The Bernese Mountain Dog: A Protective And Friendly Dog

The Bernese Mountain Dog is actually an outdoor dog that can adapt to indoors as long as she is given plenty of exercise when it is cool outside. Her heavy coat means that she is comfortable in the cold but suffers in the heat. She has a loving temperament and has been described as stable, faithful, affectionate and intelligent. She is a good watch dog and good with children. Just as a reminder, never leave young children unsupervised with a puppy or dog for any length of time.

The Bernese temperament is a very are affectionate, loyal, faithful, stable and intelligent dog that is native to the mountains of Switzerland. The majority of Bernese are very friendly towards people, and animals including other dogs. The Bernese mountain dog is thought to be easy to train, provided the owner is patient and consistent in training as Bernese tend to need time to think things through. The Bernese mountain dog has a very nature meaning that they often get along well with other pets such as cats, and horses and small children.

The Bernese mountain dog is known not respond well to harsh treatment, however Bernese are very willing and eager to please their master. Bernese love to be encouraged with praise and treats and this gorgeous breed is very sweet and good with children, despite their great size. Overall, they are very stable in temperament, patient, and loving.

Bernese Mountain Dogs are quirky, loving dogs, craving love and affection. They love to lean against people, sit on their feet, or lie down under their legs while people are sitting.

The Bernese mountain dog is part of the Sennenhund family of dogs that include the Greater Swiss Mountain Dog, the Bernese Mountain Dog, the Appenzeller and the Entlebucher Mountain Dog, all of which are similar in colour and temperament but vary in size. The Sennenhund dogs were originally used to assist in general farmwork but they are also used as mountain rescue dogs in some areas of the Swiss mountains today.

The Bernese mountain dog is one of the largest breeds of dog, with the average adult Bernese mountain dog growing to between 50 and 70 cm high. The Bernese mountain dog has a very distinctive tri-coloured coat, that is black, white and tan. It is said that the mark of well-bred Bernese is the horse-shoe shaped white marking that straddles its nose.

Bernese mountain dogs have a lower average lifespan when compared to other dog breeds that are a similar size. The average lifespan of a Bernese is approximately 8 years, where the average lifespan of a similar breeds tends to be around 11 years. The main causes of mortality in the Bernese breed are thought to be cancer and bone problems, such as hip-displacement and arthritis.

The Bernese mountain dog needs lots of exercise and loves to spend time outside. Owners should also be aware that due to the long, thick coat of the Bernese, they should be groomed regularly to keep it in good condition.

Facts And Features Of American Eskimo Dog

The American Eskimo Dog is a small to medium breed of domestic Dog that, despite it's name, is actually native to Germany. With European settlers came white versions of the German Spitz but after the First World War, it's name had to be changed to avoid negative feelings towards the country at the time. Until recently the German Spitz and the American Eskimo Dog were recognised as being the same breed, but they have now been registered separately as there are actually subtle differences between the two. Three different types of the American Eskimo Dog are bred today which are the toy, miniature and standard versions. Although they differ in size, they are almost identical in both appearance and temperament.

American Eskimo Dog Physical Characteristics
The American Eskimo Dog is a small and compact domestic breed, with a square body and a wedge-shaped head. They have small, pointed ears that are almost always erect, and a generally black nose with brown eyes. One of the most distinctive features of the American Eskimo Dog is it's beautiful snow-white coat which is quite long in places. The American Eskimo Dog has a thick double coat of fur which consists of a soft, dense under-coat, with longer, coarse hairs forming the outer layer. The American Eskimo Dog's tail is long and curved upwards, and is covered in long, white feathers. They range in size from 23cm to 43cm tall, depending on the breed type (toy, miniature or standard).

American Eskimo Dog Behaviour and Temperament
The American Eskimo is an affectionate and loving breed, having become increasingly popular in households throughout the United States. They are hardy and adaptable Dogs, known to live easily in a variety of houses and apartments. The American Eskimo Dog is highly alert, making it a keen watchdog as they will bark to alert their owner to any approaching stranger. They are known to be good with young children as they are naturally playful by nature and are always eager to please. The American Eskimo Dog is also very intelligent having been used as a watchdog, guard-dog, in narcotics detection and for performing tricks. The American Eskimo Dog thrives on Human companionship but behavioural issues can arise if it does not have a clearly dominant owner.

American Eskimo Dog Breeding
The American Eskimo Dog has actually existed in America for hundreds of years, but it was known as the White German Spitz until it's name was changed after the First World War. They have been bred almost exclusively as companions and sometimes watchdogs, with the three different sizes meaning that any home of any size, can now own one. They do however, need a great deal of attention. along with regular grooming of their silky fur, and like to integrate themselves into the family properly. The American Eskimo Dog has an average of 5 puppies per litter and healthy individuals can get to be more than 15 years old.

American Eskimo Dog Interesting Facts and Features
Despite it's name, the American Eskimo Dog is thought to have absolutely no connection to Eskimo and Inuit Dogs whatsoever. In 1913, they were renamed as the American Eskimo to avoid discrimination towards the breed because of their German origins. It is thought that the most likely reason that they were named as American Eskimos is due to their snowy white coat. The American Eskimo Dog became an increasingly popular breed after having made an appearance in a number of acts at the Barnum and Bailey Circus. A number of tricks could be completed such as dancing to music and interacting with clowns, but it was the fact that one American Eskimo Dog was the first Dog to walk across a tight-rope, that really made a name for the breed.

American Bulldog Interesting Facts And Lifestyle

Although the exact origins of the American Bulldog are still not quite clear, they are most commonly thought to have derived from English Bulldogs that arrived in North America with European colonists. Despite there being a great variety within the breed today, the American Bulldog is thought to be the most typical example of the original English Bulldogs of the 17th and 18 centuries. Bred and kept primarily for hunting and as a guard Dog, the American Bulldog was also used in Bull baiting - a cruel and bloody sport where the American Bulldog would publicly fight and being down a Bull. The American Bulldog is most commonly found across the ranches of the southern states of the USA, where it has been also known as the Southern White, the Country Bulldog and the White Bulldog.

American Bulldog Physical Characteristics
The American Bulldog is a large and powerful breed of Dog belonging to the Mastiff family. They share many of their characteristics with other Mastiff breeds including their small, half-pricked, pendant shaped ears and their square, broad head. The American Bulldog is bigger, faster and more agile than the English Bulldog, and has such powerful hind legs that they are able to jump up to 6ft high. The American Bulldog has short, coarse fur that can be found in a variety of colours, but most notably white and brindle. They are an incredibly muscular and powerful breed having been bred as hunters, guarders and to fight (and win) against Bulls.

American Bulldog Behaviour and Temperament
The American Bulldog is a courageous and fearless breed, known to be incredibly aggressive at times when it feels under threat. They are however friendly and even sociable Dogs, having been known to be kept in a pack that primarily hunts large carnivores, such as Bears. They are also known to be loyal and devoted towards their owner, providing that they assert themselves as the leader of the pack (dominance issues may occur otherwise). Although the American Bulldog is not listed under the UK's Dangerous Dogs Act 1991, it is not uncommon for them to be confused with more aggressive breeds such as Pit Bulls. These Dogs are not related but are indeed banned, so any potential owner of the American Bulldog is encouraged to acquire the adequate paperwork to prove that their Dog is not a dangerous breed.

American Bulldog Breeding
The colour of the America Bulldog's fur, along with very subtle differences in general appearance and temperament, is said to differ between different areas. In regions where the American Bulldog is most popular, the Dogs are said to be able to differ between these places, which suggests that the American Bulldog is most commonly bred with individuals that live close by. After their near extinction in the 1940s, the American Bulldogs found throughout America today, are nearly all thought to have derived from Dogs bred by just two breeders during the mid 1900s. Females give birth to between 6 and 11 puppies per litter and can often live to be more than 15 years old.

American Bulldog Interesting Facts and Features
Despite being a widely distributed and popular breed today, the American Bulldog was on the verge of becoming extinct towards the mid 1900s. On returning from service in the Second World War, John D. Johnson decided to follow in his father's footsteps and resumed the breeding of the American Bulldog in the United States, and ultimately saved this breed from disappearing forever. The American Bulldog was first recognised as an official breed in 1970, when it was registered as the American Pit Bulldog. However, the name of this domestic breed was soon changed to the American Bulldog to avoid confusion with the American Pit Bull Terrier (to which this breed can look quite similar and the two can often be confused).

Dealing With Dog Smell For Clever

There are many ways in which people and dogs are similar, but an area in which dogs are much superior is in their olfactory ability, or their sense of smell.  Dogs can smell 100,000 times better than humans.  In tests, dogs have been able to detect a chemical in a solution diluted to 1 to 2 parts per trillion. The human brain has a large area devoted to vision, while dogs have a large portion dedicated to olfaction, in fact, 40% more of a dog’s brain than a human’s is committed to smell.  The average person has 5 million smell receptors, while the average dog, depending on breed, has 125 to 250 million smell receptors.  The Bloodhound has an incredible 300 million smell receptors!  Dogs can smell things up to 40 feet underground.  Dogs can even smell human fingerprints that are a week old!

 Part of the reason dogs have an excellent sense of smell is the moist leathery surface of the nose determines the direction of air currents.  Also sniffing brings air with scents directly into the nostrils and then onto the moist surfaces inside the nasal cavity which catches the molecules so the dog’s internal receptors can decode them.  It is believed that even long ear flaps can help their sense of smell by stirring up odors close to the ground.

People have taken advantage of this incredible sense of smell and trained dogs to detect certain odors.  One of the more unusual objects that dogs have been trained to find is whale feces.

Whale researchers for years have been stymied by their inability to test whales in the wild.  It was then discovered that whale poop could give them information on diet, genetics, hormone status, level of toxins, etc. But how to find enough whale feces to get significant findings?  Whale feces floats for only about 30 minutes. One research group found only five samples in two weeks by searching on their own.  Then Tucker and Fargo came into their lives.  Tucker is a Labrador mix -breed dog who searches for Orca whale feces in Puget Sound, and Fargo is a Rottweiler who finds right whale poop in the North Atlantic.

With the dogs on board, the research teams have found as many as 12 samples a day.  At first their success rate was less, only because the researchers underestimated the distance at which the dog could detect the odor.  With time the researchers learned that when the dog signaled , they should point the boat in the direction of the dog’s nose and keep going until they found the feces;  this has been as far as 1.2 miles.  As one researcher said,” The lowest-tech method turns out to be the most effective.” Findings from these studies show that the orcas have had a drop in thyroid hormone; the researchers attribute this to a poor food supply.  This could explain why orcas had a 20% decline in population in the last decade in Puget Sound.

The Atlantic study has not found the reason for the poor reproduction of the right whale since a hunting ban went into effect 70 years ago.  From a low of 100 whales, the population is now only about 300, while 100,000 used to swim those waters.  Research continues as long as the dogs keep finding samples!
Another amazing example of dogs detecting unusual things is the study that showed that dogs can identify people with cancer by smelling the person’s breath or urine. The person’s breath was used to find lung and breast cancer; urine was used to detect bladder or prostate cancer.  The dogs were accurate 99% of the time for lung cancer, and 88% of the time for breast cancer!  This is equal or better than high tech techniques such as scans.  This study was done with only two to three weeks training using pet dogs and the only previous preparation was basic puppy training.

For centuries dogs have helped people with hunting, herding, and protection.  These examples clearly show that dogs are capable of much more.  Only our imaginations may limit what dogs might do in the future.