What is a Bernedoodle?
Bernedoodles are puppies resulting from the cross of a Bernese Mountain Dog and a poodle. A simple explanation of the kinds of Bernedoodles that we breed is:
Standard F1 Bernedoodle 50% Bernese Mountain Dog 50% Standard Poodle
Miniature F1 Bernedoodle 50% Bernese Mountain Dog 50% Miniature Poodle
Standard F1b Bernedoodle 25% Bernese Mountain Dog 75% Standard Poodle
Miniature F1b Bernedoodle 25% Bernese Mountain Dog 25% Standard Poodle 50% Miniature Poodle
Standard Great Bernedoodle 38% Bernese Mountain Dog 50% Standard Poodle 12% Great Pyrenees
Tiny Bernedoodle 25% Bernese Mountain Dog 75% Miniature Poodle
Why Breed Bernedoodles?
Purebred dogs, even with the advancements in genetic testing, can carry a lot of hereditary disorders. However, when one cross-breeds dogs (breeding two or more purebred, but different, breeds of dogs), a phenomenon known as "hybrid vigor" results. Hybrid vigor is the tendency for the offspring resulting from a cross breeding to be genetically superior to either parent breed. There is no guarantee of course, but basically, they tend to be healthier and live longer than either purebred parent breed.
Another reason we breed Bernedoodles is to get the best traits from both dogs.
Ideally, when you cross a poodle with a Bernese Mountain Dog, you get the easy-going, loyal, calm, friendly temperament of the Bernese Mountain Dog combined with the Poodle's intelligence, silliness, low-shedding coat, and longer life expectancy.
Will My Puppy Be Registered?
No. Our purebred breeding dogs are registered/registerable with the American Kennel Club, an organization that only registers purebred dogs. Therefore, since the puppies are crossbreed dogs, they will not be registered with the AKC. However, registration is really only important if you plan on breeding/showing your puppy. If registration is not important to you, and what you're looking for is a cute, sweet friend to lend a listening ear, and keep your feet warm at night, then one of our puppies might be for you!
Do You Ship Your Puppies?
We do offer delivery, but we do not ship. What's the difference? We don't send our puppies to their new homes via air-travel, because we don't want them to travel alone, or in the luggage department. However, we have been willing to travel quite a distance to meet our puppy's new family. There is an additional delivery fee, which is determined by the distance that we have to travel. We have also met people half-way for delivery. This kind of travel is not stressful on the puppy, and doesn't usually cost much more than air-travel.
We also regularly have people fly into the Indianapolis International Airport, and then fly home with their new puppy. In doing this, the puppy can ride in the cabin with their new owner, as long as they are in a small carrier.
You can also opt to use a flight-nanny, where a person will fly in, pick up your puppy, and fly with them (in the cabin) to the airport to meet you. This is generally actually cheaper than flying in to pick up the puppy yourself.
When Can My Puppy Come Home With Me?
If you do not choose to have your puppy's basic obedience training done here (a service that we offer for most litters), your puppy can go home with you when he or she is eight weeks old. If you choose to have the basics taught here (sit, down, come, stay, shake, kennel, crate-training and beginning house-training) they will be ready to go home with you when they are twelve weeks old.
If your puppy is not receiving training, they must go home when they turn eight weeks old, as after that, the other puppies will be gone, and our attention will need to be focused on the puppies who are getting training done.
What Veterinary Work Will My Puppy Have Received?
At three to four days old, we have our puppies' dewclaws removed. There is no breed standard saying that this must be done; it is simply a preference of ours (if not trimmed properly, dewclaws can grow back into the pads of feet, causing infections. Rear dewclaws can also get snagged on things, and torn). Dewclaw removal, when performed before five days old, is a harmless procedure that is performed by our veterinarian.
The puppy will also be current on age-appropriate vaccinations. If the puppy stays with us for training, we will continue with their vaccination schedule at no additional charge.
The puppy will be treated for parasites at regular intervals (typically 4, 6, and 8 weeks).
What Will My Puppy Come Home With?
Each puppy will go to their new home with a New Puppy Kit. In the kit, you will find a toy (with the scent of their littermates/mama to make the transition a little easier) a Benebone (for helping you to train the puppy to chew on appropriate things), a bag of food that they are accustomed to eating, a bag of clean pine litter that we use to start them with potty training, and a bag of the treats that we use for training. You will also receive a folder with all of your puppy's paperwork, including their veterinary records, a copy of the sales contract, and information to assist you in the early training and socialization of your puppy. If you have training done here, they will also go home with a crate, a good-quality collar, and a leather leash.
How Big Will My Puppy Grow To Be As An Adult?
Generally speaking, if you take the average weight of the parents, that's about the size of the adult dog. However, we have seen puppies who get the height of the poodle, and the bulkier build of their other parent, and have grown to much larger and heavier than either parent.
Will My Puppy Shed?
Probably some, depending on the generation. Bernese Mountain Dogs shed a LOT. The more poodle that is crossed in, the less the shedding will be. So, the shedding that can be expected is as follows:
Generation: Standard Reverse F1b Bernedoodle
Breed Percentages: 75% Bernese Mountain Dog; 25% Standard Poodle
Amount of Shedding Predicted: Reduced, more than an F1, but less than a Bernese Mountain Dog
Appropriate for: not recommended for people with allergies
Generation: F1 Bernedoodle
Breed Percentages: 50% Bernese Mountain Dog; 50% Poodle
Amount of Shedding Predicted: Mild shedding
Appropriate for: Usually fine for people with mild to moderate allergies
Generation: F1b Bernedoodle
Breed Percentages: 25% Bernese Mountain Dog; 75% Poodle
Amount of Shedding Predicted: No noticeable shedding
Appropriate for: Usually fine for people with moderate to severe allergies
Generation: Great Bernedoodle
Breed Percentages: 38% Bernese Mountain Dog; 12% Great Pyrenees; 50% Poodle
Amount of Shedding Predicted: Mild shedding; the same as an F1 Bernedoodle
Appropriate for: Usually fine for people with mild to moderate allergies
Generation: Tiny Bernedoodle
Breed Percentages: 25% Bernese Mountain Dog; 75% Miniature Poodle
Amount of Shedding Predicted: No noticeable shedding
Appropriate for: Usually fine for people with moderate to severe allergies
Male or female...which is better?
Well, that's a difficult question. Many people prefer one to the other, for their very specific reasons. We tend to prefer to work with male dogs in general, as they have, for us, been easier to train, with longer attention spans (especially when they are neutered, but not exclusively when they are neutered). Males also tend to be a little more of the mind-set of "I love you," while females lean more toward the mind-set of "Please love me!" However, females do make wonderful pets, and two of my favorite dogs ever are females. We recommend that you come and meet the puppies without a preconceived notion of whether you want a male or female and let their personalities speak for themselves.
What Food Do You Feed/Recommend Feeding?
We feed most of our dogs Purina Pro Plan Lamb and Rice Puppy Food. We have had very good results feeding this food to our dogs. Some people have successfully switched their puppy to a different food, but some people have seen digestive issues with other "higher quality" foods (such as foods with no grains). The issues seem to have been resolved after switching the puppy back to Purina Pro Plan.
There is some research that suggests that feeding dogs grain free food can lead to heart disease as they age. We also stay away from foods with poultry in them, because there is not the same regulation on the chicken meat that goes into dog food as there is on the chicken that people consume. Because of this, chicken for dog food often has hormones added to it, and dogs can develop an allergy to these hormones which will look like an allergy to chicken. It is not truly an allergy to chicken, however, because typically the dog would have no problem if you cooked chicken for them yourself---but they have a bad reaction to the chicken in dog foods.
What Is The Point Of Obedience Training?
If you've ever lived with a well-trained dog, you'll never settle for less again. Dogs who are well-trained are just fun to live with! They know that is expected of them, they know when to be calm and when it is okay to play, and they're just happier all the way around. Not only that, but they're much safer as well. We share our home with seven large dogs, two giant dogs, and two small dogs. If they did not know what was expected of them, there is no way that we could do this. But, as it is, they know what they are allowed to do, and what they are not allowed to do (not that they are always well-behaved, but at least they try!). This makes them feel more relaxed, and you can just tell that they're happy dogs.
*All of the above information is based on the observations and opinions of the breeder.
Bernedoodles are puppies resulting from the cross of a Bernese Mountain Dog and a poodle. A simple explanation of the kinds of Bernedoodles that we breed is:
Standard F1 Bernedoodle 50% Bernese Mountain Dog 50% Standard Poodle
Miniature F1 Bernedoodle 50% Bernese Mountain Dog 50% Miniature Poodle
Standard F1b Bernedoodle 25% Bernese Mountain Dog 75% Standard Poodle
Miniature F1b Bernedoodle 25% Bernese Mountain Dog 25% Standard Poodle 50% Miniature Poodle
Standard Great Bernedoodle 38% Bernese Mountain Dog 50% Standard Poodle 12% Great Pyrenees
Tiny Bernedoodle 25% Bernese Mountain Dog 75% Miniature Poodle
Why Breed Bernedoodles?
Purebred dogs, even with the advancements in genetic testing, can carry a lot of hereditary disorders. However, when one cross-breeds dogs (breeding two or more purebred, but different, breeds of dogs), a phenomenon known as "hybrid vigor" results. Hybrid vigor is the tendency for the offspring resulting from a cross breeding to be genetically superior to either parent breed. There is no guarantee of course, but basically, they tend to be healthier and live longer than either purebred parent breed.
Another reason we breed Bernedoodles is to get the best traits from both dogs.
Ideally, when you cross a poodle with a Bernese Mountain Dog, you get the easy-going, loyal, calm, friendly temperament of the Bernese Mountain Dog combined with the Poodle's intelligence, silliness, low-shedding coat, and longer life expectancy.
Will My Puppy Be Registered?
No. Our purebred breeding dogs are registered/registerable with the American Kennel Club, an organization that only registers purebred dogs. Therefore, since the puppies are crossbreed dogs, they will not be registered with the AKC. However, registration is really only important if you plan on breeding/showing your puppy. If registration is not important to you, and what you're looking for is a cute, sweet friend to lend a listening ear, and keep your feet warm at night, then one of our puppies might be for you!
Do You Ship Your Puppies?
We do offer delivery, but we do not ship. What's the difference? We don't send our puppies to their new homes via air-travel, because we don't want them to travel alone, or in the luggage department. However, we have been willing to travel quite a distance to meet our puppy's new family. There is an additional delivery fee, which is determined by the distance that we have to travel. We have also met people half-way for delivery. This kind of travel is not stressful on the puppy, and doesn't usually cost much more than air-travel.
We also regularly have people fly into the Indianapolis International Airport, and then fly home with their new puppy. In doing this, the puppy can ride in the cabin with their new owner, as long as they are in a small carrier.
You can also opt to use a flight-nanny, where a person will fly in, pick up your puppy, and fly with them (in the cabin) to the airport to meet you. This is generally actually cheaper than flying in to pick up the puppy yourself.
When Can My Puppy Come Home With Me?
If you do not choose to have your puppy's basic obedience training done here (a service that we offer for most litters), your puppy can go home with you when he or she is eight weeks old. If you choose to have the basics taught here (sit, down, come, stay, shake, kennel, crate-training and beginning house-training) they will be ready to go home with you when they are twelve weeks old.
If your puppy is not receiving training, they must go home when they turn eight weeks old, as after that, the other puppies will be gone, and our attention will need to be focused on the puppies who are getting training done.
What Veterinary Work Will My Puppy Have Received?
At three to four days old, we have our puppies' dewclaws removed. There is no breed standard saying that this must be done; it is simply a preference of ours (if not trimmed properly, dewclaws can grow back into the pads of feet, causing infections. Rear dewclaws can also get snagged on things, and torn). Dewclaw removal, when performed before five days old, is a harmless procedure that is performed by our veterinarian.
The puppy will also be current on age-appropriate vaccinations. If the puppy stays with us for training, we will continue with their vaccination schedule at no additional charge.
The puppy will be treated for parasites at regular intervals (typically 4, 6, and 8 weeks).
What Will My Puppy Come Home With?
Each puppy will go to their new home with a New Puppy Kit. In the kit, you will find a toy (with the scent of their littermates/mama to make the transition a little easier) a Benebone (for helping you to train the puppy to chew on appropriate things), a bag of food that they are accustomed to eating, a bag of clean pine litter that we use to start them with potty training, and a bag of the treats that we use for training. You will also receive a folder with all of your puppy's paperwork, including their veterinary records, a copy of the sales contract, and information to assist you in the early training and socialization of your puppy. If you have training done here, they will also go home with a crate, a good-quality collar, and a leather leash.
How Big Will My Puppy Grow To Be As An Adult?
Generally speaking, if you take the average weight of the parents, that's about the size of the adult dog. However, we have seen puppies who get the height of the poodle, and the bulkier build of their other parent, and have grown to much larger and heavier than either parent.
Will My Puppy Shed?
Probably some, depending on the generation. Bernese Mountain Dogs shed a LOT. The more poodle that is crossed in, the less the shedding will be. So, the shedding that can be expected is as follows:
Generation: Standard Reverse F1b Bernedoodle
Breed Percentages: 75% Bernese Mountain Dog; 25% Standard Poodle
Amount of Shedding Predicted: Reduced, more than an F1, but less than a Bernese Mountain Dog
Appropriate for: not recommended for people with allergies
Generation: F1 Bernedoodle
Breed Percentages: 50% Bernese Mountain Dog; 50% Poodle
Amount of Shedding Predicted: Mild shedding
Appropriate for: Usually fine for people with mild to moderate allergies
Generation: F1b Bernedoodle
Breed Percentages: 25% Bernese Mountain Dog; 75% Poodle
Amount of Shedding Predicted: No noticeable shedding
Appropriate for: Usually fine for people with moderate to severe allergies
Generation: Great Bernedoodle
Breed Percentages: 38% Bernese Mountain Dog; 12% Great Pyrenees; 50% Poodle
Amount of Shedding Predicted: Mild shedding; the same as an F1 Bernedoodle
Appropriate for: Usually fine for people with mild to moderate allergies
Generation: Tiny Bernedoodle
Breed Percentages: 25% Bernese Mountain Dog; 75% Miniature Poodle
Amount of Shedding Predicted: No noticeable shedding
Appropriate for: Usually fine for people with moderate to severe allergies
Male or female...which is better?
Well, that's a difficult question. Many people prefer one to the other, for their very specific reasons. We tend to prefer to work with male dogs in general, as they have, for us, been easier to train, with longer attention spans (especially when they are neutered, but not exclusively when they are neutered). Males also tend to be a little more of the mind-set of "I love you," while females lean more toward the mind-set of "Please love me!" However, females do make wonderful pets, and two of my favorite dogs ever are females. We recommend that you come and meet the puppies without a preconceived notion of whether you want a male or female and let their personalities speak for themselves.
What Food Do You Feed/Recommend Feeding?
We feed most of our dogs Purina Pro Plan Lamb and Rice Puppy Food. We have had very good results feeding this food to our dogs. Some people have successfully switched their puppy to a different food, but some people have seen digestive issues with other "higher quality" foods (such as foods with no grains). The issues seem to have been resolved after switching the puppy back to Purina Pro Plan.
There is some research that suggests that feeding dogs grain free food can lead to heart disease as they age. We also stay away from foods with poultry in them, because there is not the same regulation on the chicken meat that goes into dog food as there is on the chicken that people consume. Because of this, chicken for dog food often has hormones added to it, and dogs can develop an allergy to these hormones which will look like an allergy to chicken. It is not truly an allergy to chicken, however, because typically the dog would have no problem if you cooked chicken for them yourself---but they have a bad reaction to the chicken in dog foods.
What Is The Point Of Obedience Training?
If you've ever lived with a well-trained dog, you'll never settle for less again. Dogs who are well-trained are just fun to live with! They know that is expected of them, they know when to be calm and when it is okay to play, and they're just happier all the way around. Not only that, but they're much safer as well. We share our home with seven large dogs, two giant dogs, and two small dogs. If they did not know what was expected of them, there is no way that we could do this. But, as it is, they know what they are allowed to do, and what they are not allowed to do (not that they are always well-behaved, but at least they try!). This makes them feel more relaxed, and you can just tell that they're happy dogs.
*All of the above information is based on the observations and opinions of the breeder.