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Saturday, October 18, 2008

A Walk In The Park


What a beautiful autumn day we had today.  It was warm, but not too hot for the dogs and not a breath of wind.  I mention the wind, because Lethbridge is notorious for it's wind, especially in the spring and fall,  and for the past few days it has been blowing like crazy.  It is just miserable to go walking when the wind is howling.  Today was perfect!

The dogs and I met up with my friend Janet and her young Bernese boy Tucker. We all enjoyed a nice, long walk along the park trails.  Tucker is 9 months old and is starting to look like a grown-up Bernese.  All his fluffy puppy fur is gone and he is getting his beautiful adult coat and is looking very handsome.


                               Tucker                                Bosley                       Maggie


I love Tuckers "Swiss Cross".  It is often a desired Bernese trait to have a nice, white cross on the chest.  It is not a trait that is in the Bernese standard, rather it goes back to Swiss tradition.  The cross is most noticeable on young dogs, but as the long, heavy coat starts to grow in, the cross is less prominent. 



Can you see the resemblance between Tucker and Bosley?  If you do, it is because Bosley and Tucker are related.  Bosley's Dad and Tucker's Grandmother are littermates.

What a perfect day for a walk in the park with the Berners.


5 comments:

  1. explain the X to me kim...it looks like Maggie & Bosley have more definate X's

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  2. Hi Jolene,
    The horizontal white on Tuckers chest extents far out over his legs, and the vertical white is more narrow and goes straight down his chest. This forms a nice +. Maggie has a horizontal stripe, but it is much bigger on one side than the other. Bosley's cross is very thick on the horizontal part and very full on the vertical, so his cross will disappear as he matures and gets his full coat.

    If you want, you can watch this short video - it shows all 4 of the Swiss breeds and they all have nice, narrow crosses. There is also a Bernese at the end of the video that has a nice narrow cross.

    Bernese Video

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  3. oh that is cool, i didn't now about the cross on the chest, looks like a fun day, and TUcker is sure growing fast!

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  4. Hope they had a fun walk together!

    Butt wiggles,
    Solid Gold Dancer

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  5. thanks Kim...I didn't know about the crosses either, that is very interesting!!

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