Six Acres Kennel Bernese Mountain Dogs

       Nov. 19, 1998     Dutchess We Miss You      June 9, 2011

My "Dutchess" of Leaning Pine started this all for me.  Fourteen years ago, I had first heard of the breed from a co-worker and I was very interested.   I had to find out more.  The more I learned, the more I knew I had to have one.  I waited on a waiting list for over a year to receive my beautiful, big baby, Dutchess.  Little did I know then how very much I would owe her.  She was my Christmas/Birthday present to myself and I can't remember loving a puppy ever, as much as I loved her.  As a young dog we took her everywhere.  At the time my husband and I had 2 children, and she was my third.  That first year we had her, we planned a trip up North  for a week to celebrate our Anniversary.  We left the kids at Gramma's and took Dutch with us, hiking, fishing and exporing waterfalls.  She had so many admirers everywhere she went, but no one knew what breed she was.  At six months of age, people were shocked to learn that she was 'just a puppy".   They would timidly ask if they could pet her, because of her size they were a bit nervous.  Once I assured them she was "still just a puppy" and she loved everyone they would crowd around to pet her.  As she got older, she did find her "big girl" voice though.  I would jokingly say that she thought she was a Rottweiler because we did raise Rotts when we first got her.  She protected us like she was a Rott and she herded us like a Berner.  When we would go on hikes with the kids she would try her best to keep us all together.   She loved our camping trips and looked forward to it each summer.  She would go swimming in the lake with us and help the kids flush out the frogs from the bushes.  She was always very interested to watch the fish we caught swimming around in the bucket.  She even went to school and had her picture taken with my two oldest kids on picture day.  She never was a show dog, but she had a very full life.   We started to breed her when she was 3 and she had just 2 pups that first litter, then the next two years she had 5 and then 7.  She had a false pregnancy the year she was 6 and we thought she was done with motherhood.  Then she surprised us with a final litter of 9.  We went crazy taking pictures of those babies.  Her largest and finest litter...  She retired when she was 7, but she went on to give us 5 more years of happiness.  She loved to go to the fun matches even though she had never been in a show ring, her favorite thing was the obstacle course!  She LOVED to run that course!  She would splash in the water and she was a pro at knocking down those pins.  (good thing we didnt name her Grace!)  She took a 2nd place on a timed run that fall prior to her 11th birthday!  She also got an award for being one of the oldest Berners at the Match that year.  That was her last fun match too.  This past fall her legs just werent working like they used to and I knew that she would want to do all the things that she loved and it would be too hard on her, so we all stayed home.  I hope eventually we can go to another one but just thinking about going without her breaks my heart.  She was such a big part of our family and our lives, she left a big hole in my heart when she crossed that bridge.  I miss her so much....my sweet girl.

Below:  Dutchess with her family of Berners