Maybe I shouldn't have refered to them as "berners" since my whole post is getting confused as being about malamutes. I don't think shepherds have too many health problems compared to malamutes and bernese mountain dogs. How much time do you have to work with a dog? Do you want a 1 family dog basically? How about like an Australian cattle dog? You can play frisbee on your 3 acres and the dog will certainly alert you if an intruder comes by. Its not as big as a bernese mountain dog by far but it has the tenacity.