The club has been contacted by a research student at Hogent in Belgium, (which I’ve checked is a University of Applied Sciences), asking for the help of our members for her thesis. She is basically asking Bernese owners to complete a very short survey for as many dogs they have owned as they would care to contribute. It is a very simple survey and I think for most people and dogs the 8 minutes she quotes in her email is a large over estimate. I have spoken with Britt and she has promised to share the results with me afterwards so I can publish them in the Club magazine or on this web site and flag them up on Social Media.  The survey will close on 10th May so if you have a few minutes to help please do so in the next few weeks and like most meaningful surveys, the details of healthy dogs are essential for balance, not just those with medical issues.

Below is the post she asked us to share including the link to the survey.

To avoid any confusion I have pointed out that the symptoms given for Histiocytic Sarcoma are not typical of the ‘disseminated’ form of the disease seen all too often in Bernese but relate much more to the ‘localised’ form found in other breeds such as Flatcoats, so please don’t follow the typical HS tumour locations, (skin, joints and bones), given as deciding factors.

Thank you

Steve Green

BMD Breed Health CoOrdinator