Labernese Information & Dog Breed Facts

The Labernese is a designer dog breed, that is thought to have been developed around the 1990s, presumably in North America. Nevertheless, it is imaginable that crosses, resembling the Labernese, were in existence as a result of natural mating. The trend of creating new hybrid breeds started around the middle of the 20^th century, in North America and in Canada, with crossbreeding purebred dogs with each other, with the intention of creating new breeds. These designer breeds were an instant success, because they usually inherited the best and most desirable qualities and traits of their parent breeds. Unfortunately, this popularity does not mean, that we are certain about every detail of these designer breed’s ancestry, and the reasons and intention which led breeders to create these dogs.

The Labernese is the result of cross-breeding two very popular breeds, the Labrador Retriever, and the Bernese Mountain Dog. Both of the parent breeds are relatively old, well-established, working breeds, loved by millions across the globe. Furthermore, both of the parent breeds are known for their tolerance, gentleness, friendliness, and incredible intelligence. Initially, the objective behind the Labernese’s creation was to take the best from both breeds and combine them into a near-perfect dog to work with and to help people. Originally, the Mira Foundation was the one who started developing the Labernese in the 1990s, yet the official breeding program began one decade later. The Mira Foundation derived its name from a female Labrador Retriever specimen, named Mirabelle. She was one of the first guide dogs trained by the founder Éric St-Pierre. Breeders used the top bloodlines and had strict breeding standards to make sure that their dogs have the right behavioral characteristics to be able to work with physically or mentally disabled persons. However, in order to gain an even better understanding about the reasons why breeders wanted to mix these two breeds, we should look at the two-parent breed’s histories.

The Bernese Mountain Dog is considered to be a very old breed, which finds its origins in the Swiss Alps, where the breed was used as a guard and farm dog, for over 2,000 years. The dogs’ duties were to pull the heavy carts, herd and guarding the livestock, and being a companion to humans. By the late 19^th century, the number of people working in the agricultural sector in Switzerland has decreased dramatically, pushing the breed out of use, and to the edge of extinction. Fortunately, the Swiss breeders recognized the potential and sought after preserving the breed, thus a club was formed, and later, the breed was imported to America and to England. On the other hand, the Labrador Retriever can trace its ancestry back to Newfoundland back to the early 18^th century. The breed was known as the Saint John’s Water Dog back then, and the dogs’ purpose was to help the fishermen move the giant and heavy nets and to catch the control the vermin population at the ports. Later, the breed was re-named after the Labrador Sea nearby, where the breeding’s last stage is thought to have taken place. According to the experts, the Labrador Retriever was brought to England in the 1820s, where the dogs were further developed to be skilled retrievers and hunting companions. The Labrador Retriever quickly got really famous in all parts of the world.

Both of these great breeds have amazing behavioral traits, and are extremely intelligent, while also being friendly, reliable, and funny. Even though both of the parent breeds are well-renowned and recognized by most of the kennel clubs and organizations, like many hybrid breeds, the Labernese is not registered yet. However, the Labernese is a really versatile and great breed. Today, the Mira Foundation is still the main breeders in the game, and they are dedicated to successfully developing and training Labernese puppies to become talented in a wide range of works including, military, police, search-and-rescue, detection, therapy, guiding, and assistance.