Donating a sample of your dog's DNA is important means of supporting research, whether you are a member of the BMDCGS or own a Berner without club affiliation. A painless cheek swab can be done as a puppy, and as young adult it’s a simple blood draw. These samples are sent to a wonderful organization, the Bernese Mountain Dog Repository at Michigan State University, where their focus is to facilitate research on serious genetic diseases affecting the breed. The MSU Repository needs submissions from ALL Bernese Mountain Dogs - - healthy, sick, and of all ages. In particular, tumor samples are in great demand. Submissions of the DNA and tumor tissue samples are then stored and readily available for future research.

The Bernese Mountain Dog Club of Greater Seattle is a leader in providing DNA for researchers. We provide cheek swabs and a vet tech for blood draw collections at no charge at our club's general meetings. If it is not possible for you to attend a meeting you may go to the website below for instructions on how you may submit samples directly. Additionally, this site has more information about the research being conducted with the help of the BMD DNA and Tissue Respository:

https://bernergarde.org/home/Repository

For further assistance on this research, please contact our club's Health Liaison, Julie Jackson, at jjackbcop@aol.com or 206-930-3290.