We raise two types of puppies on our farm - Bernese Mountain Dogs and "Great Bernese" puppies. Please read our information on "Getting a Puppy" before you reach out to us. Most of your questions will be answered by carefully reading that page.

Breeding Plans

We know how excited you are to add a puppy to your family. We may not be able to predict exactly when we'll have a puppy available for you. But we promise to give you as much information as we have available so you can plan as much as is possible!

Dogs come into heat approximately every 6-8 months. The gestation on a litter of puppies is 60-63 days typically. The female will usually (but not always) come back into heat 6 months from the last heat cycle and not 6 months after having puppies.

There is always some variation, and so predicting heat cycles is not an exact science. And exposure to a male during the heat cycle does not always guarantee a pregnancy. 

We start to breed our dogs at 18 months old. We do not agree with the practice of waiting until a dog is 2 to breed her. If a dog is healthy and in good shape, breeding her at 18 months allows her to deliver her puppies before her pelvic bones have fully hardened. This gives her more flexibility during delivery and decreases the need for having a cesarean. Our vet fully agrees with breeding at 18 months.

Our dogs are only bred if they are healthy, in good physical shape, and weigh a good amount.

We are a working farm with six female dogs (see below) of breeding age.  We have two intact male Bernese Mountain Dogs on the farm as well. Castle is older and the sire to all of our current puppies. Percival is our young Bernese Mountain Dog male and will start to sire puppies when he is old enough in 2024.

We had our first winter litter born January 2021. We have decided to no longer regularly breed for winter puppies because of the difficulties associated with safely raising the puppies in the cold weather. But we will evaluate each dog each season.

This is our ideal plan:

• Dogs will only be bred January 1st through July 15th.
• Puppies will be born March 5th through September 16th.
• Puppies go to their new home April 30th through November 11th.

This is just a plan and everything will be based on the individual dog and situation. If a healthy dog of good weight is in heat slightly outside of this window, we would most likely still breed her.

 

Bernese Mountain Dog Puppies

Beckett (Bernese Mountain Dog). Beckett's first litter of 6 puppies was born on 7/4/20. Her second litter of 8 puppies was born on 1/4/21. Beckett's puppies are full Bernese Mountain Dogs and are able to be registered with the AKC.
Next Breeding:  Beckett will be bred her first cycle in 2023.

Caroline (Bernese Mountain Dog). "Cara" was born July 2020. Her first litter of 10 puppies was born 12/30/22.
Next Breeding: Cara had puppies at the end of December and so we will most likely not breed Cara again until her first cycle in 2024.

 

"Great Bernese" Puppies

A "Great Bernese" is a cross between the Bernese Mountain Dog and a Great Pyrenees. On our farm, we breed our female Great Pyrs to our Bernese Mountain Dog male.

Cagney (Great Pyrenees). Cagney's first litter of puppies was born on April 22, 2021. Her second litter of puppies was born March 2023. Cagney's puppies will be "Great Bernese" which is a cross between the Great Pyrenees (Cagney) and Bernese Mountain Dog (Castle). They are not registerable with the AKC. 
Next Breeding: Cagney will be bred her first heat cycle in 2024.

Lacey (Great Pyrenees). Lacey had her first litter of puppies on May 6, 2020 and her second litter of puppies on March 13, 2021. Her third litter of puppies was born on January 3, 2023. Lacey's puppies will be "Great Bernese" which is a cross between the Great Pyrenees (Lacey) and Bernese Mountain Dog (Castle). They are not registerable with the AKC.
Next Breeding: Lacey will be bred her first cycle of 2024.

Summer (Great Pyrenees). Summer was born July 2020 and has not yet been bred. Summer's puppies will be "Great Bernese" which is a cross between the Great Pyrenees (Summer) and Bernese Mountain Dog (Castle). They are not registerable with the AKC.
Next Breeding: Summer will be bred in 2023.

"CJ" - Casey Jean (Great Pyrenees). CJ was born July 2020 and had her first litter of puppies on September 20, 2022. CJ's puppies will be "Great Bernese" which is a cross between the Great Pyrenees (CJ) and Bernese Mountain Dog (Castle). They are not registerable with the AKC.
Next Breeding: CJ came into heat at the end of August and was bred to Castle. If she gets pregnant, puppies will be due early November.

If you would like one of our Bernese Mountain Dog puppies or one of our "Great Bernese" puppies, please contact us about being added to the Puppy Wait List.