Longlease Bernese Mountain Dogs, Celebrating our Veteran Berners

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Celebrating our Berner Veterans

In Loving Memory of

Tobie

Silvers Swiss Honey Chocolat CD, RE, DD, BD

May 26th 2001 to August 23rd 2012

Owned, loved and now so very sadly missed by Carol and David Westaway and family.

Grande-Dame Tobie - Canfield 2012

Swiss Honey Chocolat - Toblerone, very sweet and a little nutty. How little we knew how accurate that description of our Tobie would be.

Tobie finally succumbed to kidney failure today.

Tobie was our first Berner and totally hooked us with her personality. Never the ‘show dog”, she did manage to get several titles over her life, despite going blind from detached retinas when she was only one year old (thanks to a great ophthalmologist and we suspect a little good luck she got her sight back, but we were never sure exactly how well she could see -think Clarence the cross eyed lion for those of you old enough to remember that series).

Tobie was the first dog we tried drafting with, and initially she found every way we could think of (and a couple more) to fail the novice test – actually we think she was just trying to teach dad how to do it properly; we haven’t had a problem since! Eventually she did get both her DD and BDD, and became one of the best teachers of “rookie drafters” we’ve ever seen. Her calm demeanor working in a brace situation with dogs that had never been hitched before seemed to transfer itself to the rookie alongside, making the introduction to carting a lot easier.

In addition to drafting Tobie attained her CD and RE, but you always had the feeling that she was saying, why are you asking me to do this in the ring, you know I can do it, why can’t I just go and lie down somewhere?.

One of the funniest scenes we ever saw with Tobie was a herding instinct test, she thoroughly enjoyed herself (yes she did have the instinct), almost bouncing around the pen after the sheep – all four paws in the air at the same time “boing –boing”, but often looking back at us as if to say, “you’re going to let me chase round after this thing ….and not shout at me or tell me off… what’s going on?”

Eventually as a veteran she did go back in the show ring (sweeps only) and proudly strutted around, thoroughly enjoying the applause and acting the real “Grand dame”, but if she could talk we’re sure that she’d still say “I’d rather just lie on the slope under the trees and watch my backyard please”

Have fun at the bridge with Flash and Tempo, dear old lady, your eleven plus years with us will never be forgotten, and we’ll see you there someday.