check: The lowdown on what being a breeder is really like”.
How to Pick Your Breeder
Finding your breeder of trust is the most important step in the process of finding the right puppy for you.
And the first step to build up a trustful relationship to your breeder has always to be: pay the breeder a personal visit on his place, maybe several times. Have a look around the kennel and at the parent dogs. Take your time! Ask questions! This is your best chance to get to know your breeder and the home of your puppy you consider to make a part of your own family.
We thought these sources might be helpful for you:
An excellent guide to buying a Bernese Mountain Dog puppy you can find here: >BernerWise<.
Buy the way, this "BernerWise" website we we consider a "must view resource"!
Here is another one to know about:
Bernese Mountain Dog Club of America: 12 Basics Buying Tips you can find here.
Is a Bernese Mountain Dog the right pet for us? Check this video out.
Do Berners go along with other pets like cats? Check this video out.
General and very basic information you might find here: BerneseMountainDog
Our Policies:
- Our Bernese mountain dog puppies will only be adopted out to approved homes only.
- No puppy leaves our kennel, his mother and his siblings until they are 10 weeks old.
- All our puppies are micro chipped, checked by the veterinarian, eventually twice.
- The are all dewormed 4 times and have their first vaccinations before they leave for the new home.
- All our Bernese Mountain Dog puppies obtain a pedigree and a vet health record.
- We provide you with a written sales agreement and contract.
- Furthermore we do the registration with the CKC. The puppy will be registered in your name and we provide you with the records as soon it is processed by the CKC.
- All of our puppies are sold on CKC non-breeding contracts and registrations.
- We go over this paperwork and discuss it with you during our meetings before the puppy moves to you and before you pay any deposit.
- The day the puppy will be picked up we go with you over the health records, and of course you will get a copy of them, including the Vet Doctors name and address, just for the case you want to contact them. We encourage you to contact them before.
- We as your breeder will be there for you for the live of your Berner and after. We provide you with tips for feeding, for the training and much more.
- We are members of the Canadian Kennel Club (CKC) and the Bernese Mountain Dog Club of Canada (BMDCC). Our puppies are all Canadian Kennel Club registered.
- We always want to meet you in person. There is no way that met you on a public places and will be handed over to you on a parking ground, highway or back yard.
- If you agree to our breeding philosophy we would like to send you our questionnaire and do the second step on the way to adopting a puppy from our kennel.
The Puppy Application Process
The first step in the application process, after you did your own homework, is filling out our questionnaire and to sent it back to us. But of course we can do it together here at our place.
If you have e-mailed us that completed questionnaire, we will contact you within a few days.
We have to wait what Mother Nature will decide. From the experience of the last litters we can say, Senta gave us many healthy puppies each time. Thank you Senta!
From the point we know that the Honeymoon was successful, we will contact every registered prospective new puppy owner.
Most of you might stay in close contact with us anyway.
This was the first phase.
The next important steps will start after the puppies are born.
Now we know how many puppies we got and how many are males and females. This will be posted as soon as possible on our website and on Facebook.
We'll have to wait about 3-4 weeks after their birth for the first visit with the puppies, because they're quite susceptible to various diseases during the first few weeks.
Our family, too, will have to be careful (disinfecting hands, changing shoes when entering the puppy room, etc).
This is the most busiest time for us as the breeder. Please understand, that, when we have a litter, we are often quite busy with looking after the puppies and responding to the many inquiries from prospective adoptive families.
Thus, we might not always be able to send a timely response to each and every inquiry we receive.
Sorry, but we try our best :-)
Starting in week 3 - 4 after birth, you're very welcome to come and visit your-soon-to-be puppy at anytime!
This will allow you to bond with your new "baby" and also makes it easier for the little one to leave its parents/siblings when the time comes.
The purpose of the first visit with the puppies is to know our dogs and the puppies in general.
It is also an opportunity for us to learn more about your lifestyle and about the kind of puppy you're looking for. Specifically, it'll be a time for us to chat about the kind of "character", the "temperament", as well as any other preferences you'd like to see in your puppy.
Thus, none of the families will really be "picking" a specific puppy at their first puppy visit, except for their gender.
Now the third step will start. By then, all of the families will have had a chance to meet and interact with all of the puppies. Also, it will be more clear what type of temperament each of the puppies has developed until this day. Usually this will only start when the puppies are around 6 weeks of age. This is the time - you and we together - will make the specific selection about which puppy you'd like to adopt. Waiting approximately 6 weeks before picking a specific puppy will ensure that each family selects and is matched with a puppy that best fits their desires with respect to the puppy's temperament, level of activity, and other preferences. Essentially, by waiting until the puppies are 6 weeks old, we are trying to ensure that all of the puppies and families find their best possible match.
After your first visit of the new born puppies, thus around week 3 -4 after birth, we'd ask you for a deposit and we provide you with a preliminary contract/agreement.
The remaining balance of the adoption fee will be due the big day your puppy will be picked up you and will move to your new home.
Of course we have to pay our bills too. And most certainly there are a lot for costs associated with everything we described to you on this page. We hope you agree that we are talking here about a world class Bernese Mountain Dog kennel. The parent dogs have many international champions in their pedigree. We have a very particular selection process and we don’t mind to travel to Europe and to have our dogs shipped over directly from Germany here to Nova Scotia, Canada. We spare neither trouble nor expense to maintain the top of the line quality of our Bernese Mountain Dog and of our Bernese Mountain Dog puppies.
All of this has to be reflected by the amount of the adoption fee.
We recommend to have a look here >BernerWise<.
More details about the development process including many photos you can find on the pages about Sena's previous litters.
Additional Information
We welcome any questions you have. Also, let us know if you think we should add any other themes to our website.
If you are interested in submitting an article, you are welcome to let us know.
We already stated that we do not sell puppies. We place a puppy for adoption. And that is a huge different for us. Please be aware that breeding and raising Bernese Mountain Dogs is a hobby for us - and not driven by financial interests.
This is definitely not a puppy breeding business!
Of course we have to cover all related costs, as cost for high quality dog food, for providing adequate shelter and for the veterinarian as just one part.
And because we spend so much efforts, time and money on searching for the best suitable bloodline for breeding purpose, and because we do not mind to import our Bernese Mountain dogs from Europe there are some cost associated for doing this.
But we assure you: it is worth every penny and you always get what you paid for!
We would like to share some thoughts about our policies and standards as a Bernese Mountain Dog breeder, and why we feel our Bernese Mountain Dog puppies are very special puppies. And if the time comes (usually after week four), meet the puppies in person (as often as you like).
It is needless to say that all of our dogs are family members and live in our family home together with us. We spend a lot of time and efforts to socialize our puppies right from the beginning until to their last day in our kennel before they leave for their new home.
Our kennel and the outer premises is equipped with many different toys and structures to walk over or to crawl underneath. Each day we replace some toys with others. It can be just empty plastic bottle with little rocks inside or sun reflecting old CD’s on a cord, wind mills attached to the kennel fence and wind socks blowing in the wind. All of this is done on a purpose.
Beginning in week 4 or 5 we permanently introduce our litter to all kind of new people, male and females, to children and to older people, with hats and without and so on. Furthermore we have special CD’s recorded, with all kind of different street noises, spoken voices and different music, played while feeding and while playing over the day. Then we make sure our Bernese Mountain Dog puppies will be introduced in a pleasant way to all kind equipment and power tools, like vacuum cleaners, dirt bikes, ATV, farm tractors, whipper snipper, mower, lawn tractors and so on.
Depending on the season, we introduce them to water, first in a basin later on the Bras d’Or Lake. If the weather does not allow us this, we substitute the water in the basin with little plastic balls.
One of the most exiting days for us is it, when we start to introduce the puppies to riding in a car. Before you ask: no, we did not notice any preferences from our puppies in regards to the brand of the car.
But it was very obvious that the number of puppies throwing up while entering the car was much higher than usual, the moment we placed them in our HYUNDAI Tucson.
That could be a coincident. But it also could be because of the Hyundai and Kia fuel mileage misrepresentation. Or in simpler words: because of Hyundai boldly cheated with their advertised fuel consumption numbers, denied this fact but finally got caught.
Have a look here or just google for Hyundai fuel consumption lawsuit.
A Class Action Lawsuit filed by McKenzie Lake Lawyers was successful. Other legal actions have been taken, so by myself. HYUNDAI: shame on you! The poor puppies.
Back to the Bernese Mountain Dog puppies: At the beginning we start with feeding the puppies inside the car while idling (not in a HYUNDAI Tucson!), then we proceed with a few short rides to the mail box until to a longer ride to the vet clinic. All puppies will have had several trips in different types of cars.
Of course we always make sure that is fun and enjoyment for the puppy, not hard work.
By the way, we would not recommend to live with a Bernese Mountain Dog in a small apartment. The ideal condition would be a family with children, with other animals, with some acres, maybe a farm or a hobby farm.
Very often we are asked about the lifespan of our dogs. Well, our oldest lady Elsa became over 13 years old. And our big boy Vincent made it for just 8 years. And he was guarding his cats and his chicken even on his last day without showing any sign of being seriously ill.
There are so many different publications out there, talking about a lifespan of Bernese Mountain Dogs between 6 and 8 years. To us this seems to be a very low number. But one thing is for sure: you have to do a lot of research to make a well informed decision. Unless you don’t care about and the lowest possible amount of money is all what matters for you.
Our absolutely highest goal is it to breed healthy, long living family dogs, which meet the Swiss Bernese Mountain Dog standard.
Summary
If you are thinking about sharing your home and life with a Bernese Mountain Dog, you are welcome to drop us a few lines and to tell us about you.
Unfortunately our generic e-mail address
capebernese@gmx.com is bombarded with SPAM messages each single day. So we have definitely problems with receiving e-mails.
To make sure your message will not get lost, please contact us via our e-mail address: capebernese (at) gmail.com
As an registered Dog Breeder we feel it is our responsibility to make all possible efforts to find out the best fit between the puppy and the new family.
It very important for us to find out, if somebody would be the best fit to provide our Berner baby the perfect new home. That is why we have all this questions for you and we would like to find out a lot of information about you, about your family and about your situation.
We encourage you to do the same with us.
Yes, the application process takes a lot of time and energy. And it is not an easy task. But we feel that we have to ask you all these questions.
This is not just in the best interest of the puppy but in your's as well.
If you want to stop by to buy a puppy, maybe "...for Christmas..." or as "...a birthday present...", or if you are not ready to complete our questionnaire, please do not contact us.
If you would like to get on our puppy waiting list for this upcoming litter, you are welcome to contact us now.
But maybe you are not sure yet, if you are ready for a dog in your family.
Maybe you just want to visit us to meet our dogs and maybe us want to visit our puppies and socializing, without having the intention to get a puppy right now: we would like to hear from you via our e-mail address: capebernese (at) gmail.com.
You are welcome to arrange a visit with us.
And as you already might know: we offer a cottage for rent on our over 30 acre property right at the Bras d'Or Lake: Cape Breton Cottage B&B
- please click to enlarge -
 Max and Mr. Blue |
 Mrs. White with Geese |
 Claudia and Mrs. White |
 Happy new Puppy Owner |
 please check out again tomorrow |
 Sorry, wrong puppy! |
 Mrs. Purple is hiding |
 Mrs. Purple with 9 weeks |
Claudia and Mrs. White |
 Mrs. Orange 8 weeks old |
 7 happy Bernese Mountain Dog Puppies! |
 8 Bernese Puppies |
