Hello friends! We have some cute puppy pictures to share with you today!
Brielle and Bourne’s puppies are three weeks old now and doing great!
The five boys are Tristan, Trek, Tamarack, Togo, and Tink. The four girls are Tulip, Taffy, Talia, and Treasure.
We’ll post more pictures as these puppies grow! They’re all spoken for, but you can contact us if you’re interested in getting on the waitlist for our next litter!
Hello friends! Today is release day for Enjoy the Little Things: A Bernese Mountain Dog’s Montana Adventure, a children’s picture book written by Debbie McCrary and illustrated by Savannah Jane McCrary.
Five years ago, we saw a photo online of a Bernese Mountain Dog puppy in Ukraine in need of a home, and we fell in love. Things fell into place, and we brought that positively adorable 7-month-old puppy home in June of 2021. Her Ukrainian name was Bulochka, and we decided to keep it the same. Bulochka was a bit traumatized after being separated from her Ukrainian family and then going on a very long flight to the United States. But she warmed up to Mama right away. Now, five years later, Bulochka still wants to follow Mama everywhere, but she’s no longer the scared puppy we met at the San Francisco airport. Bulochka loves her life in Montana. Her favorite things to do are go on walks and hikes in the woods. She also loves picking huckleberries, going to the lake, and tagging along on whatever adventures our family heads out on. My family and I are convinced she’s one of the best dogs in the world. In fact, we love her so much that we’ve kept three of her puppies!
The first pictures we saw of Bulochka.
Writing a children’s book of Bulochka’s story has been a dream of Debbie’s for several years now. But it’s not just the story of a dog coming from Ukraine to Montana. This children’s book is a reminder for all of us–young and old–to “enjoy the little things” and remember that “life is beautiful.”
How often do we get so busy, rushing around from one thing to the next, and forget to stop and “enjoy the little things”?
A sunrise or sunset.
The beauties of nature–trees and grass and flowers and mountains and wildlife.
A cup of tea (or coffee, if that’s what you prefer.)
Good food.
A conversation with a family member or friend.
Yes, there’s darkness and suffering in this world. But there’s still so much beauty to be found, too!
May we not get so caught up in the hustle and bustle of daily life or weighed down by the darkness of the world, that we forget to stop and savor the beauties of life!
“We see the glory of God when we delight in, reflect upon, and enjoy the world He has created.” -Thomas Shreiner
“It is not how much we have but how much we enjoy that makes happiness.” –Charles Spurgeon
It was also neat that this was a mother-daughter project for Debbie and Savannah, and Savannah’s dog, Brielle, is the daughter of Debbie’s dog, Bulochka, the dog whom this book is about!
The illustrations are based on photos of our family’s Montana adventures and created entirely by hand.
Here are a few of the photos alongside the illustrations:
The book is available for purchase on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and other major retailers. And we’re also selling signed copies on our online store!
Hello friends! Exciting news! We have a children’s book about our Bernese Mountain Dog, Bulochka, now available for pre-order through Kickstarter! Click the button below to go check it out, or scroll down for more information!
I’m excited to share with you the story of Bulochka, my amazing Bernese Mountain Dog, and her journey of overcoming fears and finding her good life in the mountains of Montana.
Bulochka enjoying a day of mountain adventures
Her story tells of her arrival from Ukraine as a big, sweet, scared 7-month old puppy who goes on to confidently embrace an adventurous life in the mountains of Montana with her special person and family.
It’s a story of overcoming fears, finding love and trust in her special person and family, and experiencing simple joy in the mountain adventures she has with her family, all while sharing the natural beauty of the mountain life in Montana. It includes visits to Yellowstone National Park and Glacier National Park.
My hope is that children and adults together can enjoy the theme of Bulochka’s story. There are times in life that can feel stressful, rushed, chaotic, and scary. This message can be a reminder that “Life is Beautiful,” it’s important to slow down and take time to “Enjoy the Little Things” with those special people and pets in our lives, and “Be all There in the Moment.” At the end of the day, these really are the most important things in life. Slowing down to invest in those special relationships in our lives, whether they’re human or furry, is time well spent and good for the soul!
Some examples from the Spring/Summer version of this book are walks and hikes in nature, picking huckleberrries in the huckleberry patch, playing and relaxing at the lake, celebrating Independence Day as an All-American Berner, and heading outside at night to watch the northern lights, in addition to visiting some well-known Montana locations such as Glacier National Park, Yellowstone National Park, and the Kootenai Falls swinging bridge.
Although Bulochka and her story are dear to my heart, it’s here for the purpose of blessing others. My hope is that it does well enough that I’m able to donate copies to places that offer care to children, giving an opportunity to bring a smile to a child that may be having a challenging day.
All of the illustrations are inspired by actual photos of our family’s Montana adventures and created by hand with no use of AI. They were done by Savannah Jane McCrary, using a combination of Micron pens, Tombow dual brush pens, watercolors, and acrylic paint.
Our latest litter of puppies was born on December 29th, 2025, and will be ready to go to their forever homes on February 23rd, 2026. Breezy and Bighorn had 6 boys and 4 girls!
Here are a few pictures of the happy mama and her pups!
Head over to our Puppies page for more information!
Contact us if you are interested in one of our puppies!
Hello friends! Today, I’m excited to share with you all that we just had a litter of puppies! Brielle (Back 40 Montana Kootenai Sunrise) and Bourne (Champion Mikes Uti Chris) had nine puppies, six boys and three girls! Here’s the happy mama with her babies:
Brielle and the puppies are hanging out in our homeschool/hobby room, where we can keep a close eye on them and make sure mama and babies are all doing well! They’re all eating good and growing great, and we’re just oohing and aahing over their perfect little markings!
Brielle is loving being a mama and all the extra attention she’s been getting!
These puppies are all reserved by people on our waitlist, but you can contact us to get on the waitlist for our next litter!
Hope you enjoyed this little update and puppy pictures!
Until next time, Savannah The Back 40 Berners Family
Hello friends! I hope you’re all having a lovely summer!
Life is so full of good things! We haven’t had any puppies for a bit but are looking forward to our next litter! In the meantime, we’re enjoying our big dogs!
Here are a few pictures of Bulochka, Brookie, and Brielle enjoying a walk in the woods. It’s one of their favorite things to do.
BulochkaBrookieBrielle
And… I’d like to introduce you to a new member of our Berner family, Breezy!
Breezy
Breezy (registered name: “Megy un Passo Avanti”) came to us from Serbia! We saw some pictures of her and fell in love! She is the sweetest girl and super affectionate!
Bighorn was immediately smitten with her. Here they are relaxing by the porch.
Bighorn and BreezyBighorn
Well, that’s all for now! Just wanted to take the opportunity to share a few updates and recent photos of our Berners! Have a fantastic summer and stay tuned for more updates!
Hi friends! We hope you all have had a lovely winter so far!
Our dogs love the snow and cold of a Montana winter. See Bighorn in the photo above! Bighorn is our puppy we kept back from our beautiful Ukrainian girl Bulochka, and AKC Grand Champion Eli of Sparrow’s Nest Bernese. He’s eleven months old now, looking great, and full of love! See more pictures of him below:
Bulochka enjoyed coming along on an ice fishing adventure recently. She stayed close to Mama and kept watch.
And Brookie’s been loving sitting on the beanbag chair with a blanket in the cozy living room.
Bryshka and Bourne’s puppies (Litter L) are all heading to their forever homes.
Aren’t they just adorable?
If all goes well, we expect to have another litter of puppies born the beginning of April and going to their forever homes the beginning of June. Contact us if you’re interested in getting on the wait list for an upcoming litter!
Hi friends! We hope you all had a very Merry Christmas full of joy and peace and hope!
Bulochka wasn’t very appreciative of all the boxes and wrapping paper strewn across the living room on Christmas morning, but she did appreciate the extra treats! And with a little coaxing, she posed in front of the tree with a big red bow. (See the photo above!)
But Bulochka’s favorite thing to do is go on long walks in the snowy woods.
BulochkaBulochka
And we have some exciting news! We have puppies from Bryshka, our sweet and sassy Russian import and Bourne, our champion from Hungary. Bryshka’s a diva and enjoys posing for pictures.
BryshkaBryshka
The puppies–a litter of six, three boys and three girls–were born on December 20th, just in time for Christmas!
These puppies are all spoken for, but you can contact us if you’d like to get on the wait list for a future litter!
Well, that’s all for now! I’ll be back next month (or next year, whichever you want to say!) with more puppy photos and updates!
