The best advice I ever received was to buy your breeder, not your puppy.
So what does this mean? This means you need to be comfortable enough with your breeder to ask questions, not matter how silly or simple the question may be. The BMD is a wonderful breed but is plagued by genetic disease. What you save upfront in purchase price, could ultimately be spent on expensive surgery and medications.
The link to the Bernese Mountain Dog Club of Southeastern Wisconsin's website and thier Puppy Buyers guide is everything you could want to know before purchasing a puppy.
BUYER BEWARE
A POORLY BRED BERNER CAN COST YOU 3-4 TIMES WHAT YOU ORIGINALLY PAID!!!A good Berner breeder knows their pedigree. Be cautious of dogs tagged as "imports", regardless of the country they come from. A breeder should know they history of the full pedigree: which dogs are alive, which have passed on, why did they pass on, which dogs had genetic issues. There has been a rash of Eastern European and Russian imports that thier health history is unknown. This could be an expensive gamble.
Be cautious of breeders who do not do clearances because "we don't have that problem". Be cautious of breeders who do not do clearance because "it causes discomfort to the dog". EVERY line has issues, a good breeder knows how to improve thier lines. Testing does not cause discomfort to a dog any more then drawing blood or swabbing a cheek.
Be cautious of a breeder that will not show you the certificates from Vetgen, Pennhip, OFA and other registries. It's easy to say they have clearance, make them prove it! I love bragging about my dogs clearances!
Be cautious of the person that says "we just breed family pets". Does this person understand genenetic diseases (do they know what IMPA, hip displasia, OCD, vWD is?) and the history of their dogs? Again it's an expensive gamble on someone who knows little about the breed. Often these folks have 2-3 girls and one male with little breed education. That's a possible 48 pups a years!!! (3 girls x 2 seasons x 8 pups each = 48)
Bernese Mountain Dogs have a lot of health problems and an average life span of 8 years. Anyone who says thier dogs do not have problems...RUN!!
The AKC is only a registery - they do not check up on quality of breedings.
Please feel free to contact me with questions. I am always available to answer questions you may have. Email me anytime.