A Bernedoodle Birth Story Against All Odds
Standing in our kitchen the other day, Brian made the comment, “This litter never should have happened. There was so much going against it.” I nodded in agreement, remembering how pessimistic and discouraged I felt not that long ago about dog breeding. It hasn’t been the easiest year for us with losing Mae’s litter and having two litters of the wrong breed; disappointment and embarrassing conversations with customers who were expecting certain puppies and not getting them were becoming the norm in 2025.
So, when Lulu came into heat two months ago, we were determined to make sure she breeds with only Winston as many times possible to get the litter we wanted. Winston has struggled to breed with her in the past, so we knew going in it would be difficult. She’s short enough for him, but I think she’s too wide. Also, she’s incredibly lazy and doesn’t stay standing long. The first two heat cycles she went through that she was old enough to have a litter, she didn’t get pregnant and when she finally had a “litter” 6 months ago, it was a singleton. Not a good track record for this girl, which kills me because I think she’s our best looking Berner.
Breeding
The tenth day of a dog’s heat is normally when they ovulate and are fertile. We spent hours with Lulu and Winston on day 10 with no luck! Days 11 and 12 came and went with no successful breeding. We called the vet about doing an artificial insemination, but he was gone for the week and waiting any longer would be no good, so we ordered AI equipment to be delivered the next day to do it ourselves.
We’ve tried to AI dogs in the past with no luck, so at that point we were not hopeful. But, we had to at least try. Winston collects easily, but when we saw what was in the bag, whatever was left of our hope for a litter diminished. The semen was tinted pink as if there was blood in it. That’s not a good sign. We looked at it under the microscope and there were very few sperm and even fewer that looked viable. We took him to the vet and it turns out he had a UTI. We did go ahead and inseminate Lulu with his sperm and scheduled an ultrasound in 30 days expecting to confirm the pregnancy did not take.
Pregnancy
Because Lulu is such a broad girl, she wasn’t showing any signs of pregnancy early on. We normally don’t do ultrasounds, but we really wanted to confirm whether she was pregnant or not. We and quite a few customers had been waiting on a Bernedoodle litter since early this year. I couldn’t believe my ears when Brian brought her home from the vet and said, “She’s definitely pregnant! Dr. McKenna saw at least five puppies!” That was exciting news, but I was still nervous. What if Beau (our Bernese stud) somehow got in with her. There’s no way these are Winston’s! We saw what his sperm looked like under the microscope! I kept thinking.
By day 55 of her pregnancy, Lulu was looking HUGE! I suspected 8-10 puppies, but Brian didn’t want to get his hopes up. Our biggest fear was there being just a few very large puppies. Nevertheless, we were on high alert as her due date approached and watched her like a hawk.
Labor & Delivery
On May 18th, Lulu began showing signs that labor was beginning. She was panting and “nesting”, which is when a dog seeks a private, dark, cozy spot and digs. Over the years, I’ve learned to tell the difference between regular panting and labor panting. Its important to know the difference because Bernese Mountain Dogs pant almost constantly when temperatures are anything above 50 degrees. Regular panting is slow and rhythmic at about 114 breaths per minute. Labor panting is more like 300 breaths per minute. They open their mouths wider with labored panting and draw back their ears and have a distant look in their eye.
Despite being sure she was in labor, she wasn’t acting like she was real close to pushing, so we took a break from watching her and went upstairs for a few minutes. Blair, our six year old, came running up yelling, “Lulu had a puppy”! I dropped what I was doing and sprinted down the stairs, hoping beyond hope that the puppy was ok…and that it was unmistakably a Bernedoodle.
Well, there wasn’t one, but two beautiful merle Bernedoodle puppies in the whelping box. They were both breathing and moving around and obviously doing well. “Good job, Lulu!” I praised her as she looked at me proudly as if to say, “Look at my babies!”
The next few puppies came at a decent rate, about an hour apart each. It wasn’t the fastest delivery, but it was all going fairly well. We were so happy with the amount of merles and beautiful phantoms. Around 5 puppies in, one came out that was still born. This little guy didn’t seem to have been fully developed. It happens.
The next puppy that came out was a different story. She was lively and strong right from the start. But then something terrible happened. Mom dogs eat the placenta and bite off the umbilical cord. We always try to get in there first to cut the umbilical cords ourselves to lower the chance of umbilical hernias, which we did with this puppy. But, when we placed the puppy back with Lulu, apparently she wasn’t satisfied with how we did it and tried to bite it even further. She actually bit the puppy’s paper thin skin on her stomach and the puppy’s intestines started to come out! Brian scooped the puppy up, but neither of us knew what to do. I quickly called Hoerr vet and asked if there was any hope for the puppy. On the phone, Emma said, bring her in and we’ll try to stitch her up. I wrapped the puppy in a towel, handed her to Jordan (our 11 year old) and got in the van. Jordan did a great job holding the puppy still - but not squeezing her mid section so more of her intestines come out. I prayed the whole way there that this puppy would do ok. I kept looking down at her to see if she was still breathing. She looked so perfect and healthy otherwise.
Dr. Hoerr was just coming out of surgery for another dog when we arrived, so he was all suited up and ready. He took the puppy and we settled into the waiting room. During that time, a lady came in for her cute Dachshund’s nail appointment. I wished I was at the vet for something as innocuous as a nail appointment.
After only about 15 minutes Dr. Hoerr came out to the waiting room and handed me the puppy. He said it was a success! He had to make the hole a little larger to get her intestines back in. They were red and maybe a little inflamed from squeezing out of such a small hole, but otherwise didn’t seem damaged. I asked if there’s anything special I needed to do for her, but he just said to watch that mom doesn’t try to pull the stitches out. I couldn’t believe it! I thought this puppy was a goner for sure! I was anxious to get her home so she could start nursing to get vital colostrum filled with good antibodies. My biggest fear at this point was infection.
When I arrived home, Lulu hadn’t had anymore puppies, but began pushing shortly. The next puppy that was born seemed to be another stillborn, but after several long seconds of watching, the puppy gasped once. It was alive! We got to work immediately suctioning out it’s nose and mouth and doing CPR. CPR on brand new tiny puppies is difficult. When you watch people do it (on people) in the movies, they take a big breath and blow a lot of air into their lungs, but that amount of forceful air would damage a newborn puppy’s tiny lungs. You have to give very soft, gentle breaths.
Do you remember the scene in the animated 101 Dalmatians movie where they have the litter of puppies but one apparently didn’t make it. Roger takes the limp puppy wrapped in a towel and contemplatively says, “and yet, I wonder”. He begins rubbing the towel as Pongo anxiously watches. Moments later the puppy makes a noise and wiggles out of the towel to touch noses with his proud papa. I always think of that scene when we’re trying to revive a puppy. Stimulating them by rubbing helps get their heart beating and is exactly what we were doing with this puppy.
At first, here gasps were probably 7-10 seconds apart, but as we worked on her, that time in between gasps shortened. Pretty soon, she was gasping less and actually breathing more normally. An hour later, you never would have known she almost didn’t make it at first. Another success!
At twelve puppies, Lulu became more relaxed and seemed to be done. We were absolutely determined to do everything we could to keep every puppy in this litter alive. All our litters are precious, but this one felt extra important. We decided to stay with her 24/7 for the first few days - something we don’t normally do with a mom that seems to be doing well. We set up a cot next to her bed and were ready to start taking shifts when she suddenly sat up and started licking herself. It sounded like she was licking fluid and placenta…sure enough! There was a final puppy born five hours after the rest! It was a strong, healthy boy (Chive) which was good to see. Sometimes when there is a big gap between puppies, the last one doesn’t do well because it usually means it’s been stuck in the birth canal and/or mom was too tired to push it out! We were excited for another miracle puppy and a huge litter of 13!
The First Week
Bernese Mountain Dogs are notorious for being bad moms, but we haven’t had that experience. Lulu was doing a great job and it was a joy to watch her attentively care for all her little babies. Not long after they were born, we worried that with such a large litter, some of the smaller puppies wouldn’t get the time nursing that they needed. There were three in particular that we were especially concerned for - they were quite a bit smaller than the rest, so we decided to split the litter and rotate them every 2 hours. Conveniently, there were 6 merles and 7 black puppies. This was something we’d never done before, but it seemed to be working well. All the puppies were gaining weight and thriving.
A few days in, however, the smallest one (Basil) had plateaued. The other two smallest (Pepper & Dill) were still gaining, but not as well as the other puppies. In the past, we’ve waited too long to help the smallest and they get too weak to drink from a bottle. We didn’t want to do that this time and decided to start supplementing with formula. He drank from the bottle voraciously, which was so satisfying to watch. Pepper and Dill weren’t as successful with the bottle, but since they were still gaining, we didn’t worry about it too much. So, every two to three hours, we made sure Basil had a chance to nurse and then “topped off” with the bottle. He finally started gaining weight! We’ll probably continue supplementing for him for the next few weeks.
Basil
Pepper
Lots of Wins, One Tragedy
We monitored the puppies 24/7 for the first 3 days, but that isn’t sustainable long term. Brian and I had to get back to some of our other duties and really needed some decent sleep. We were still checking on the new litter every two hours, though.
At one week old, we went to town to run some errands and when we came home, we found Dill had died. He was doing so well that we suspected Lulu squished him. It was really sad and frustrating, but at the end of the day, there are just some things we can’t prevent.
Week Two
Lulu’s litter is a week and a half and thriving! We are so proud of this litter and can’t wait to watch them grow. The theme of this litter is Spices. We have five deposits and will have picks done by June 19th. These puppies will be ready to go July 14th. If you’re interested in getting a Bernedoodle puppy this summer, there are 7 available from this litter! You are welcome to place a deposit and grab a spot in line for picks, or, if you’d rather wait to see which puppies are available after the 19th, I’d encourage you to subscribe to our email list.
Suki’s Litter
The next dog that’s due (yesterday, actually) is Suki. She doesn’t look as big as she has in the past, so we’re hoping for a litter of 6-8. She is contentedly snoring at my feet as I type this and giving no signs of labor yet. Suki is an experienced mom who has only ever lost one puppy. We’re feeling much more relaxed about her delivery and are excited to see what her puppies look like. Her litters of F1b Bernedoodles are always so colorful! We only have three people on that waiting list, so there should be quite a few puppies available from that litter as well.
I’ve always said about dog breeding: There are really high highs and really low lows. We experienced all that in the last few weeks, but, in general, it’s been more highs than lows which is nice. Hopefully, Basil and Pepper will continue to grow well and Suki’s labor goes well.
