Can You Have Too Many Photos? Apparently, Yes. (Updated)

Mary-Ann Sontag August 11, 2025

All is well here but I overstuffed my computer and can’t download photos until I address that but I also have a work deadline so it has to wait a bit. In the meantime, check out Sparkler Ruthie at her lake in Maine — aaahhhhh….

And Bright Star Zuber with his nephew, Jasper.

We are expecting a very special guest later — fun photos tonight!

(Later)

Look who came for a visit!!!

Tommy Tugboat Topaz (he is accumulating names) is doing GREAT 🎉 Jennifer had a Boise appointment so the Gems had a playdate. It was wild and the puppies had big fun.

We weighed the puppies and here are their weights:

Tommy Tugboat Topaz: 14.4 pounds.

Sapphire: 15.7 pounds.

Star Garnet: 17.7 pounds.

Sapphire looks so much heavier than Star Garnet — it is because of his coat. The kids now call him Fluffasaurus 😂

We can’t leave Jasper out and so here is a photo of him from earlier today.

Alison shared that Jasper volunteered that behavior! When a puppy knows how to learn, that is the kind of thing that happens — they begin offering up behaviors 🏆 How cool is that?!

I hope your day was awesome ❤️

Fun with Puppy Training. (Updated)

Mary-Ann Sontag August 10, 2025

Six year old Lincoln with Star Garnet.

🩷

(Later)

The puppies had a busy morning. Both puppies did great on our little sequence of tunnel and dog walk but the main point of that was not really agility but rather just more opportunity to have fun learning new things.

Then we were visited by two 5.5 week old Berner puppies — this is Sapphire with one of them.

I volunteered my puppy socializing team — not everyone has easy access to kids.

SO FUN!

The puppies were really tired by the time the puppy party was over, which was great because I got a lot of work done for a change.

And then it was time for fun in the sprinklers 💦

They love their evening sprinkler time!

Jasper was also enjoying a sprinkler today in New Hampshire.

We can’t leave out Tommy Topaz in Oregon!

🩷💙💙💙

Thoughts and Puppies (Updated)

Mary-Ann Sontag August 9, 2025

I am planning a revision of my website and so I have been thinking about what I want to include, and what I want to highlight. I can’t get too far down the revision path until I get my fall classes underway but I am thinking about it and jotting notes.

One thing I want to calculate — and amplify — is the number of Versatility/Versatility Excellent dogs that have come from my litters. Since my goals as a breeder includes producing dogs that reflect breed type in both structure AND working ability (which includes temperament), the BMDCA Versatility awards are “atta girls” for me.

Zoey & Sparkle, mother and daughter. Both earned the BMDCA’s Versatility Excellent Dog award & Working Dog Excellent award. Great-great grandma and great-grandma to the Gems.

The BMDCA Working/Working Excellent awards are another measure that matters to me. With these awards, the dog is not a champion for any number of reasons but reflects exceptional working ability, and I love that. I want to amplify those dogs on the revised website as well.

Harper B — BMDCA Working Dog award 🏆 Some number of great-aunt to the Gems.

None of that means the Kaibab dogs who live their happy and interesting lives without competing in any dog sport are less than their relatives who do. I count happy dogs in happy families as a measure of success as well.

But the truth is that I am not creating Berners to sell as family pets — there are many breeders who fill that need, and I am not one of them.

Claire — Versatility Dog Excellent and Working Dog award. Grandma to the Gems.

I am attempting to create a certain type of Berner. One that is not just beautiful for the show ring, and not just smart and drivey for performance events but both of those things — and more. These are dogs who can also do well as a family companion BUT it doesn’t typically work in reverse. It is a rare puppy from a breeder producing for the family pet market that can earn BMDCA Versatility and/or Working Dog awards.

How I raise puppies also reflects my goals. I want puppies who know how to learn, and who are excited about learning. All the developmentally appropriate novelty and the time I spend with them are part of my strategy to meet my breeding goals. Future working dogs benefit from early and appropriate enrichment; my puppies get that.

It is totally okay for people to value different things in life and in dogs. Being clear about what matters allows us to align actions and choices with our priorities, and I think that is so important to both success and happiness ❤️

Today I set up a supportive “intro to draft” exercise for the puppies.

In the above photo, Sapphire demonstrates what I was aiming for today — happily sitting between the shafts. But the first thing I did was just let them explore the set-up.

Because they have always had good experiences with my crazy novel ideas, they did this immediately and with both trust and enthusiasm ⭐️

Competence builds confidence, and so the challenges we present to puppies must be ones they can master without creating stress. We want curiosity in a puppy — not fear.

Then I used luring with treats to show them how to step between the shafts and sit on the platform — they already know all about the platform so placing it between the shafts represents a progression and not multiple new things at once.

Luring faded quickly because these are smart puppies who understand the learning game, and quickly offer behaviors for reinforcement/reward. Like this.