Brachycephalic Airway Syndrome (BOAS) in Bernese Mountain Dogs

No. BOAS is a consequence of a shortened skull, and the Bernese has a normally proportioned muzzle. It is not among the breed's documented health issues, which centre on hips, elbows, bloat, degenerative myelopathy, eye disease, histiocytosis, bleeding disorder, allergies, arthritis and cancer.

Because heat dissipation, not airflow, is the limiting factor. A large body with a dense double coat built for alpine conditions cannot shed heat quickly, so the dog pants harder and longer for the same cooling effect that a lighter, single-coated dog achieves easily.

There is no single threshold, because humidity and sun matter as much as air temperature. A practical rule is to shift walks to early morning and late evening once daytime temperatures are consistently warm, and to judge by your dog's recovery time rather than the forecast.

Talk to your vet or a breed-experienced groomer first. The undercoat provides insulation against heat as well as cold and shields skin from sun, and clipped double coats often regrow unevenly. Thorough de-shedding of the loose undercoat achieves more than taking length off.

Frantic panting that does not slow with rest, bright red or muddy gums, drooling thick saliva, vomiting or diarrhoea, wobbliness, disorientation and collapse. This is a life-threatening emergency. Begin cooling with cool water and moving air and get to a vet immediately.

No. Pain, anxiety, heart disease and respiratory disease all cause panting, and a dog that pants heavily at rest in a cool room needs investigating rather than cooling. Noisy or raspy breathing in an older Berner deserves a separate conversation with your vet.