Coat care:
– grooming of the coat, dead hair, dander are removed. 
– massaging the skin, blood circulation is stimulated.
– Control ticks, fleas, tangles of hair on the skin.
– Good for the relationship between owner and dog.

First, run your fingers through the fur and remove any ticks and other irregularities.
Separate tangles with your fingers; if this does not work, cut the lengthwise and brush it out. ( use scissors with round tips ).
Tangles can irritate the skin and even cause skin damage.

How and how often the dog should be brushed differs per breed. Shorthairs are generally brushed from the head to the tail, the sides from top to bottom, as well as the legs and tail.
Long-haired people often work from the bottom to the top because of tangling. (in the right direction of the hair, not against the hair, this is very painful for the dog)
Ask your dog’s breeder for advice on brushing your breed.

Get the puppy used to this care at a young age. Because the coat is still short and soft, it is possible to rule out all pain experience in the beginning. He’ll love it after a while.

Grooming also offers your bitches a unique opportunity to build a good relationship with your dog. He must allow himself to be taken care of by you, and you can also give him a few assignments in the meantime. We first let the dog ” stand ” and ” stay “. Then he can lie on his side “off” or “flat” and stay again, you can roll him over on his back to brush his belly and each time you can let him know that he is ” Good ” “.
Washing is almost impossible, you can wash as often as you want, but do use a special dog shampoo. A good shampoo is pH neutral so that it does not irritate the eyes and is not too degrading for the dog’s protective fat layer. Rinse it well, as soap residue can cause irritation and dry it well or blow it dry with a good dog hair dryer, especially if you walk it in inclement and cold weather.

Bernese Mountain Dog Grooming: The Bernese grooming starts with brushing

your pup. Although the puppy’s coat does not require any major care, the puppy can get used to it through this recurring turn. In the long run, he won’t know any better and will experience combing and brushing as normal.

In addition, grooming means an extra game and cuddle for your dog. It is useful to let the dog sit first. In that position, you can easily brush his chest, back, and ears. Especially the areas behind the ears as well as the chest, where tangles easily form, require extra attention. Pulling out tangles with the comb will hurt the dog. That’s why it’s better to cut them with scissors with rounded heads and then brush them away.

For the puppy, a soft bristle brush or hairbrush covered with rubber balls of steel pins will suffice. A steel comb or brush would damage the fragile puppy coat. For adults, a steel rake with long and short pins or steel comb is very useful. After brushing en combing the back and chest, you can let the dog lie down. By rolling him first on one side and then on the other, you can take care of his belly, side flanks, pants (the long hairs on the back of legs and buttocks). The pants are also one of those places where tangles easily form. Brushing and combing your Bernese a few times a week is usually sufficient. Except during the molting period, when the dog loses a lot of hair, it is better to do it more often. Then a wash can also offer a solution. As a result, the dog loses a lot of hair at once and you are relieved of a prolonged shedding period. Always place a rubber mat at the bottom of your shower or bath so that your dog cannot slip. A good dog shampoo or gentle baby shampoo is important because it doesn’t degrease the hair too much. To prevent your dog from getting water in his ears, you can put cotton balls in it. A good splash of vinegar in the last rinse water will help remove all shampoo residue. Vinegar is also an effective remedy against pests and gives the coat a beautiful shine. Towels are used to dry the dog as well as possible. Then blow dry and brush at the same time until it is completely dry. In this way, you will also remove the dander.

If your dog is participating in a club match or exhibition, it is best to bathe him a week in advance. Only after a week does the coat regain its natural position. The hairs between the soles of the feet also deserve special attention. As well as on the tongue, sweat glands are located here. Therefore, you need to cut the hairs between the toes short. On a slippery floor, your dog is less likely to slip. If you let the hair grow, tangles of soil will form and ice cubes in winter. With children’s scissors, you can cut away the hair without injuring your dog.

the hairs on the back of the heel – some dogs have very long hairs here – can be cut straight to a few centimetres. You can also remove the hairs in the ears and around the genitals. Especially in males who often suffer from foreskin inflammation, this prevents a lot of trouble and infection. In any case, you should check your dog’s ears regularly. You can remove excess earwax with Ear Cleaner. It is available at the pet store and helps prevent ear infections.

Fleas

To prevent skin and coat problems, good flea control is indispensable, especially in the summer. Fleas are small parasites that feed on the dog’s blood. They not only cause itching and therefore skin complaints, but can also transmit diseases. The tapeworm, for example, is transmitted by fleas. Don’t just fight the fleas on the dog, but also in its environment. There are plenty of products on the market that your veterinarian can consult you about.

Ticks

Ticks are also animals that cause your dog a lot of itching and misery. They are small spider-like creatures that feed on the blood of animals or humans. Like the flea, the tick is responsible for transmitting diseases. An example is Lyme disease. You can remove a tick with tick pliers, which can be bought at the pet store. Grasp the tick as close to the skin as possible and pull it in a circular motion Carefully. If you sprinkle the tick with alcohol beforehand, you run the risk that the tick will discharge venom into your dog’s skin in a startle reaction.

Hotspots (hot spot):

Hot spots: The cause of intense licking or scratching is extreme itching. Itching that occurs, for example, after flea or tick bites (especially if the head of the tick remains in the skin) and scabies and ear mite infections. In a dog that is hypersensitive to flea bites, itchy bumps develop after the bite. The dog will inevitably bite, lick and scratch at this. This leads to further skin damage, causing inflammation with even more itching. Within an hour, a wet, moist spot can develop under your dog’s hair that shows signs of inflammation. The skin is red, warm, swollen and painful. We call this a Hot Spot.

At a later stage, a red, bald spot with pus develops that sometimes dries into a crust. The most common places for Hot Spots are the hindquarters, on the crotch, tail base, or on the thighs. An infection with ear mites can also cause hot spots under the ear and on the cheek area. For treatment, it is important to address the cause. Fleas and ticks should be controlled. In case of an ear mite infection or ear infection due to bacteria or yeasts, the ears must be treated for a longer period of time. Treating the inflammation may require your veterinarian to shave your dog’s skin. You can then apply a cream or lotion that has a cooling and anti-inflammatory effect.

To break the vicious circle of itching and scratching and to give the skin a quick rest, the vet can give an anti-itch injection. Whether or not combined with a course of antibiotics.

Worms 

There is a good chance that your puppy is infected with roundworms, even though the mother dog has always been properly dewormed. A puppy can already become infected with worm eggs in the bitch’s uterus. That is why it is wise to start deworming the puppy at 2 weeks of age. We recommend repeating this every 2 weeks until 3 months of age, then every month until 6 months of age. From that time on, we recommend deworming your dog 4 times a year, especially if your dog comes into contact with children. The roundworm is also contagious to humans and children in particular are very sensitive to it. Always have your children wash their hands thoroughly after playing with the dog.

GENERAL CLINICAL PICTURE

Pay attention to the normal image / behavior of your dog, then you will also be able to notice the abnormal image and behavior. Some examples:
– runny nose, cough, abnormal discharge from eyes or ears.
– Outstanding dull coat
– lethargy, lethargic, sleeping a lot
– Changes eating – drinking behavior. e.g. not wanting to eat or not drinking / drinking a lot.
– fever, shivering, diarrhea, vomiting, color of urine.
– how does the dog lie down, does he walk lamely
– Breathing, he gasps more or less.
– aggressive if touched in certain places.
– change of color of the oral mucosa, the mucosa of the eye.

Heat

When the bitch is about nine months old, she will go into heat for the first time, individually this age can vary greatly, so it is not at all abnormal for a bitch to go into heat at six months or only at her thirteen months. Usually, a bitch goes into heat once every six months, but it happens that there are eight, nine or even twelve months between the two heats. The heat lasts three weeks, sometimes a little longer. Just before the heat, you will notice that your bitch starts to smell attractive to male dogs and that the vulva swells. Then follows a bloody discharge. The day on which the bleeding starts is the first day of the estrus cycle. Depending on the individual and the breed, mating can take place between the ninth and seventeenth day (sometimes later, usually between the tenth and fifteenth day). During this period, even the most obedient bitch can be totally disobedient and will try to run away.
So keep your bitch in heat on a leash !!!!! The bitch will continue to smell attractive to males for about four weeks.

CLIMBING

Stairs

Don’t let your puppy climb the stairs. Carry your pup up and down the stairs. If you have a large breed, carry him as long as you can, if the puppy has become too heavy for you, grab him by the collar and walk him up and down the stairs as calmly as possible. Going down the stairs is more harmful to your dog than going up the stairs. In a dog, the front legs are attached to the torso by means of muscles (a dog does not have collarbones, like a human). In a young dog, the muscles are still incompletely developed and very vulnerable. When climbing stairs, the full weight of the dog is placed on the spears and elbows of the forequarters every time. The more frantically your dog hurtles down the stairs, the greater the chance of permanent damage to the muscles of the forequarters. Hip dysplasia (HD) can never be caused by climbing stairs alone.  H.D. is an inherited abnormality of the hip joint that can be aggravated by external factors (e.g. climbing stairs, diet, irregular terrain, slippery floors), but can never be caused by these factors alone. During the socialization period, let your puppy go up and down the stairs once so that he knows what it is and does not have to fear it later, and then forbid him to do so.

Don’t

really take your puppy for a walk yet. He/she does not indicate when enough is enough. Your puppy needs a lot of rest. In addition, it is not good to put too much strain on the immature tendons, ligaments and joints. It is better to take the puppy somewhere, put him there and then let him set his own pace.
Rule of thumb is: increase by 5 minutes per age in months.
If your puppy is 4 months old, he can walk / play 5×4 = 20 minutes in the forest or park.