About Us
First, I would like to thank you for visiting our website. Please allow me to introduce my family. My name is Heather and I am married to my amazing husband, Eric. We have three amazing children, Alexis, Brandyn and Tyler. We are a very active family, our children play sports, baseball and football and usually where we go, a dog is sure to follow! We live in Radcliffe, Iowa, which is a very small town located off of I-35, 45 minutes north of Des Moines.
My husband works for New Co-op and I work for NextEra Energy. We do not raise berners to make a living – that is why we go to work – we raise berners for the love of the breed and to share them with others so that they can have the same joy that we do! Although, my dream would be to stay at home all day with my dogs if I could! Oh how happy that would make me!
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Let me tell you how this all began! When I was 12 years old, my love (obsession) for the bernese mountain dog started with a toy. I had received a “littlest pet shop” toy set (parents – you know what these are) and in the toy set was the prettiest dog that I had ever seen, the bernese mountain dog. Before that moment, I had never even heard of the breed, but after seeing that toy, I knew that I wanted one to call my own and that I would want puppies all around me. So I, of course, tried to talk my parents into getting one but besides the cost, there were never any available in our area.
When I was 24 I finally got my way and I have been living my dream ever since. I drove down to Oklahoma and back in one day to pick up Baylee, the very first four legged love of my life and that was also the first time that I had ever seen a berner in real life! Hard to imagine since I had been in love for 12 years! And although she isn’t what some would call “perfectly marked” she was the most beautiful thing (besides my children) that I had ever seen in my life! And to this day she is still one dog that can never be replaced in my heart. She is the biggest mama’s girl you have ever seen and I wouldn’t have it any other way.
From the moment that that I knew that I would have a berner, I knew that there would be puppies to follow. But I was running into this brick wall when it came to finding a male for her to breed with. When Baylee was 2-1/2 years old, I came across an ad in the paper for puppies. So, I called and although this family had never used their male dogs to stud a female other than their own, they were willing to give it a try. So, first I went down to meet them and see where my Baylee would be staying before I just dropped her off. Everything was to my standard and a couple weeks later when she went into heat, I dropped her off. Let me tell you, it was like a mother leaving her child at daycare/school for the first time. We were both scared because Baylee had never been anywhere but home and she had never been away from me for more than 2 days. Anyhow, I called them every day for the entire time she was there and I am sure that they thought that I was nuts for doing so but I was worried about my baby! But she did great and she did get pregnant, however the excitement was short lived when there was only two puppies and only one survivor, Bear (who is now our second oldest female).
We strive to make the puppy you get from us, the best puppy you have ever had and that he/she is happy and healthy! We want to make sure that your berner is everything you hoped for and more! We want to share this breed with you so that they give you the same joy that ours have given to us! My dogs are my babies and with berners, even if you don’t like dogs, they make you love them, you just don’t have a choice in the matter!
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Over the years since I got my Baylee girl, we have added several more berners to the family and I cannot believe that I get to do this every day! These dogs make my world complete and they make me so happy. And one day, I truly hope that my only “job” is with them. 8 hours a day being dirty from dog kisses and hugs, would be the icing on the cake! My family enjoys our dogs, they are like children and treated as such! I cannot imagine our lives without our dogs, how boring life would be! My entire family works together to care for the puppies and dogs to make sure that they have everything they need, especially love and attention!
We also have added newfoundlands to the mix. After meeting an adult male, that reminded me so much of my berners at home, I knew I had to have them too. Can you tell I love my big dogs?! My husband likes to hunt and so he has german shorthairs…I bet you would never guess that “must love dogs” was a requirement of our relationship. We both truly enjoy our dogs and without them our lives would be nothing short of incomplete.
I am a firm believer after seeing it myself several times, that once you have one bernese mountain dog, you want another, that is how amazing they are. My grandparents, for example, went from having no dogs but because they loved mine so much, gave a retired female a loving retirement home and loved her so much, they now have 3. It is amazing to hear all of the people’s stories about why they want a berner and then why they want a second or a third Well, as you can tell, I could go on and on, but I will stop for now.
Well that is just a very small introduction to us and our four legged babies. Where you see us, you see a dog and if one of our dogs isn’t with us….then I am probably talking about them! Thanks once again for visiting our site and if you would like to know more….please feel free to contact me, I will be more than happy to answer any questions you may have! You are also more than welcome to come and visit with us and the puppies, just please call ahead to make sure we will be available!
To see our available puppies, please click the Puppy Pictures link below. Thank you for considering us for your new family member!