Crusader's Biographical Information

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. 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 two cats). He is currently 26.5 inches tall at the shoulder, and weighs 100 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.

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 is in training as a draft dog, one of the areas that Bernese Mountain Dogs are bred to do. He is already up to pulling as much as 350 pounds of cargo in his 70-pound wagon, for distances of a mile or two. He loves to pull. One of his favorite activities is giving rides in his wagon to Victoria and the other children in our neighborhood.

Crusader is also in training for obedience competition, and has reached the "Novice" level in his training. He should start competing at dog shows in obedience soon.

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Revised 06/07/98