Swiss Berger Blanc - Page 1

Swiss Berger Blanc

I own two Swiss Berger Blancs (one long and one short haired). They are both from very good lines, we have bred them and we have eight beautiful puppies. We are not breeders but we are keeping one of them. We already have good homes for the rest. This is the first and last time our dogs are bred.  

We do want to show the one puppy we keep.

Any advice on what we should be looking for in the pup we keep?

My puppies are all going to close friends and family with the ability to provide dogs of this size with good homes. Everyone understands we will have first choice. 

Inces, I don't know of anyone on this board who is into that breed (though I may be wrong!) You might have more luck with another website, such as germanshepherds.com. The people on this site are pretty much into German lines German shepherds.

Pictures I've seen of the Berger Blanc show the conformation of these dogs is slightly different from either the show or working line GSD. However, certain things would be the same. You would immediately eliminate any pups that didn't have scissor bites, and had ears that looked to be too heavy to stand properly (yeah, a bit hard to judge at a young age!)  You would also eliminate any pups that had east-west fronts or were very obviously cow hocked. Pups can grow out of these two faults, but there's no guarantee that they will. Also, look at the tails. They should have a slight curve to one side near the end, but should never hook back on themselves. or be carried above the back when the pup is excited.

I do know the B.B. calls for black lips, eye rims and noses, with no trace of pink, so that's something else to check for.

Thanks for this. I found it very useful. We have always owned Cockers but bought this breed several years ago in order to help preserve it. I will look out for the factors you suggest.

Something else I neglected to mention: if a pup is going to be shown, it needs to have a sound, fearless temperament. The show environment is a very busy, often noisy, stressfull place. Choose a pup that is confident and doesn't spook at strange noises. You also need to socialize the pup you choose from an early age. Pups shouldn't be exposed to other dogs or people who might be carrying germs on their hands from other dogs until they are fully vaccinated, but you can expose them to different things in the home: vaccuum cleaner, loud music or radio and TV, dishes banging, lawn mower, etc., etc.

Go to the Berger Blanc breed standard, and study it carefully. It's really hard for a newcomer to the breed to tell which puppies are going to be winners in the breed ring, and even experienced breeders sometimes get it wrong...the pup they sold to someone else wins over the one THEY chose to keep for themselves. But at least you can elimate pups with glaring faults, such as ears that aren't parallel, or flat/splayed feet instead of nice, tight feet.

Ideally, you really need to get an experience breeder to come and look at the litter, and tell you which pups they think have the best potential.

Thanks, this is all very useful. I live in Gibraltar and there are no SBB breeders around here. We are not letting them go until they are three or four months old, so that will give us a bit of time. I also want to see whether any of them are long haired, which I understand is a fault in GSD but not in SBB. They are four weeks old at the moment. Kind regards.