Although Crusader has shown many wonderful traits and we love him dearly, we have decided that he will not be bred, and he has been neutered. OFA flunked his elbows, and his sire and an uncle died much too young, of cancer. (His sire was only six years old at death). Neither defect is one we wish to risk passing on to future litters. Since that time he has also developed a problem in his lower back. He has been retired from the activities listed below, and in all probability his only remaining training and activity may be as a therapy dog. Otherwise, he's our steadfast four-legged alarm system and elegant house dog - happily enjoying his retirement. Now that we have a new Berner puppy, Titan, we hope that Crusader will be a good "Dutch Uncle" and assist in demonstrating what he has learned, so the puppy can learn faster by watching him. Crusader gets along well with Titan and with our two cats, Harry and Bean.
Crusader was born in a litter of five pups in Euclid, Ohio, in the home of Bob and Jill Pappenhagen and under the supervision of Jerry Hughes and the Windy Knob's Kennels. He is owned by Jay and Laurie Brandt, in Austin, Texas, who brought him into their family at eight and a half weeks old. They have been raising, training and showing him ever since, though he is now retired from active competition. He has a sweet and loving personality, and is great with kids and with other animals. (He even sleeps in the same room with our cat). He is currently 26.5 inches tall at the shoulder, and weighs 125 pounds.
Crusader was shown extensively in conformation on the US AKC dog show circuit, primarily in Texas. He has also been shown in Washington, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and Louisiana. He earned his AKC Championship title on 9/20/1997, at the Fort Worth KC show in Fort Worth, TX. He has been retired from Conformation showing. As far as we have been able to determine, none of his litter mates ever completed their Championships, though at least one was being shown recently.
Crusader earned the "Canine Good Citizen" title (CGC) on April 29, 1995 at five and a half months old, and on his first try. It was on the same day that he "graduated" from "Puppy Kindergarten", his first obedience class.
Crusader passed the American Temperament Test Society's exams (TT) on November 9, 1996, on the first try and at just under 24 months old. He was so even tempered and unflappable during the test, even when exposed to unexpected gunshots at close range, that the lead judge afterwards jokingly said "OK, you can take the cotton out of his ears now.".
Crusader has been trained as a draft dog, one of the areas that Bernese Mountain Dogs are bred to do. At his best, he could pull as much as 350 pounds of cargo in his 70-pound wagon, for distances of a mile or two. He once pulled his 45-pound cart for three miles, as part of the world record setting "Mighty Texas Dog Walk" (new Guinness world record - 2,112 dogs walked at one time), with our three year old, 35 pound daughter in the cart for the first two thirds of the trip. He loves to pull. One of his favorite activities was giving rides in his wagon to Victoria and the other children in our neighborhood. However, because of the condition of his elbows, he has been retired from almost all carting work.
Crusader spent some time training for obedience competition, and reached the "Novice" level in his training. He managed a 171 score in a fun match, but didn't do well competing at dog shows in obedience. He's too much "the town greeter", and wanted to get to know every person and dog in the ring area. Having an excited dog this size galloping around the ring wanting to play was too unnerving to the other competitors, so we withdrew him from that type of competition as well.
Crusader has also been trained as a water rescue dog. We were training with the Water Education and Training Dog Obedience Group (WET DOG). For more information on WET DOG, (and a few pictures of him doing this activity), go to that group's national website, at http://www.wetdog.org. Although the swimming was good exercise for his elbows, Crusader has developed some back problems that have severely reduced his endurance in the water. He has been retired from this activity as well.