Our berners

D H A R M A N S K B E R N E S E M O U N T A I N D O G S - MY PHILOSOPHY

Dharmansk Forest Shadow

Fay with Toby showing off his new cart harness

Dharmansk Highland Rhythm

18 mth female is progeny of imported stock.

Dharmansk Folklors Dream.

Toby's Rosettes and Ribbons from the

Sunbury show judged by Malcolm Willis

Toby's hand made cart my father made for him

Dharmansk Highland Night

Dharmansk Mythical Mist

Imagin Folklor at Dharmansk (Imp. NZ)

Dharmansk Folklors Magic- 8 months

If you are not planning a bigger family, the Bernese is not for you!!

Dharmansk Forest Mist- 7.5 Years

Shadow Wizard of Estcarp Imp NZ

Exercise Paddock & flowering Camelia tree at Hallston

Dharmansk Folklors Magic

Bernese facilities in the Hallston garden

CH. Dharmansk Forest Shadow

at the Royal Melbourne Show

The Artists studio / the Bernese Nursery

Dharmansk Highland Magic - 7 months

Dharmansk Dream Weaver- 12 weeks

Katie smile

Zhali and her kids and grandkids

Dharmansk Bonny Mist & Dharmansk Folklors Magic

Dharmansk Sweet Dreams 12 wks

Dharmansk Dreams Destiny 6wks

Running Stream

Warratah's

WELCOME to the HOME of DHARMANSK BERNESE MOUNTAIN DOGS.

BEGINNINGS

It was about 1990 when I first became aware of this magnificent Swiss Bernese farm dog. Living in Australia, the difficulty obtaining such a dog quickly became apparent with precious few Bernese being bred here. Needless to say, I had a long and protracted wait J My first Bernese girl was an absolute gem. Whelping only the one litter of puppies, she certainly never realized her full breeding contribution because I ignorantly underestimated, and did not understand, her potential. At that time, there was considerable uncertainty with Bernese breeding stock – the lack of them, finding the right mate (actually finding one at all was difficult), the limited gene pool dilemma, and what would broadly speaking now be seen as very poor track results for the breed. It was a fearful road I tread embarking on breeding Bernese then!!

I felt quite compelled by this situation. And so, obsessed with some considerable determination and the desire to move forward with a personal philosophy to see ongoing improvement, my Dharmansk Bernese made a foundation. I wanted to keep the original lineage of Bernese I had, however I also wanted to make some changes, and so began what has become, a long but rewarding journey trying to breed all the ingredients I wanted to see into The Dharmansk Bernese. It has taken time and patience and has been a path juggling and measuring success and important basic priorities toward this goal.

Due to the limited gene pool in Australia, importing dogs then, as one of the initial steps to secure European lines was essential to my philosophy on breeding, because unlike Bernese breeding in Australia, which really was in its infancy, the European breeders most advantageously had 20+ years of strict uniform quality controls in screening assessments on hips, elbow and temperament status in place, with only suitable subjects passed for breeding. The correlation of these years of screening practices would be quickly evidenced in the genetic expression of improved progeny outcomes. This was a most desirable improvement.

Thus was born my personal passion for breeding the Bernese Mountain Dog - a most beautiful breed of dog.

PUTTING IT ALL IN PERSPECTIVE

It is really quite important to gain some insight and relativity in relation to breeding Bernese in Australia compared to, for example, some of the European countries. It is fair to say that regrettably in this country we still do not have any uniform standards. No National Club, no uniform single voice for the Bernese Breed in Australia. There is uncertainty over which Breed Standard Australia should adopt – Country of Origin or the English standard and or in partnership with the Extended Breed Standard. We have different Clubs in the different States across the country, all with variations on the Code of Ethics and the Breeding standards that might apply. Latitude other countries Breeding Standards and Regulatory bodies would not allow. Compounding the differences, has been the manner of our assessment. The OFA system overseas provides for Preliminary scoring of hips and elbows at 12 months of age with the final OFA Certification upon meeting the relative criteria at 2 years of age. Australia, however, allows for one final assessment at 12 months of age - qualitatively a substantially softer measure. Recent changes to State Legislation to implement regulatory controls and a Code of Practice on the breeding of animals with known genetic defects became effective in July 2009. Coupled with the move last year by the Australian Veterinary Associations expression of preference for PennHIP screening as a standard hip screening system for all breeds, we are now seeing new regulatory controls initiated. However, apart from the PennHIP world wide database, there is, in Australia, still no regulatory body or organization with whom Bernese breeders can submit data to monitor/appraise/regulate breeding stock and neither is there any temperament testing requisite. There is an enormous amount of collaborative work to be done organizationally in this country for this breed. It is important to always focus on the benefits to the breed and the management of this countries endeavors breeding the Bernese Mountain Dog.

THE DHARMANSK BREEDING PROGRAM

BREEDING STOCK at DHARMANSK

Since my initial involvement with the breed, there have been many favourable changes and improvements including better screening techniques and access to more relevant information. This information facilitates my breeding program and my breeding philosophy. All Dharmansk breeding stock have been carefully selected.

CHOOSING SUITABLE BREEDING SUBJECTS

Choosing suitable breeding stock requires a great deal of investigation and a thorough understanding of the history of the family lines and by setting screening standards that are continually modified for ongoing improvement. Breeding the perfect Bernese is an illusive goal. Dharmansk has had some nice show wins and as a breeder I never underestimate the value of the show ring as a comparative measure. Good character / temperament, physical soundness, longevity and all of the many attributes required for selective breeding cannot be guaranteed with the achievement of a Champion conformation title. Breeding suitability is determined by screening a much broader range of criteria.

TEMPERAMENT

At Dharmansk, a steady, intelligent temperament in the dog/puppies bred is a priority. Temperament and character are defined by a combination of the mental and emotional responses and perceptions by the dog about their environment. When choosing a Bernese companion many attributes need to be taken into consideration. Physical soundness and health, well-being and temperament are inseparable and all equally important, but it will be the temperament of the dog that largely dictates the lifestyle choice a new owner has made.

Certainly the ideal Bernese temperament is indeed an adorable animal – self- confident, alert, good natured and devoted to his own people, consistent, steady and dependable with a strong desire to please. Ideally he should be self assured and friendly towards people. Bernese are also quite renown for their compatibility with children and other pets.

I usually sum my Bernese up by saying that they are not a particularly high energy dog. They are steady, friendly to other animals, children and people. They thrive in a loving family environment.

Historically with Bernese in this country, we sadly see many of these dogs do not have the characteristically adorable temperament. Temperament seems to be somewhat open to interpretation. What is acceptable to one person or one breeder is not to another. Some reserved temperaments can be encouraged with a great deal more socializing but this falls short of the steady, self-confident individual that is innately comfortable with his surrounds. The 'Breed Standard' on temperament in fact clearly states that some Bernese may be wary of, and be aloof initially to the attention of strangers but they must never be sharp, aggressive or shy. Personally, I find it difficult to draw the line between ‘aloof’ and ‘shy’ and really, in my view, both fall short of the “self confidence” that the Bernese is so noted for. I have experience with different Bernese temperaments and certainly feel that I have an ‘aloof ’ one. She has been spayed and will be kept as a pet. Interestingly she is the most fabulous house pet – smart, quick and she really can outsmart the rest of the gang - no problems. She can create diversions to ensure she gets what she wants, and in the next breath be the sweetest most huggable Bernese bear ever. When strangers come, she is very restless and rarely mixes. From a breeding perspective, any tendency in this direction is most undesirable. To me, the minimum breeding requirement is that they must be confident, happy and forward around strangers. Exactly how forward they are will always vary in degrees from one character or personality to another. Temperament for breeders is a much more challenging issue than hip or elbow status in the breed because it can be so subjective and there is no standard measurement. Forgotten or unknown influential individuals from previous generations in the pedigrees can still have a say in progeny temperament outcomes. It is my view that it is absolutely essential to continue to select the best temperaments or the breed will suffer. Many generations of consistency are required in both the sire and the dams pedigree to consistently produce correct type in temperament throughout a litter. It is of great importance to me to continually consolidate through the generations choosing the right temperaments for breeding stock.

SOUNDNESS - temperament, physical soundness and health issues are all important.

Compared to other considerations with this breed, the physical soundness of the dog is relatively easy to measure because there are standardised hip and elbow x-ray evaluations that can be performed at the appropriate age to determine whether the dog has or is likely to have any concerns with regard to OCD and arthritic implications for their joints. These evaluations allow me to choose the best stock for my breeding program.

ELBOWS - There are 3 types of defects of the elbow joint. Elbow disease is highly heritable. At the present time the screening mechanism available to breeders in Australia is AVA X-Ray evaluation of stock usually performed at 1 year of age as the standard practice and trend in the breed. My position on this is that the best possible results are O:O or clear, at 2 years of age. (The overseas OFA evaluation is at 2 years). The reported elbow score range on x-ray evaluation is expressed as 0,1,2 or 3. As I see it, a score of 1,2 or 3 on the elbow says the individual "is affected" with elbow changes. The degree of severity can be compounded by the environment, diet or growth irregularities. Breeders will either select clear elbows O:O, or elbow 'affected' stock with scores of 1,2 or 3 for their breeding program. Where possible a dam and sire combination would optimally be scored on elbows as 0:0 for the dam and 0:0 for the sire - the breeding parents. With a small gene pool, limited availability of the optimum scoring animal in my opinion, does increase the risk of reproducing the fault where 'affected' scores are used. With improvement and the introduction of new breeding stock at Dharmansk, all of my breeding stock have clear elbows as assessed by the current system.

HIPS - Hip Dysplasia is a degenerative condition of the hips causing pain and suffering with restricted movement in the dog and can result in major orthopaedic surgery. Breeding animals correctly hip x-rayed and evaluated need never produce problem puppies. The best practice screening techniques for breeding stock, to reduce/eliminate the condition from my breeding program and therefore in the resultant puppies, is in my opinion the PennHIP evaluation which measures the degree of passive laxity and can be done as early as 5 months of age for potential breeding stock. All PennHIP submissions are read and results automatically submitted to contribute to a world wide data base. The resultant report from the PennHIP test is fairly specific in providing a breeding recommendation or otherwise for the animal that has been evaluated and scored. Studies show that the PennHIP method has up to 0.64 heritability correlation (where 1.0 is a perfect correlation) and the AVA method a mere 0.2 heritability correlation. This means that breeders using the Australian Veterinary Associations recommended PennHIP method of hip evaluation for their breeding stock have a much greater level of confidence in producing sound puppies from parents that have passed their PennHIP assessments. This method of evaluation I have personally found invaluable as its assessment provides me with longer term information about the hip status of stock I have, and has enabled me to build my breeding program around stock with optimum scores, and gives direction where scores are more marginal. It also has the added advantage of earlier assessment of potential breeding stock allowing earlier selection of suitable individuals to be kept on in the breeding program here.

Historically, the alternative AVA hip assessment method was the standard screening tool used by breeders to determine soundness for breeding stock as assessed at 1 year of age.(OFA practice overseas is at 2 yrs) In this type of evaluation each hip is scored on x-ray through a series of measurements up to 54 (total of 108 for both hips) and the breed average total for Bernese fluctuates between a score of approximately 10-13. Subjects deemed as suitable breeding subjects should have scores close to the breed average ie total score on the AVA Report for both hips not to exceed the breed average 10 -13. (For more information see section Understanding HD which are notes reproduced in full from a recent Hip Dysplasia Seminar, also visit the "Penn Hip" site on Links

From a breeding perspective, where 'heritability' of traits in the puppies I breed is critical, PennHIP evaluation for my breeding stock affords me best practise screening techniques. I am very excited about the results coming through in the Dharmansk program as I believe these screening practises that I began implementing in 2001, are responsible for nil incident of problems with Dharmansk progeny in this regard.

HEALTH ISSUES - Screening for some health conditions and faults in Bernese is easier than others. Entropia, Elongated Soft Pallet, Umbilical Hernia (cosmetic), Progressive Retinol Atrophy, may be obvious in offspring or eye testing can be done for the heritable form of PRA. These are measurable in litters and can be screened out of the breeding program. Currently there are changes underway through legislation to raise awareness in testing for breeding animals for some conditions eg Von Willebrand's disease (blood coagulant affect) and PRA. There is however, little or no screening done in Australia at present for Subaortic Stenosis (heart problem) or Aseptic Meningitis where the "affected' population appears to be small. Other conditions seem undetectable until onset, such as Hystiocytosis, which is a form of early onset cancer usually affecting animals at 4-8 years of age. Statistics in affectedness in the breed do vary as conclusive diagnosis is not always obtained. The indications are that it is a small percentage within the breed. Conditions such as this require breeders research to find trends in lines. There are some excellent research programs overseas working to identify DNA markers for this disease. The hope is that in time we may have the ability to DNA screen for histiocytosis. Generally speaking, providing a happy, stress free healthy environment with good nutrition particularly in the first year of life are probably the best recommendations for wellbeing all round.

BEST PRACTICE SCREENING OF BREEDING STOCK

One of the most important factors in screening for soundness in potential breeding stock is the amount of exercise given, coupled with a consistent balanced premium quality diet that is suitably tailored for large breed dogs.

Incorrect, overly restrictive exercise practice during the first year is counter productive to obtaining a clear picture of the genetic expression of the individual and more importantly of any resultant progeny.

Overweight, over exercised individuals are equally at risk.

At Dharmansk, the selection process includes a premium quality balanced large breed formula diet to optimise consistent growth for a large breed puppy plus a sensible but rigorous exercise regime that is consistent throughout the raising process to give me the most accurate picture on potential breeding stock when they present for assessment.

From my point of view, I need to apply the best practice screening techniques possible with regard to breeding stock for the best possible outcomes in their progeny. In each step along the way progeny results are measured .Good temperament, clear elbows and low hip scores and good health/longevity in breeding stock are my first preferred ingredients. Best screening techniques and practises and measurement of outcomes will then indicate the way forward for the selection of future breeding stock.

What other measures help us decide?

The Breeds "Code of Ethics" in relation to hip and elbow status in this state says the following (COE reproduced complete in section following "Fact Sheet")

"(b) Ensure that all breeding stock be x-rayed for evidence of hip dysplasia ........... and the x-ray plates be submitted for scoring under an approved Australian Canine Hip Dysplasia scoring scheme.

(c) Give priority to those animals assessed for breeding that have obtained hip evaluation that does not exceed the breed average and preferably is lower than it.

(d) Ensure that all breeding stock be elbow x-rayed for evidence of osteochondrosis of the elbow (min of 12 months of age) and the x-ray plates be submitted for scoring under an approved Australian Canine Elbow Scoring Scheme.

(e) Give priority to those animals assessed for breeding that have obtained an elbow grade of 0:0. Understand that a grade of 1:1 represents a greater risk. It is recommended to give priority to 0:0 grade elbows for breeding as any other score represents a greater risk of producing a problem with the risk increasing generally as the score increases"

(i) Breeders should aim to preserve the breed temperamentally and as a working dog, breeding for soundness, durability and ease of movement.

(k) Breeders should ensure that nervous or aggressive Bernese shall not be bred from Refer to Breed Standard requirements

MAINTAINING IMPROVEMENT - YEAR ONE EVALUATION of PROGENY

Understanding progeny outcomes in each litter is essential feedback for me. I do request a 'one off assessment' from my puppy buyers to obtain some feedback on the pups I breed. Usually, I like to do this where time permits me, at about one year of age (and I am always grateful for further feedback about Bernese family members)

This assessment at around one year of age allows me to evaluate the physical soundness, health and the temperament conditioning that has occurred over the puppies first year. The information gathered is used to fashion decisions that promote ongoing improvement and I am most grateful to everyone for their support in this regard. To date I have had 100% co-operation with this feedback. All puppies owners, at their first year evaluation have had nothing notable to report - they were all physically sound and those individuals who had x-ray assessments have had their scores entered in the "Data base" section. I will continue to consolidate on good results and continue to build on good temperament.

A DHARMANSK PUPPY

Researching your new family addition thoroughly is welcomed at Dharmansk. That is the only way to be sure you are making the right choice for you. A hands on approach to visit and meet the ‘Bernese family’ from which your potential pup comes is so important to gain insight and information on the pup being offered for your choosing. Information about my puppies can be found on the Home Page Menu select “Puppies” and “Choosing Your Puppy”. The ‘Profiles” page is a resume on the breeding animals and you might like to visit the “Gallery” to meet more of my Bernese.

SUMMARY

The greatest attribute of the Bernese, is their willingness to please you. Whether you choose to explore this through obedience, showing, carting or just sharing time on the couch at home, you will be touched by the beauty of these magnificent dogs.

Bernese are such magnificent and stunning dogs that people seem so naturally attracted to and so it is imperative to me to achieve their most notable charismatic traits in their breeding.