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Bernese Mountain Dog Health

The big picture

Individual Bernese Mountain Dogs can be affected by a variety of ailments that affect longevity and quality of life. Among the most common problems are cancer, autoimmune disorders, hip and elbow dysplasia, allergies, thyroid disorders, bowel disorders, torsion and bloat, eye disorders including PRA, cataracts and entropion. It is always best to inquire with individual breeders as to which health problems may be more or less prevalent in the families of dogs from which their breeding stock come.

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LIFESPAN The Swiss have a saying about the lifespan of Bernese Mountain Dogs. They say, 'three years a young dog, three years a good dog, three years an old dog... all else a gift from God'. At this time, the average age of a BMD at death is about 7 years. Berners can live to 10 to 14 years of age.

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The facts are: No family of Bernese Mountain Dogs is free from health problems typically seen in the breed. No breeder can offer you a 100% guarantee that the pup you get will not face health challenges. Many Bernese can live long healthy lives. But, awareness of health issues by both breeders and owners is essential to enhance management and improve the quality of dogs' lives. Genetics and health are interlocked in many cases so breeder understanding of health issues that exist in families of Bernese is essential if improvements in health and soundness are to be made over generations of breeding.

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QUESTION: How will you know the breeder you buy your puppy from is doing everything possible to select breeding pairs to minimize the occurrence of health problems? ANSWER: Find out if the breeder you are working with conducts health and genetic testing on dogs they are using for breeding purposes. If the breeder you are planning to purchase your Berner puppy from doesn't know about health registries and databases or doesn't mention health and genetic testing, ask yourself if that breeder is really focused on producing healthy puppies.

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For more information on some of the most common health problems found in the Bernese Mountain Dog breed see the BMDCA's health pages

The Berner International Working Group website provides a few up to date health articles and presentations related to understanding Bernese Mountain Dog health issues and their management. Internationally focused materials and resources on BMDs and other breeds health and welfare are located on The International Partnership for Dogs website - be sure to check out the BMD page in the breeds database.

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Speaking for Spot: Be the Advocate Your Dog Needs to Live a Happy, Healthy, Longer Life

By Nancy Kay, DVM

Diplomate, American College of Veterinary Internal Medicine

Recipient, American Animal Hospital Association 2009 Animal Welfare and Humane Ethics Award

Website: http://www.speakingforspot.com

Spot's Blog: http://speakingforspot.wordpress.com

What Would My Berner Choose?

You may not have realized it at the time, but when you adopted your Berner, you "signed" an unwritten contract whereby you accepted "power of attorney" to make medical decisions on his behalf. Making such decisions can be challenging. For starters, there is often the need to comprehend and sort through a good amount of technical/medical information. Secondly, we all love our dogs dearly, and the thought of making the wrong choice on their behalf is a dreadful one indeed. It would be different if they could voice a clear opinion; instead the burden rests 100 percent on our imperfect human shoulders.

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As you navigate the world of health care with your Berner, I encourage you to stay focused on the following two vision statements of medical decision-making:

  • Choose what serves your dog's best interest.

  • Choose what best serves your peace of mind.

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How Do You Determine What Is In Your Dog's Best Interest?

When deciding whether to proceed with a diagnostic test or treatment plan, here are some important questions to consider. For purposes of illustration, I will use the example of cruciate ligament disease (a torn ligament within the knee, which is all too common in Bernese Mountain Dogs).

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What Are the Facts?

I have nothing against good old-fashioned "gut" feelings, but when it comes to your dog's health, I recommend being well-informed over going on instinct any day. Read all you can and ask your vet to explain the pros and cons of every single treatment option. There are both medical and surgical options for treating a torn cruciate ligament. Not only that, there are at least half a dozen surgical techniques to choose from, and each one has its advantages and disadvantages. If you opt for sur­gery, research the surgeon. Which technique does she pre­fer and why? How often has she performed this surgery? A wonderfully reassuring answer sounds like, "I've performed this procedure 10 to 20 times a year for the past five years." Less comforting is, "I've done this surgery a few times."

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Does the Plan Make Sense?

My own dog, Vinnie, tore his cruciate ligament while performing his "Tigger routine" approximately six months after undergoing surgery to remove a malignant skull tumor. Did it make sense to proceed with surgery without first performing tests to make sure his cancer had not recurred? Not in my book! Sur­gery to repair his torn cruciate was performed only after a vari­ety of tests indicated that he remained cancer-free. Likewise, it doesn't make sense to perform tests that don't "jive" with your dog's problem, would not change how you would proceed or would not provide you with some necessary peace of mind. I encourage you to question, investigate, poke and prod until things do make sense to you.

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How Does Your Berner's Personality Play a Role?

Your dog's personality is an exceptionally important factor to consider when acting as his advocate. Some dogs are couch potatoes, while others cannot stand a sedentary lifestyle. If the latter describes your dog, he'll want you to choose the treatment for his bum knee that requires the shortest duration of confinement. And a Berner who loves being at the vet's be­cause it's an opportunity to get cookies and attention will tolerate frequent bandage changes far better than the shy fellow who rebuffs all versions of vet clinic bribery.

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How Does Your Berner's Age and Overall Health Play a Role?

When it comes to making decisions for your older Berner, con­sider his functional rather than his chronological age. Remem­ber, the primary goal of any therapy is to restore a dog's base­line level of good health regardless of his age. A 10-year-old Berner who has been "healthy as a horse" might be a better candidate for cruciate ligament surgery than a 6-year-old Berner who has had longstanding medical issues.

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Can You Change Your Decision if You Don't Like What You See?

Sometimes the knowledge that a change of heart will be perfectly okay turns a monumental decision into a much easier one. For example, if after a month or so your dog's lameness hasn't responded to medical therapy, can surgery for a torn cruciate still be performed successfully? You bet!

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What Does Your Berner Think?

I encourage you to spend a little nose-to-nose and eyeball-to-eyeball time with your sweet dog. Such one-on-one time provides invaluable feedback about what your dog would have you choose on his behalf. And, nothing is more important than that.

What would my Berner choose

Making Medical Decisions You Can Live With

As your Berner's medical advocate, your goal is to make well-informed choices that result not only in the best outcome for your dog but for your peace of mind as well. How to make choices that serve your dog's best interest was discussed previously at "What Would My Berner Choose?". The current article addresses the second goal of the savvy medical advocate, namely making decisions for your dog that result in the greatest peace of mind for you. I'm not necessarily talking about short-term peace of mind. Rather, I'm referring to the kind you desire after having lived with your decision weeks, months, or even years down the road. Canceling a long-awaited Hawaiian holiday because your dog needs emergency surgery may feel disappointing at the time, but in the long run, it will likely be the decision that will best serve your long-term peace of mind.

Finding peace of mind is usually a natural consequence of determining what is in your Berner's best interest. This doesn't mean that you will invariably choose the most aggressive option; rather, your choices will be guided by what you ultimately believe are the right ones for your dog. Even if the end result isn't what you'd hoped for, you will be at ease knowing that your actions were always guided by your good intentions.

No matter how refined your medical advocacy skills are, some circumstances render it impossible to make decisions based solely on your dog's best interest. Here are some exercises to help you deal constructively with these challenges.

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When Cost Gets In the Way
If you are in the throes of decision-making and it feels like money concerns are taking center stage, I encourage you to do the following:

Pretend that you are wealthy beyond compare – on par with Oprah Winfrey or Bill Gates. Then have another look at the choices on the table. Once cost concerns are removed from the equation, it's often much easier to hone in on the decision that truly serves your dog's best interest. You might be pleasantly surprised to learn that the best option is not the most expensive option.

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What happens when the obvious best choice is not affordable?

Know that rarely is there only one right way to do things. The key to making things work in this situation is examination of all of the medical alternatives and options for paying the bill. I strongly encourage you to lay your "financial cards" on the table. I know this can be hard to do. Talking "fleas" is one thing – having a candid conversation with your veterinarian about your bank account is a whole 'nother ball game! For your Berner's sake, however, it is important to be completely honest about your financial constraints. Such conversations can open doors to other options that make better financial sense. In addition to discussing a creative payment plan, perhaps a less expensive test can be run, a less costly surgery performed, or a more economical antibiotic prescribed.

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When No One Knows What's Truly Best for Your Berner​

Sometimes medical circumstances are such that, no matter how much information you've gathered, neither you nor your veterinarian can predict which choice will result in the best outcome for your Berner. In such situations, I encourage you to do the following.

  • First, play out every single option to both its best and worst possible conclusions.

  • Step two is to focus on determining which set of outcomes would best serve your peace of mind.


Let's run through this "peace of mind exercise" using the following scenario:

imagine that your Berner is sick with vomiting and diminished appetite. An ultrasound examination has revealed that he has a large liver mass. A non-surgical biopsy was unable to differentiate whether the mass is benign or malignant. If the liver mass is benign, surgery (albeit involved and lengthy) has the potential to provide a cure. If malignant, even extensive surgery is unlikely to be curative and may, in fact, hasten your dog's demise. Besides aggressive surgery, the only other realistic option for treating your Berner is supportive medical care, consisting of diet changes and traditional or alternative/complementary measures to reduce nausea, decrease stomach acid production, and promote liver health. Neither you nor your vet knows what's truly best for your dog.

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Now, let's proceed with the "peace of mind exercise."

  • Step one is to consider the best and worst possible scenarios for each option.


        Surgery.


The best-case scenario would be that your Berner's disease would be cured and his normal, good quality of life completely restored.

 

In the least favorable outcome, the tumor would be malignant and impossible to be surgically removed. Your dog's decline would be hastened (even death might occur) as a result of the surgery.

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​        Medical therapy.

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Even if the mass were benign, because of its large size, the best-case scenario would be gradual progression of his symptoms over the course of several weeks to several months.

The worst imagined outcome would be rapid progression of symptoms resulting in a more immediate need for end-of-life decision making.

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  • Step two is to determine which set of outcomes would best serve your peace of mind; which is most likely going to allow you to sleep at night?

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This second step often requires a great deal of thought, investigation, introspection, and yes, it requires "discussions" with your dear Berner.

 


Once you make your choice, will you know with certainty it was the right one?

Absolutely not! Might the ending to this story be an unhappy one? Yes indeed, but when all is said and done, what you will know is that you made a well-informed decision with nothing but the best of intentions for your wonderful dog. Now, that should be worth a great deal of peace of mind.

Veterinary Terms

To accurately understand all there is with health issues in Berners, you need to know some of the  medical terms your vet will use. These terms are included in the PDF list here.

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Author

by Patricia Long
August, 1999
Updated April, 2009

Extensive credit for the information on this page goes to the Saunders
Comprehensive Veterinary Dictionary, 2nd Edition, D. C. Blood OBE & V. P. Studdert BS DVM, 1999, WB Saunders
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