Who is Black-Eyed Pea you might be wondering? Why, Hailey of course! Bernergarden’s Black-Eyed Pea is her official AKC registered name. Ms. Hailey with the blackest of eyes. The most perfectly shaped almond-shaped black eyes per the Bernese Mountain Dog Standard.

Hailey came to us from Minnesota. Instead of taking the money from a breeding with my beloved Sailor I opted to take a stud puppy back.

Hailey is nine years old today! A pretty darned good age for a Bernese, and she’s still going strong.

Hailey is a silly dog. We don’t really have all that many photos of her because it seems she’s always in motion. She’s “lurping” as we call it, all the time. Her tail wags the rest of her body while she “slurps” you with her tongue. Hailey loves to give kisses, therefore that makes her a lurper. Here she is lurping Rick.

Here are some photos of puppy Hailey.

 

 

Hailey’s favorite things are:

Food. Any kind of food. Dog food. People food. I can’t grab any kind of food without Hailey magically showing up at my side, looking at me soulfully with those black eyes.

Bones. She will also take everyone else’s bones when they aren’t looking and I always end up re-distributing them so everyone has a bone instead of Hailey having three.

Barking. She’s our alarm clark in the morning. When Bella and Alex are tugging on toys her job is to be cheerleader and encourage them by barking. Her staccato little barks come out at perfectly timed intervals. Rah! Rah! Rah!

Riding in the truck with her head out the window.

Her dog couch. Wouldn’t you know she’d pick a vintage loveseat as her dog bed?

She was a great nanny when Bella was a puppy. Very patient and a good playmate.

 

She’s a sweet dog and tends to stay in the background (unless she’s barking).

 

In honor of her birthday Hailey will be going to McDonald’s for a hamburger for lunch and tonight she’ll dine on steak.

Happy Happy Birthday to Hailey the Black-Eyed Pea! We love you, silly girl!

 

(Photos from Top:)
Hailey with her mom Diva @ 8 weeks old; March 2004
Hailey kissing Rick; Cabin June 2012

Puppy Hailey:
Hailey (sitting up on left) with litter mates @ 8 weeks old; March 2004
Hailey @ 9 weeks old; April 2004
Hailey at White Sands (New Mexico) 3 months old; April 2004
Hailey @ 4.5 months old; May 2004

Hailey on her bed; January 2013
Hailey with puppy Bella; November 2008 (both pics)
Hailey at the cabin; June 2012
Hailey (left) Alex (right) with me at the Snowy Range, WY; June 2012