Internet Bernese Mountain Dog Consortium's PandaSite @ BerneseBreeders.org

Nor-Ham's Quellen Panda Conn CGC TDI, IBMDC's Fuzzy Webmaster

It is with great sorrow that we note Panda's passing due to complications due to thrombus near his spleen. We will all miss Panda.

Nor-Ham's Quellen Panda Conn CGC TDI
August 10, 1996 - February 7, 2005.

Minneapolis Sculpture Garden

In 1996, the Internet Bernese Mountain Dog Consortium was founded by a group of BMD fanciers who correctly foresaw the rise of puppy millers using the Internet to sell dogs as one might sell collectibles. But noone had the skills, space, or time to host such a site.

Panda, at the time an 8 week old Bernese Mountain Dog puppy, offered his webspace, time, and burgeoning webmastering skill (easier than housetraining!) to the project. The IBMDC was launched shortly thereafter, with some help from Panda's dad, Adam Conn, and Jim Barrett, who was owned by relatives of Panda. At first, the site was called "BernerPhile", but the association with Panda as the webmaster was too strong. After several years of resisting, the site was renamed the IBMDC PandaSite.

As a result of his webmastering skills, Panda was widely known. He received personal emails from as far away as Japan and Australia, and was a bit of a celebrity at the 1998 BMDCA National Specialty.

At the age of 6 1/2, he entered the competitive obedience ring and earned a Companion Dog leg in his first attempt. However, he was never to qualify again. In his last competition, he appeared dazed and began to lose weight, strength and energy over the next 5 months. After suffering a collapse, he was diagnosed with malignant histiocytosis. Normally a rare cancer in dogs, it's responsible for a lot of deaths for Bernese Mountain Dogs in the 6-8 year range as Panda was at the time.

MH takes most dogs within six to eight weeks of diagnosis; Panda, however, passed those marks with adequate health and stability. Over four months later, he began a severe decline. He was euthanized on February 7, 2005, at the University of Minnesota Veterinary Medical Center.

Upon necropsy, it was discovered that Panda did not have cancer. His problems stemmed from blood clots collecting near his spleen; the clots were related to a node on an heart valve that had been diagnosed as a slight murmur when he was under two years old.

Panda is survived by Adam and Amy Conn, their Australian Shepherd rescue Pockets, and other Berner Bison, and his loss was felt throughout the Berner community. Panda's email address of panda@bernesebreeders.org will remain active, as will this site, in his memory.