If you are a fan of large dogs, and would consider re-homing one from a rescue situation, please consider a Bernese Mountain Dog.
There are currently 28 pedigree Bernese Mountain Dogs awaiting new homes on this French site, in various rescue centers and with existing breeders (once they have outlived their usefulness providing new puppies).
Bernese make very good house dogs - they need less walking and fuss than say your average Border collie, but demand a lot of close fuss, cuddles and play, and are not good left alone for the best part of the day. You need to be around, like messing with big dogs, be prepared to teach them basic obedience, have time and not mind clearing up a bit of hair when they moult. In return they will expect to sit on your sofa, or possibly your head, sleep for many hours in a place where they can watch what is going on, and spend a fair amount of time upside down having one to one attention. They will love you to the ends of the earth too.
We have seen quite a lot of rescue Bernese with problems, so you need to be cautious and ask plenty of questions before you commit to take a dog needing re-homing Many are males who are not castrated, kept in small homes and not well trained. These are dogs who need careful re training before suiting everyone's needs, (they can still make lovely pets, but you need to give them a bit more time and work) but there are plenty just needing a new loving home with no hang ups whatsoever.
When I looked today there is one dog (not castrated as ever) aged 12.5 who needs a new home as his owners have moved to an apartment and now he barks........... annoying the neighbors Bernese have an average life expectancy of between 7 and 12 years, and the oldest known living was aged 16 - so hard to have to be re-homed when you are in your dotage.
Obviously we are in love with this breed, and there are many breeds and many dogs needing new homes, but in case you want to look the web site is WWW.SOSBOUBOUS, scroll down to Boubous a l'adoption to see the current dogs needing homes. x Karen
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