so. i've been in love with this breed for such a long time, and am in the very beginning stages of researching breeders to actually purchase my own lovely dopey babe. every single dog i've had has come from a shelter. every. one. i've pulled agressive red tag dogs that were supposed to be put down (one such that turned into my soulmate), i've pulled a deaf 16 year old german shepherd riddled with tumors. i've worked with rescues and have fostered shelter dogs and helped find their forever homes. but now, i want to find my mountain dog. i'm, for once, breaking my own personal rule for something i've dreamed about. please don't come at me. i'm looking for responsible breeders only- people that genetically test and work toward improving the breed. 

so; i'm curious to see if there are any friends here that have experience with the breed or own any (and can share wonderful pictures here on this thread), and maybe anyone that has gone through this process with this breed and can share their experience and/or breeders they have found?

I personally don't own one, but have always wanted one!!  There might be some groups on Facebook that could help!

So I wasn't looking for a Bernese Mt Dog but I wanted my Shih Tzu to be from a resposible breeder. Luckily, there are two breeders (of other breeds) that come to my veterinary hospital that fall into the category of resposible, preservation breeders of their respective breeds. I was able to get some direction from their circle of show friends and put together a short list of breeders to inquire with. I put a few phone calls into, checked into websites/FB pages, and did some "box checking" of my own to narrow it down to one breeder I really liked more than the others. I had her put me on her waiting list and prepared myself to wait for quite awhile. 

Just with how unexpectabled I lost my last dog, I found myself dogless about 7 months after picking my breeder. I stumbled upon a litter from one of my breeder's friends/show buddies that had one girl that was maybe available. I took a chance,  reached out to her, and that's how ended up with my new puppy.