Sully is around 2.5 years old. He was born in January of 2011. We promised his owner that he will only go to a fenced yard, no exceptions. Sully is just entering into the program and will spend a few weeks being evaluated to make sure he corresponds with the description below.
He’s neutered
He’s a pure breed Bernese
He’s friendly with people, kids and dogs
Housetrained
Crate Trained (but I haven’t had a need to do it)
Will walk on a leash
Up do date on shots (all he needs right now is a trip to the groomer)
Although he’s not proned to running, he should go to a home with a fenced yard. Since he’s young and playful he could “run” if he saw a critter or another dog to play with. The new home should also be made aware he does require monthly grooming, and he sheds and home will require weekly vacuuming to keep up. Some tips about Sully:
He’s affectionate and loves to play
He LOVES the snow
Since he’s so hairy he needs cool places to lay down and spread out. He avoids carpet, bedding, blankets because he gets too hot. He prefers to lay on hardwood, tile, etc. (that helps keep him cool due to his furry coat)
He likes hard & soft toys. If you keep lots of them around for him he wont chew any household items.
NO rawhides (his tummy doesn’t like it)
He needs to eat “sensitive skin” dog food or he’ll get a rash
When you’re petting him he likes to do 2 things. He’ll stretch out really long and we call that “The Super Sully Stretch”. He also likes to flip over and we call that “Upside Down Sully Cakes”.
Sully does like to spend some time on the couch. (He doesn’t stay long because he gets hot, but the new home should be aware he does this)
He loves to play tug-of-war with his big rope.
I’ll make a very nice addition to the right family
UPDATE 8/14/13
Sully is doing great and is ready for his new home.
Sully is very happy and has no fear of new people. He still tries to chase the cats so a home without them would be best. He loves to be petted but is not a snuggler. He will usually lay away from us but close enough to see what we are doing. Nothing else to report which means he should be easy to place in the right home.
This is a courtesy posting for Lilly Bears Rescue in N/E Indaina, the contact e-mail address is [email protected]
Briggs is a 3.5 year old boy, neutered, vaccinated, heartworm tested negative, and on heartworm/flea prevention. He is healthy and in good condition. He weighs about 100 pounds and is kinda chubby. Here is some of the discription of Briggs, “He gets along well with other dogs for the most part. I have 5 other dogs ranging in size from 15 to 60 pounds. He does get into tiffs with a Sheltie I have because he tries to herd him and bites at his back legs. I also have a cat and rabbit he is fine with them too. He is a pretty good dog for the most part. He does have some bad habits like getting into the trash and taking food of the counters but those are about it. He is housebroke and great with kids. My son has worked with him a little in 4H.
I would like him to be in an indoor home with a fenced in yard. He loves to go for walks so an active family who wouldn’t mind taking him for a long walk everyday would be nice. He did have a lot of bad habits when we first got him. So we waited to put him up for adoption for awhile (he has been in foster and traing of about a year). But, now everyone who has been interested in him doesn’t want to keep him as a indoor dog or doesn’t want to deal with getting into the trash etc. I do believe in being totally honest so I will tell someone everything I know about an animal. So, many of the people I talk to just want this “perfect” dog but it doesn’t exist without work.”
We’re glad you’ve found us! We are a resource for people with a special place in their heart for Berners.
To date we have assisted over 200 Bernese find forever homes and start a new life with a loving family that they deserve.
Of the dogs we have had come through the program, 10 have become therapy dogs, now assisting people with their own life issues. Several of these dogs were slated to be destroyed due to aggression.
We have had dogs that were beaten, starved, barely walking, and dogs that could have walked out of the show ring, along with everything in-between.
Penny is a very sweet girl who likes to be the center of attention. She loves to cuddle, snuggle and really wants to please. She loves a good belly rub and will snuggle right up to your hip on the couch. She is very smart and learns new commands quickly, although as she’s still a puppy so she needs to be reminded frequently. She is eager to learn and would benefit from training classes but does know some commands, i.e. sit, wait, come, off. She has displayed no food aggression and is food motivated, so treats work well with her. Although she can be defensive when she has a bone to chew on. A person can take it from her, but she doesn’t want another dog to have it even when she’s not chewing on it she feels it’s hers. Penny likes to play with toys and will play a little bit of fetch. She still chews a lot and figured out how to unwind a braided tug rope. She likes our whole family but seems to be more attached to Jenny. There are some problems with walking on a leash, but with the correct patience and time she will improve. She has had no problems with the two cats in our house and frequently wants to lick them and play with them. She loves our 14 year old son, although we’re not sure how she’d be with younger children. Other dogs are okay, although she has had some dominance issues with the other female dog in our house. She has had no problems whatsoever with Moby and they love to play and wrestle even though he is twice her size. She is crate trained for when we leave the house. When we are home, she is usually laying at your feet or will follow you from room to room. She has been sleeping on the floor in our room. She will lay on the bed while we read or watch TV but as soon as the light is turned off, she knows it’s time for her to sleep on the floor. We think she may have Border Collie in her based on the shape of her nose, her tail and her size. She has no problem eating but doesn’t seem to be getting any bigger.
UPDATE 1/21/13 PENNY Penny is ready for her new home. She has been doing great and is very affectionate. She does have occasional conflicts with some female dogs, so she would do better with a male canine companion. He is learning some basic commands and is a smart girl. There is a chance that Penny and Blossom may have some Aussie in them, or maybe just poorly bred Berners, hard to tell. THey are very “Berner like” but also show some Aussie instincts. Penny is still all puppy and mouthy on hands. Like Gunny, she wants all the attention for herself for the same reasons we expect. Penny is still guarded with new people, especially men, so she needs time to warm up to visitors.
Blossom has ben ADOPTED!!! 1/27/13
Blossom Update 1/21/13; Blossom ia also ready to go to her forever home. She is still skittish around new people and will needs a physical fence to keep her safe if she gets frightened but will warm us if given her space to do it at her pace. She loves other dogs and is very attached to her foster family. Good with housebreaking and has learned a few commands. Both Penny and Blossom should attend a obedience class to give them confidence with new events and learn to listen when needed. Blossom and Penny’s foster home will make the final approval of the new homes as they know what they need and give us the parameters on the home style to look for. Blossom may have a home as several people have visited her and want to adopt her.
Penny and Blossom are about 6-7 months old girls. Very active and very loving. They both are surprisingly very, very sweet even-though the breeder they came from never even bother to name them. They had been kept outside and not much interaction with people, but now love getting attention. They had not been to the vets before but are now up to date on shots and as of 1/3/13, both with have been spayed. They need training and their foster homes are working on house-training. Both are doing very well. Both are a little shy of men, as we expect, males have not been nice to them in the past. Both are warming up to all members of the foster homes. They do not need to go together and were too dependant on each other so they were separated. Both get along with other dogs. They have been treated roughly this first stage of their life so they will need patience and love, but have the potential to be wonderful companions. They will need fenced yards and need to attend training clases. Applications can be found under the adopting tab.
I'm Blossom. Yes, I have a butt, and know how to use it!I'm Penny. See my white socks!
UPDATE: 1/22/13 GUNNY IS READY FOR HIS NEW HOME! He has done well here over the last few weeks. He loves our Golden and get along with most of the dogs. He is posturing a little with our Alpha boy. He does get possessive sometimes for our attention. He wants all the attention he can get. he likes to cuddle and will lay on our lap. He had discovered several toys he likes and will toss them around. he loves roaming the fenced yard, so I promised him (I know it sounds weird) a fenced yard so he he can roam all he wants. I can’s test him with children but we don’t see him acting out aggressively, but caution will need to be supervised for a while with small children. I busy household may make him nervous. He has adapted very nicely to his crate. He may get bored with daily long term crating but 4-5 hours would not be a problem. He reportedly would sometimes pee in the house, but not once here in 15 days.
I’m cute, but have a dark side
Gunner is 2 years old, still intact but will be neutered prior to placement. He is being re-homed due to he is getting more possessive about his ome. Basically he needs obedience training and socialization. He has not had much of either. He can sit, lay down, and several other commands but needs leash and recall work.
Because of his lack of experiences he puts on the brakes when going places sometimes, like to the vets. He has shown aggression/defensiveness to get his way which again is a sign of needing more experiences. He jumps on people when entering the house so he was gated off where he then gets defensive and nipped someone over the holidays. He did not break the skin but gave a nice bruise to some fingers. Due to this he will need a fenced yard and a home with fewer visitors. He will need a committed owner that will be willing to show him that the world is not scary. Gunny loves the water but not boat rides. He likes small dogs but we are not sure about larger ones. He is not yet in foster and is due to arrive on Sunday, 1/6/13, so we will know more once he arrives. He was hit by a car when he was young but shows no adverse reactions and likes care rides but not being left alone in the car. He is very loving to his family.
Our initial impression is that he neeeds a home where he can have room to approach at his own pace and learn some control on greetings.
UPDATE 1/21/13:Lily is ready ot be adopted. She needs a home where people are around the home most of the time as she gets a little insecure, or if she could go to work with he new owner, she would love that. She will definitely require an above average fence due to her Houdini like abilities to find her way out. Not to run away but to get back with er family. She has grown quite a bit confidence wise and is a super sweet companion when in her comfort zone. Quite the cuddlier. Still a little stand offish with men due to her past abuse.
I can be happy, I just need time to adjust and learn about you.
UPDATE 12/1/12
At home, Lily has blossomed into a super sweet, affectionate girl. She sleeps in bed with her foster mom every night and follows her around the house. She is clicker trained and has learned a miriad of behaviors includingsit, come, down, stay, leave it, wait at doors, touch and will ‘play dead‘. Lily is an avid learner and will do ANYTHING to make her person happy.While Lily has improved tremendously she does still struggle with seperation anxiety. Her crate must be completely secured or she will bust out of it. Any prospective adopters need to understand Lily needs time and patience to warm up to you.This process may take a week. Once you have earned her confidence, you will have the most loyal and devoted of companions. Lily needs a home with at least one other confident dog to help be her guide. Lily’s main phobia is of strangers so she would NOT do well in a city or somewhere where she would be meeting a large number of strangers in an uncontrolled environment. A home that has a lot of people walking by the house or a large number of visitors would be too stressful for this sensitive girl. Any potential adopters must be dedicated to taking positive training classes with Lily to help her become more socialized. Lily’s main goal in life is to be with her people as much as possible. Hence we would like her to go to a home where she can go to work (which she does with her foster mom) or a home where people work from home. Lily is still very much a baby and will celebrate her 2nd birthday on December 26th. She is spayed, heartworm negative and up to date on vaccines.
Lily is 2 years old and just got spayed and updated on her shots on 10/4/12. She is a VERY shy girl and reactive when afraid of something. She is just into the rescue program and her evaluation time will be slow as she has to learn to trust. She was never socialized and allowed to let her fears.anxieties fester to the point she is at now. She is loving with her old family but any new introduction would send her off in fear. If she feels threatened we think she may act out to protect herself, but has not bitten anyone.
So far, due to her history, she will require and at least 4 foot high fence as she will try to get away if scared. Because of her nature, we advise a quiet home, which would mean not a lot of new people coming and going. We would be cautious with children due to her fears, although there were kids in her first home.
We expect Lily will take a while to evaluate, amybe months. We will update on her as we learn more. She gets along with other dogs, so a confident companion would be good for her.
UPDATE 10/23/12
Now that Lily has bonded with her foster family, her true personality is beginning to emerge. She is a smart, silly, sweet girl who ADORES her family. She will snuggle on the couch, climb up in a lap and gives lots of kisses. She is also excellent at sitting on feet. With any visitors, she is still extremely fearful and can be mildly reactive. If the visitors completely ignore her and let her approach at her own pace than she will slowly warm to them and they may be able to even pet her. However, Lily could easily fear bite if she was chased or cornered. While she has made a lot of progress, Lily is still prone to panic attacks if she encounters something novel or different. While not destructive, Lily also has some separation anxiety. She wants to be with her people at all times and will try to escape her crate or the yard to get to her people. She can be left alone in her crate if it is secured tightly with clips.
Lily’s foster mom is a Veterinary Behavioral Technician who is working with Lily to gain confidence and the necessary coping skills to be a healthy, well behaved member of society. Lily is now clicker trained and knows sit, shake, down and to wait at doors. Lily is also on anxiolytics (anti-anxiety medication) to help her learn appropriate coping skills. She will need to be on these inexpensive medications for at least the next year. Lily needs a home that will be dedicated to continuing to work with her anxiety and slowly socializing her. Lily strongly looks to the other dogs in the household for cues on how to behave and will need to live with at least another confident, calm dog. She will need to be enrolled in positive training classes (preferably clicker). Lily is spayed, up to date on vaccines, and heartworm negative.
If you are interested in learning more about this wonderful, challenging girl, please e-mail fer foster Mom at [email protected]
Bodie came from IL and went directly to his new home in a pre-arranged home. He got to us with the help of several people willing to drop what they were doing and bring him all the way to us. Bodie is shy of men but will adapt with understanding and patience. He is a hansom boy that is about 18 months old. His old owner had to relocate and could not keep him with them. He is adjusting well going on lots of trips in the car with his new Mom and new buddy, Rockey.
Berkley has been with us a month, was intact and again, not to sure of men. She will turn 1 on Christmas day. She was returned to her breeder because, again the family had to relocate and could not take her. Berk was going to go to a home that we had placed with before but due to medical emergency reasons, the time was not right for adding another dog and not have the time for her. So she became available. The very next day we were contacted about an 8 month old boy named Parker. We arranged to get him that day, again with assistance of helpers. He was on craigslist and we wanted to make sure he did not fall into the hands of someone that might not have his best interests in mind. His owner had just gone through some hard times and wanted what was best for Parker and agreed to work with us.
I'm just so darn cute! Berkley
When asking for help in transport of Bodie and after it was underway, we were contacted by the family that adopted the 2 older heartworm infected dogs a few years ago, Eli and Caleb. Eli passed this spring. They were interested in Bodie but he was already on his way to his new home. So when we found out about Parker, I contacted them to see if he might fit. The timing was perfect and they wanted to adopt both Berkley and Parker. We could not ask for a better, caring home. So on Oct 26th, they will start their trek to Kansas with the help of a very dedicated helper, willing to drive them all the way to IL.
All these dog are an example of why we need to have applications on file. When the dogs don’t need much if any evaluation time, the placements go quickly, as they had homes prior to coming into foster or placement on this list. THis is why we advise to send the application, keep us updated that you are interested. The more we know about a home, the more we can understand what you are looking for and what will fit your lifestyles. When filling out the applications, feeel free to add any thing that will let us know you better. Picutres of the yard, playmates, all help us.
Bentley is a courtesy posting. He is currently in Cleavland Ohio. He is young, 1–2 years old found at a shelter. He will be neutered on 9/7. For more information call his foster Mom, Melinda at phone is 330-354-5138 and email is [email protected].
He will be available around Sept 10th after neutering. A re-homing fee to cover medical costs will be required at time of adoption. Bentley is good with other dogs and people, he is children friendly. A fence yard is preferred as he was found at a shelter and may have run away prior.
Here are some comments fron his foster Mom: I work at a community college near Cleveland in the Vet Tech department taking care of the animals they house for the labs (learning purposes only!) Two weeks ago we got our new round of dogs and cats for the year. I immediately fell in love with a Bernese mix we named “Bentley”. He is sweet, playful, kind, smart, and over-all a wonderful dog. He has been with me about two days now. He is a delight, very sweet, does not growl at any human we have come into contact with on (and there have been many since we live in the city) The only aggression I see in Bentley is towards my cat.
Great News!! T-Bone’s blood work has finally leveled to normal. So he is now ready to go to his new home but with the understanding that he will need to continue the treatment for another 2 weeks and then get retested 2 weeks after that to make sure the levels are holding.
T-Bone has a little different type of personality. He is very loving and cuddly, but can get snotty when there is a lot of excitement with the other dogs like when we arrive home. He gets into a fight with our Bruno and holds his own. He does not do this to the females we have had, so it mat be best that he go to a home with a female dog companion. He has also gotten a snappy a few time when we pushed him off because he was trying to climb up when not invited. He only did this a few times and we were not sure if it was related to pain or not as it was a few weeks ago. For this reason we want a home without small children. He is about 70 pounds and we expect he will stay about that size, so he will be a small Berner. We believe it may be from being malnourshied for so long. He is nicely marked. He has learned to play with toys and his best buddy is our Golden. He had a great time when we too him on vacation. Not a swimmer but learned that the water was nice to wade in.
Buddys!!!
UPDATE 6/11/12
T-Bone got neutered today and is doing well and up to 65 pounds. We have x-rays done and his hips look good. His spine looks better as the vets thing he has some sort of a spinal infection, and his reactions are mimimal now. He will have more bloodwork done Friday to see if we are making progress.
UPDATE 5/17/12
T-Bone will not be available for awhile. His medical issues will require long term treatment, up to 2 months. Feel free to contact us for more information as we will still be interviewing for potential homes.
T-Bone as we are calling him was found starving and turned into the pound. He weighed 38 pounds. It was thought he was 1.5 to 2 years old but we think he is more like 10 months.So we are picking his new birthday as Cinco de Mayo, May 5th, 2011. He still has puppy hair on his head and is not lifting a leg yet and not too developed. He is a very small Berner for a male. This may be due to malnutrition for an extended period of time. We don’t think he was on his own for log, so the neglect must have started in the old home. He knows sit,shake, speak and some other commands.
He is an affectionate boy and likes to crawl on our lap. He then falls instantly asleep as he finally feel safe. He is crate trained and seems to be housebroken. He was good with a small child but with his reactions to being startled or stepped on, small children might not be the best choice for him. Because of his being on the loose, he knows about running around, he he will require an above ground fence.
T-Bone likes other dogs but again if they touch him unexpectedly, he screams. He does not know how to play yet. We are hoping that he will relax with our gang and learn to enjoy himself. We got his medical reports back and he has Giardia and some sort of major infection. So we are getting him medication to start him on his treatments. His white count is very high, so we need to see if that comes down or find out why it is not coming down. He will need to gain about 10 pounds before we can neuter him, so we expect he will be here for a month or so, before he can go to his new home.
Update 3/20/12
What a difference 10 days make, His hips are feeling mush less boney and his spine is not so pronounced. He is a snuggler. We think because he has never had much attention, he loves getting on our lap. He is a wiggle worm though. He is still acting starved at feeding time. He has had a few accidents but is usually in front of the door as we missed his asking. He last few days he has even scratched on the door to go out.
UPDATE 4/6: Mr. “T” is improving and his blood values are getting better but still not right. We are hoping hey will continue to improve. He was negative for heartworms and negative in a tick panel. We will repeat his treatment for Giardia starting next week and then after about 1o days, have his blood done again. Because of all these tests, T-Bone will have a larger than normal adoption fee. But when done he will be set for a while on vet care, hopefully. He is learning to play with toys more each day. He will need a home that will let him come up on your lap and nap with his head under your chin, he loves that. We think he my be younger than first thought as he has gotten taller here. Plus he has gone from 38 to 51 pounds in less than a month, but he had a lot of catching up to do.
I really like it here, I feel so much better!!!
UPDATE 4/26/12: T-Bone has gained more weight and is over 55 pounds now. We also believe now his is younger than first thought, so we think he in just now about 10 months old. He has grown several inches since being here and just yesterday started lifting his leg. So we are changing his birthday to July 4th! What a better day to have a “T-Bone”! His blood levels are still off showing some sort of infection still. He is getting another blood test and other tests Monday 4/30. Due to his poor condition at arrival his vet bill are more than most. So his adoption fee will be more than normal. That amount is still unknown as a total as once we get the blood issues identified and resolved, he will need to be neutered. We feel we need to know what potential issues health wise before he is placed. We want his new home to be aware of any potential expenses in the future.
Lexi will be arriving into foster Monday, May 28th.
Lexi turned 3 on April 19th, so she is still young. She has spent her life either in a crate or tied to a tree. She has not seen a vet since puppy hood. Hopefully she will be HW negative. I will post a picture of her on our web site so you can see how pretty she is. Her story is that the owner finally decided he did not have time for her so he gave her to a lady with 2 Berners, and 3 is tooo much for her home. She has had her 5 weeks and she has really blossomed. All she wants is to be with the people which she had little of in the past. Follows her temporary Mom all over. She like other dogs and loves to play, that all I know though. So we will see how she does. IF she is reactive or T-Bone is too much for her, we may have to foster her somewhere else.
She is intact and nees to be spayed and brought up to date on all her shots. More to come……
