Bev Arnold of Rivermyst Bernese in Winterville, Ga is expect a litter March 4, 2010. Please contact Bev at bevarnold@mindspring.com if you are interested.
The following is a list of active southeastern (southern VA, GA, SC, NC, AL, TN, FL) breeders who Trillium recommends. These are breeders who care what they are turning out and perform proper health testing on the parents of their litters. If a breeder in our immediate area is not on this list, there is likely an important reason and you need to understand that reason. Also, if you are willing to travel to get your puppy, there are some wonderful breeders in northern Virginia, Kentucky and other states surrounding our immediate area who we don't personally know or who we don't include in this list because they are so far away. We can help by pointing you to a BMDCA breed steward for those states. For our immediate area, check with these breeders to see what their plans are:
Cathy Burlile in Tennessee (615) 384-5367Please visit the BMDCA online breeder referral database and take time to read through their health and breeder information before choosing a breeder www.bmdca.org .
Health testing is a critical step in deciding whether or not a dog should be used in a breeding program. It does not matter if all you want is a pet. If a breeder is not testing parents for hip and elbow dysplasia, heart abnormalities (through a cardiologist), eye abnormalities (through an ophthalmologist) and von Willebrands disease (a bleeding disorder prevalent in this breed. Can be clear by parentage.) you should walk away. You need to ask the breeder for proof of certification, and any breeder should be able to prove a "clear by parentage" status for von Willebrands, through certification of parents or grandparents.
The first questions you should ask are these:
- Are you a member of the BMDCA or a regional club?
- Do you test the parents for Hips and elbow dysplasia. They are both a problem in this breed.
- What organization do you have certify the hips and elbows?
- Are the parents certified by a board certified cardiologist for heart abnormalities? If the breeder tells you hearts aren't a problem in this breed, they are lying.
- Are the parents certified by a board certified ophthalmologist? Same here, if they claim eyes aren't a problem, they are lying.
- Are the parents certified clear for von Willebrand's disease or are they proven to be clear by parentage. If they tell you they are clear by parentage, make them prove it. If they say their dogs come from European lines and they are already proven clear, they should be able to prove it. A recent discussion by me with several European breeders brought to light that von Willebrands is not tested for in Europe.
