Welcome to my big, beautiful Berner world.
Meet Riggie
What started as a way to document life with an adorable Berner puppy has grown into a platform dedicated to helping dog parents build stronger relationships with their dogs through communication, training, enrichment, and meaningful work.
Riggie was never content with simply being cute. From the beginning, he has loved learning, solving problems, and having a job to do. That curiosity has taken us from formal obedience training to interspecies communication buttons to dog carting.
Riggie has been in formal obedience training since he was 10 weeks old and has earned his AKC Canine Good Citizen (CGC) and Trick Dog Novice (TKN) titles. He has also participated in agility and rally. He is currently working toward his AKC Companion Dog (CD) and Novice Draft Dog (NDD) titles.
He also has a pretty unique way of expressing himself. Riggie uses FluentPet communication buttons to “talk” to his family, and his journey learning to communicate has become one of the most recognizable (and viral) parts of his story.
As a Bernese Mountain Dog, Riggie was bred to work, and we believe that giving dogs meaningful ways to use their brains and bodies is an important part of helping them thrive. We are now putting that philosophy into practice through dog carting with his “Big Rig” (parade cart) and “Lil’ Rig” (competition cart). What began as a fascination with the working history of Berners has turned into a new chapter for Riggie and a way to introduce more people to this unique activity.
Behind the camera is Riggie’s mom, Katie, who manages the social media accounts, creates and edits the content, designs and manages the website, and constantly looks for ways to fulfill his insatiable appetite to learn and work. Together, we share what we learn through the our social media, blog, and email newsletter.
More Than Just a Social Media Account
Over the years, Riggie’s adventures have grown far beyond our original social media accounts and viral content. Riggie, and his kitty sister, Daphne, have been featured by numerous national and online media including Newsweek, MSN, Yahoo Life, AOL, Parade Pets, and others.
Giving Back to the Berner Community
Katie serves on the Board of Directors of the Chattahoochee Valley Bernese Mountain Dog Club & Rescue (CVBMDC) and is actively involved in the club, its events, the local Berner community, and rescue efforts. She also manages the club’s social media, email newsletter, and website, while contributing to event planning and fundraising initiatives.
Through the club, we have the opportunity to support the breed we love, connect with other Berner owners, and help dogs in need. Rescue and responsible ownership are important parts of our connection to the breed, and we are proud to use our platform to help educate and support the broader Berner community.
What We Are All About
At the heart of everything we do is the belief that dogs are intelligent, sentient beings capable of far more than most people realize. They deserve more than food, water, shelter, and a comfortable place to sleep. They deserve a life filled with opportunities to learn, explore, communicate, solve problems, use their natural abilities, and simply be dogs.
We believe dogs benefit from training that builds a relationship, enrichment that gives them opportunities to think and explore, and meaningful activities that allow them to use the abilities they were bred to have. We also believe that living with a dog should involve plenty of laughter, because dogs are unintentionally hilarious and have a remarkable ability to make us laugh with their antics, questionable decision making, and that legendary Berner side eye.
Ultimately, our goal is to educate, inspire, and entertain while sharing the realities, challenges, and ridiculous moments that come with life alongside a Bernese Mountain Dog.
Want to follow along? Join our community on Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok, sign up for our newsletter, or dive into our blog to learn more about training, enrichment, communication, carting, and life with a Berner.
Follow along. Sign up. Come see what Riggie is up to next!
Have more questions?
Send us a message and we are happy to answer them!
