The Three Little Berners

... well, maybe not so little!

We are puppy-sitting this weekend.  

Remember Svenja, little miss yellow puppy?  

That's her in the middle.

Karma is on the left, Koda on the right.

They are having a lot of fun!

Holiday Pictures FAIL

As a photographer, I work with a lot of families, children, and the occasional pet.  I've received a lot of comments along the lines of "I want to learn my camera better, so I can take more pictures of my kids" That's a great idea ... in theory

My kids, and dogs are SO uncooperative with me.  The kids see my camera, and roll their eyes and frown ... the dogs see my camera, and think that they can misbehave if I'm "hiding" behind the camera, and not keeping a stern eye on them, lol

Here's pictures from our recent attempt at Christmas photos, feel free to laugh.

This one is the epitome of our photoshoot

I love how the dogs can't even be looking the same direction.  And the baby is too busy playing with leaves.  This will probably be our Christmas card picture though - it might not be perfect, but its real life, and I love it :)

 So, how awkward would it be to send out cards with just one of our kids pictures?

"Happy Holidays ... from the two who behaved" ;)

Picture update!

We have added a link to our instagram photos, which is where almost all our Berner pictures end up!

Here's a bunch of pictures just for fun though!

 Our Toddler and her BFF, Koda <3

Two Berners = no room on the bed for the people!

 Karma loves picking up the kids from school!

 Happy Belated Halloween! 

 Koda is so sweet with our 19 month old baby!

 Karma is a blanket thief!

My Dog Ate My Homework ...

Last week, my 9 year old daughter came home in tears.  She had apologized to her teacher for her essay being wrinkled, and when she told him that Karma had gotten a hold of it, he replied: "That's the oldest excuse in the book!"

My initial reaction tends to be Mama-Bear mode, lol, but I decided that a nice little letter would suffice just fine ;)

Did your dog ever eat your homework?

I Heart Faces: Pet Challange

This photo was submitted to the I Heart Faces photo challenge – www.iheartfaces.com

Enter your own image HERE

You can't imagine how hard it was to choose one picture.  I'm not sure if my hardrive has more images of my children, or our Bernese Mountain Dogs.  My favorite pictures are those that have both, lol.

I chose this particular image because of the happy faces on both my daughter and our puppy.  They both have "smiles", and this picture just captures our whole summer with our Bernese Mountain Dog's litter of puppies.  Happy, warm, and content, filled with Berner Love!

Hula-Hoop

We call this picture: "Teaching a new dog new tricks"

Our seven year old was actually showing Pink how not-scary a hula-hoop is  :)

Pink jumped through, then tried tasting the hula-hoop, lol.

Puppy in the Paper!

Miss Red has been named "Piper", which is just darling and perfect for her.  She's already enjoying the good life, getting to tag along to the movies (a good old American drive-in!), and the local newspaper was there to document it!

"Megan and Chris C. brought their best friends along, three-year-old Penny and new pup Piper, a Bernese Mountain dog. The four were set to cuddle together in the back of their pick-up, lined with a cushy sleeping bag."

Photo by Deborah Tracy, Uintah Basin Standard

You're both darling, Piper and puppy sister Penny ...  I hope the movie was great.

... my sentimental ramblings

Its funny, a family member who has bred dogs for 50+ years told us something along the lines of "when the first puppy goes home, you'll be sad, but by the time the last puppy goes home, you will be jumping for joy."

No disrespect, but that individual was very wrong.

With each puppy that has gone home, we've become increasingly sadder.

To be clear, we couldn't be happier with the families and individuals who have adopted our puppies.  Its such a great feeling to see people matched up with their puppy.  Its just that these puppies became a part of our family, and with each one that goes home, we feel like a part of our family left.  The only thing that makes this feeling okay is that we feel like our puppies' families are now an extension of our own berner family.  We've asked everyone for pictures and updates along their journey with their puppy, and hope to have a "family reunion" with our puppies and their families one day.

Before anyone gets the wrong idea, raising puppies is NOT easy.  Its crazy hard work.  And I have to admit, I find myself somewhat insane for raising puppies AND 4 young children at the same time.  I've had well-meaning people suggest putting up a kennel for the dogs to live in outside, or in the garage, but what they don't realize is that our dogs are not just animals.  They are our pets, members of our family.  The mama dog is OUR pet first and always, and she is a priority.

We aren't the stereotypical "breeders".  Our puppies are raised INSIDE our home ... inside our family room and kitchen to be exact.  They are around our family constantly.  It makes some things difficult, like keeping everything clean (mopping 3-4x a day, anyone?) or quiet (Quiet, what's that? Hahahaha), but having our sweet puppies inside helps with one of our main goals: helping our puppies be very well socialized and ready to be a true member of your family.  It also helps our mama dog feel safe and loved, which helps her be more attentive and maternal towards her puppies.

This has been quite the journey.  We still have puppies here, and lots of cleaning and caring left to do, but looking back on our decision to have this litter, it has been an amazing adventure and experience for our whole family.  We've made a lot of new friends, gotten endless snuggle time with darling little puppies, and learned about what brings us joy ... these beautiful Bernese Mountain Dogs.

Mr Green

Our Green pup went home last night with John C.  We loved meeting John's 9 year old berner, Aunna. It's so wonderful to know that our puppies are going to homes that adore and love this breed!

Homeward Bound!

Yellow is now "Svenja", the newest member of the W family!

Brown is the perfect Odin, and is loving his new house!

The R family adopted orange ... what will his name be?

Our Miss Red has joined her new family, with lots of property to explore, and friends to play with!

Puppy Snugs!

Our puppies are getting lots of love and snugs.  Between Dakota, our kids, and all the neighborhood friends, they are getting lots of gentle socialization already!

for fun ...

While checking out the whelping box, Dakota and baby SweetPea got into a panting competition.

I'm not sure who ended up winning.

Mountain Dog

We are so spoiled, living just 3 minutes from the mountains and a national forest.  We go often, and play in the mountain streams, picnic, and explore.  Seeing Dakota in her element is extra fun - she loves being up in the mountains.  She romps and plays, but stays close to make sure the family stays safe.

I know we are completely biased, but isn't she just beautiful?

Lazy Morning

Everyone loves Saturday mornings! Dakota is no exception.  She's invited up on our bed (She doesn't get on the beds or couches unless she's invited by us), and we all lay around lazy for a while.

She looks out the window to see if the neighbors are in their yard

She snuggles like ... a big bear.

She's patient while the kids entertain themselves with her.

She's always so sleepy lately, making puppies is tiring work

The baby shares her book with Dakota ... see Dakota, book.

She snuggles and rolls and flops all over the bed, and us.

And she curls up with a kid and takes a little nap in the sunshine.

We love Saturdays at our house!

Feeling Pregnant

I think our Miss Dakota is starting to really FEEL pregnant.  It was this time last year that I was 8 months along and felt like a beached manatee, so I look at her and can't help but say "Awwwwww" out loud.

In response, I get this face:

This is Dakota's "I loves you. Please pet me.  I really, really, really loves you" face.

I'm a total sucker for this face!

Today is a bit of a lazy day ... Friday, with the weekend about to begin.  Dakota and I are relaxing.  And baby SweetPea is making a wonderfully fun mess.

I can't seem to capture it on camera, but Miss Dakota's tummy is really filling out.  She rolled on her back, and was just breathing.  I remember how my little one would take up all the room in my lungs, and I couldn't get a good deep breath.  Dakota just looks at me as if to say, "You remember how this feels, right?", and I scratch her favorite spot behind her ear, and give her a treat.

Friday FlashBack

So, its just a "FlashBack" from this past December ... but I love seeing these two best friends together.  It's crazy to see how much our little one has grown (She hardly had any hair), and how Dakota has always been a major part of her life - there's just a very special bond between these two <3

Yesterday - Dakota pictures

Watching over the baby

Curious about the bubbles