1st Leg Specialty-99	Aren't I cute in the garden?	A happy boy	Finishing our CD

 The ribbon you see Coach receiving at the left is for winning first place in Novice A Obedience at the 1999 Berner Specialty in Tucson, Arizona. It was his first ever trial and he was half a point away from winning High in Trial. We were very proud of him. He went on to obtain his CD title, which took only two more shows.

As you can see he was a very happy boy and just loved posing for the camera.

We pulled carts in a couple of parades along with our friends from the Southern California Berner Club. On Sept. 30th, 2000 a group of us went up to Alameda to a draft test put on by the Sierra West Bernese Mtn. Dog Club and Coach earned his Novice Draft Dog title on his first try! Many thanks to our judges Karen Beyer and Christine Mann.

An interesting note, Coach was neutered at 6 weeks of age. We never had any intention of showing Coach in conformation nor did we have any interest in breeding him, so at the suggestion of our breeder she had him neutered at 6 weeks, before we took him home.

Sierra West Draft Test	Waiting while dad closes the gate	A tired draft dog

3 pictures above taken by Elizabeth Knight

In early March of 2001, Coach was diagnosed with Lymphosarcoma, a cancer of the lymph system. For 3 months we gave him both holistic treatments and chemotherapy. He reacted to both quite well and after 3 months we decided to skip the chemotherapy maintenance program and just do holistic treatments. He stayed in remission for about another 3 months (which is about what they had predicted even with the chemo). At that point we went back on the chemo, but because he didn't relapse during chemo, we were able to use the same front line drugs that had worked the first time. He immediately went right back into remission. After a 6 week treatment, he then went on a chemo maintenance program, where he received small doses once every two weeks. In September of 2002, after a year of remission, Coach once again relapsed. Six more weeks of chemo treatments once again put Coach back into remission. Coach looked and felt as good as ever and enjoyed playing with our new puppy.

During his treatment he competed in three open draft tests, just narrowly missing passing the first two times, but passing on his third try at the GCSBMDC Regional Specialty on November 14, 2002, just 1 week after his his last major chemo treatment before starting his maintenance program again. All total he probably hadn't had more than 14 days total where he didn't feel well. Seven of those bad days were from one treatment. The pictures below are all of Coach after his diagnosis. You might notice that he has become quite freckled in his white. This is one of the side effects of his chemotherapy. Go to our Links Page for some great websites with information about cancer in dogs.

In February of 2003 Coach came out of remission once again. This time no combinations of treatments we tried could get the lymphoma back into check. He gradually began to slow down, but remained in good spirits. The last part of July, Coach began to have some congestion in his chest. Although we tried antibiotics, hoping that maybe it was an infection, it soon became evident that the cancer had reached Coach's lungs. With the help of our vet, Coach was put down in our house surround by his family on August 5th, 2003.

Coach was our first berner and was all you could possibly ask for in a companion. He always seemed to know what you wanted him to do even before you did. He was very silly in play, but very serious when given a job to do. That mischievous glint in his eye and his big smile made him everyone's favorite. He was truly a dog with a very old soul and you didn't need to be a dog lover to see it. We miss him terribly.

A handsome boy	Hey, I coulda' been a show dog!	Playing with Howie

Trying for our open title in Ramona, Ca.

Open Draft test in Tucson, 2002	Through the narrows with a clean run.