Emma The Bernese Wonder Dog

I am not a dog person.  I didn’t grow up with dogs or dog people.  I don’t like them, don’t dislike them.  I take them as individuals, just like people.

When moving from a city to the rural world, my husband, the dog person, wanted dogs to be a part of that world.  His favorite breed, an English Sheep Dog, would not have done well in the wildness of our new yard.  So we set out to seek a suitable canine companion.

The runner up was a Newfoundland.  They are beautiful, loving, kind, and the size of a pony.  I never wanted a pony, even as a little girl.  I still don’t.  So the search continued.

As I was having lunch one day in an outdoor café, I noticed the couple next to us had a shiny black rug beneath their table.  I heard the shrill yapping of a small mop dog and watched it lunge toward the rug.  What ensued next was straight out of a cartoon.

The rug had a head, which turned toward the small dog, cocked an eye and raised a paw, very clearly communicating, ”Speak to the paw.”  The big rug then let out a great sigh, which sent the yippy dog running and whining all the way down the block.  The relaxed dog then transformed itself back into a rug.

A dog that is able to gracefully avoid confrontation and morph into home décor– that’s my kind of animal.

Inquires were made into the breed of the rug.  We were told that is was a Bernese Mountain dog, which I heard as Burmese.  I wasn’t clear on how a large furry dog could originate from Burma and survive.  I have since found that this confusion happens often.

The breed is sweet, sluggish, and great with small and older people.  The dogs come from Berne, Switzerland.  They are both working and rescue dogs and can be seen in Swiss Army knife ads.

My husband found a breeder, took pictures of the puppies and offered narration to my many questions.  Emma would play with my husband, run back to the litter, run to my husband, and return to her family.

Her level of social awareness has only escalated with maturity.

She will be seven in March has had a hip replacement and cancer surgery, yet maintains her Zen qualities.  When she is in the midst of a small crowd she will sit with strangers and stare into their eyes. 

On one particular day, Emma and I were having coffee at an outdoor shop.  An incredibly attractive man approached us and asked permission to pet her.  She had been flirting shamelessly with him for some time and his attention was hers.  He came over, took her head into his hands, stared into her eyes, and said, “if she were a woman – I would marry her.”  The 5 other women in the area in unison with Emma collectively inhaled and exhaled.

This deep enthrallment strangers find in Emma has led me to create her own line of cards.  It doesn’t hurt that she lives for the spotlight.

As a puppy she would freeze when a camera was spotted even if it wasn’t pointed at her.  She usually doesn’t wear clothes, but she enjoys costumes for photo shoots.  She is a most cooperative diva, working cheaply for treats and attention.

Next week a few “tails” of Emma from Emma the Bernese Wonder Dog: Part II.

Find Emma on her Facebook page and see her cards at The Emma Collection.