Lessons from a Bernese Mountain Dog (Part One)
Truths about life we can learn from a Berner
Hello friends! I’d like to get back in the habit of posting monthly on this blog, so today I thought I’d share five lessons from a Bernese Mountain Dog: simple yet profound truths that our Berners can remind us of!
1. Enjoy the little things.
If you’ve ever given a Berner a treat, you know how much they appreciate and enjoy it. Some of our Berners get very excited about a ball. Watching them can be a reminder for us to get excited and be thankful for all the little good things in life that we often take for granted or rush through without stopping to appreciate. Things like a good meal, a cup of tea or coffee, or a special moment with a loved one. (In fact, this is what Enjoy the Little Things: A Bernese Mountain Dog’s Montana Adventure, a children’s book written by my mother, Debbie McCrary, and illustrated by yours truly, is about.)
2. Get Enough Sleep.
Berners (at least once they get past the puppy stage) like their sleep. Our dogs sleep inside near their people, and if they think the humans in the house are rising too early, we might hear a dramatic groan or they might simply ignore everyone and stay curled up, getting their beauty sleep. We’re designed to need a certain amount of rest, and in our fast-paced world, our Berners can remind us that it’s important to get enough sleep!
3. Go outside.
Say the word “walk” or “outside,” and you will have some very excited Bernese Mountain Dogs around here. Our Berners love to play outside and go on long walks in the forest. It’s a reminder to all of us to take time to enjoy God’s creation and the beauties of nature! (Of course, if you’re experiencing bad wildfire smoke like we have been, it’s hard to spend as much time outdoors currently, but under normal circumstances, we take at least one long walk in the forest every day!)
4. You don’t have to spend money to have fun.
Another thing we can learn from our Berners is that you don’t have to spend money to have fun. It costs less to feed a Berner for a month than it does to go out to eat every week. And our Berners bring us so much more joy than eating out could! It doesn’t cost anything to play outside with your dog, or go for a hike, or go swimming at the lake, all things our Berners love to do, and so do we!
5. Be loyal and loving.
And finally, what I love most about Berners is how loyal and loving they are. Berners love their people so much! If we’re gone for the day, we arrive home to hugs and kisses and playful tackles from a dog that’s 100+ pounds of pure love! Despite their large size, though, they’re very gentle. (We call them big teddy bears!). If you have a Berner, you will have a very loyal best friend! Some Bernese Mountain Dogs love to make new friends, and others prefer to keep their circle of people small, but all of our Berners are incredibly loyal to their people. It can be a reminder to us to treasure the relationships in our lives and love our families well!
Well, that’s all for now!
See you next month,
Savannah
The Back 40 Berners Family
P.S. Even though I (Savannah) am the one who does the actual writing of these posts, the content is discussed by the whole Back 40 Berners family, and the posts include ideas from everyone! If you want to learn more about us and our Bernese Mountain Dog breeding program, head over to our website: back40bernersofmontana.com.