We're getting a St. Bernard!

Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
1

I don’t start threads often, but this seems to merit one:

Last week, our pug of ten years had to be put to sleep. The bones in her back were contacting and rubbing against one another, such that she threw up from the pain and couldn’t move her back legs. Given her age and how she liked jumping on and off the couch, there was no way she could reasonably recover from a surgery and still have a decent quality of life, being that she was missing one eye, three-quarters blind in the other, and mostly deaf to start with. Losing that eye four years ago aged her a lot, and she never really was herself again. At least now she hurts no more.

Now, we’ve found a nice lady with a big batch of St. Bernard puppies. I’ve always wanted a big slobbery St. Bernard, actually, so I think this will be good for us. However, I’ve never had one, so if anyone has owned a St. Bernard, I’d appreciate some advice. The puppies won’t be ready to leave their momma for about a month; what sort of preparations do we need to do? Are they heavy chewers as puppies? Easy to train and discipline? I know they need frequent brushing, and we’re planning to get her used to that (and toenail clipping) starting at a young age. What else do we need to know?

2

What street is he named after? :slight_smile:

3

Oh no, the pug! I’m sorry to hear about that, glad you helped her go on when she needed to.

As for Bernards, I only met one once, when I was working in the McDonald’s drive-thru. His owners let him hang his head out of the car and his face filled the whole drive-thru window top to bottom and side to side. I just couldn’t believe how large that dog was.

If you’re in Texas, won’t you have to keep a Bernard shaved so he won’t have a heatstroke?

4

First my condolences on the loss of your canine friend.

Saints aren’t my breed, but I’ve worked with rescued giant dogs. If you’ve never had a giant dog before, you need to know: they eat larger quantities, poop larger quantities, pee larger quantities, and vomit larger quantities. Their beds, toys, meds, surgeries, boarding fees, and their chew bones cost more. They can cause more damage than smaller dogs. If a giant dog becomes incapacitated (stroke, hit by a car, unconscious) are you physically able to lift it to get it into your car to take to the vet?

When a giant dog steps on your foot, jumps into your lap, paws at you, smacks you in the face with its muzzle, or runs into your knee at full gallop, it will hurt in ways you never thought you could feel pain.

A nice personality does not an ethical breeder necessarily make. Every sales person is going to be nice at least until the sale is made. It’s the post-sale support that’s going to be important.

This chart can help you determine whether this breeder is breeding to improve the breed or just mating Bowser and Molly “because they produce such pretty puppies!”: Home - woodhavenlabs.com.

This is a good place to start: http://www.saintbernardclub.org/2008Redesign/NewToSaints/new2saints.htm

The breeder should be happy to answer these questions, so it’s best to start with her. Every breed has its good and bad points, and if the breeder glosses over the bad points, or claims there aren’t any, you’re dealing with a sales person and not a breeder concerned about the long-term health of the dogs they produce and the long-term welfare of the breed as a whole.

You may ask, “What’s the big deal? I’m just looking for a nice family companion, not a show dog.” The difference between a pup from an ethical breeder and one from a backyard breeder often comes down to having your canine companion share your life for many years, and having to euthanize a young dog because it suffers from an untreatable or incurable health problem that could have been prevented had the breeder observed ethical breeding practices.

All puppies are adorable, and I’m sure you’re falling in love with the pups in the litter you saw. But be strong and remember how your Pug suffered, and how her life was cut short by her medical problem. Not every condition can be prevented simply through breeding practices, but the odds of a dog inheriting a condition (or a predisposition to develop it), can be reduced by a breeder’s making ethical decisions when selecting their breeding stock.

I encourage people to buy their purebred dogs from ethical breeders. If, for whatever reason, you do not wish to do that, then please adopt a rescued dog. Many of them are “just a good family pet” who lost its home through no fault of its own: http://www.saintbernardclub.org/2008Redesign/rescue.htm. I wish you success in providing a good home to a deserving Saint.

5

I’m on my second Saint (both were rescue). I can’t help you with the puppy stuff, but I can tell you that it will steal and break your hearty at the same time. Firstly, being a giant breed, they don’t live long. IF everything goes right, their average life expectancy is eight years. Secondly, they are prone to cancer (that is how I lost my first one). If you are OK with these limitations, ENJOY ! They are very friendly and cuddly.

A note of warning tho. When you raise your puppy, try to discourage it to bark. A Saint’s bark is not menacing, but very loud and neighbours might not appreciate it. Also, leash training is extremely important if you don’t want to be dragged all over Creation when taking it for a walk.

Another point, keep lots of drinking water around. Mine have not found the puddle or snow bank that they won’t drink or eat and once again, ENJOY !

6

Toucanna and detop both offer good advice.

I loved my Saint- Sarah Bernhardt was her name, and I don’t think I’ve ever cried more at the death of a dog. She died at 6, her heart just gave out. Since then, I’ve read a lot about large dog breeds (even had an English Mastiff), and I suspect that we may have contributed to Sarah’s health problems by feeding her too much when she was growing.

She was easy to train. Start young, before he/she’re too strong for you to master. She seldom barked, but she sure growled impressively enough that nobody would have tried to break in. She was the most lovable and loving dog on earth.

7

drool

8

No, you’re getting a hairy sofa that barks.

9

I’m sorry that you lost your pug. It always hurts to lose a beloved companion.

Toucanna’s post has a lot of truth about breeders. Avarie537 recently posted a common problem with bad breeders.

As a rescue person, I would suggest that you check out rescued St Bernards as well.

I found my St Bernard on the street. (actually, she was starving to death by a dumpster). She was less than a year old, intact and totally untrained. She chewed everything. When she put some weight on, she used to jump on me and knock me down. For a while, I had to muzzle her (she could still drink and eat kibble and cat toys) before I left for work because I didn’t want her to die because she was eating things like phones and doors and rose bushes.

She was a wonderful dog, she wanted to please me, so once I was able to figure out how to tell her what I wanted, she did her best. We went to a dog trainer and she worked very hard. After I learned to show her how to behave, she did her best to be a very good dog.

I brought her to central Arizona and she suffered the first summer. The second summer I called around, ignored the groomers who told me that her fur was insulating her and keeping her cool and safe from sunburn. Brandy started getting crewcuts twice a year and I could tell that she was much happier.

I had to take her to the last vet visit after we had shared 8 years of love and companionship. I think I’ve got some dust or something in my eyes now.

10

Justy another thing I forgot to mention. Get into the habit of leaving old washcloths/rags lying around the house (we namrd ours “bubbawipes” after the first Saint-Bernard) to wipe out the drool. It will get on everything, including the dog. So, if you don’t want to wipe your hands on your pants constantly…

11

This.

Except I’d suggest bath sheets for when your dog has his/her head in your lap and you are playing with her ears. Also for if you have cats. St Benards can cover a cat in drool with one friendly lick and offended drool covered cats can’t be wiped clean with a small rag.

12

I grew up across the street from a family that had a couple of Saint Bernards. One day I went over there and one of them put his paws on me (which came to my shoulders) and knocked me down. (I was a teenager.) He wasn’t being aggressive, either, just overly friendly. I recommend that you teach your puppy very early not to jump up on people for this reason.

13

We’ve had two. One we got as a puppy and the other was a gift. In both cases we knew the mamma dog’s owner and the dogs were ethically raised. The second one was from a couple who raised St. Bernard dogs and Shetland ponies! Ursula was a potential show-winner except that she apparently had a hormonal problem and never conceived despite several breedings. The owners were going to otherwise euthanize her since she gobbled food like a vacuum cleaner (another sign of some metabolic imbalance) and produced no puppies. We took her on the condition that we have her spayed, which would have been our intention anyway. Her ravenous hunger seemed to abate after the spaying, plus since she was the only dog around her access to food was more controlled and she became a healthier weight.

First thing: A St. Bernard must absolutely positively be trained to NEVER jump. NEVER. For obvious reasons.

Second: It is very very rare, but once in a blue moon a Saint turns out to be “rough” or ill-tempered regardless of training and treatment. This unusual event is more likely to happen with a larger dogs, generally but not always male. If this happens you have no choice but to euthanize the poor thing. ETA: The dog’s adult temperament may not be fully developed until it is up to two years old.

They will obviously eat more than a little dog but not as much per pound of weight as you would think. That is, a 150-pound St. Bernard will eat less than two 75-pound dogs or three 50-pound dogs (or six 25-pound dogs).

They need reasonable exercise but do not crave it and are often content to just lounge around a lot.

They do die young and leave a huge empty place in your home and your heart. Our first one (Pepper) had to be euthanized at the age of about 5 because of bone cancer in her leg. The vet said there was no cure for it other than amputation, and that big dogs don’t generally tolerate a prosthesis very well. Ursula was not much older than that when she got a twisted stomach. Apparently in large-bodied dogs the innards are not as tightly packed, so to speak, as in smaller animals. Especially if the dog exercises soon after a meal, the stomach can sort of flip, closing it off at both ends. By the time the situation is perceived it is often too late.

14

Are you going to get a collar with a small brandy bottle for her to carry around her neck? :smiley:

15

See this informative documentary for an example.

16

Well, anybody can get rabies.

17

Thanks all for the replies so far, especially the “St. Bernard Club” links; don’t know why I didn’t find that earlier. I do plan to keep towels lying around for the drool situation. And we’d also planned to start with the leash training young, as well as getting her used to being brushed and having her paws and ears handled early so that she won’t object to cleaning and nail trimming (which turned out to be issues with the pug).

The joke about the 800-pound gorilla comes to mind, but, for those of you with companion St. Bernards: where do they sleep?

18

We have a pug (I’m really sorry to hear about yours :frowning: ) and an Olde English Bulldogge. We had the pug for a couple months before getting the OEB. I found quite a huge difference in going from my 16lb goofball to a now approaching 100lb-still-a-puppy bulldogge. Those little bags on a roll that I use for the pug sometimes are not enough for the OEB. Be prepared for a huge increase in poop.

And since it’s a puppy, be ready for accidents. All over the house. Places like: the new rug you just bought, the new memory foam mattress you just bought, the backseat of the new car you just bought, the new couch you just bought. Turning your back for 30 seconds is enough. Sometimes staring right at the dog is enough. In other words, save big home purchases for later.

Also, socialize socialize socialize. Take the dog out to dog parks, have it be around kids, adults, strangers, et al.

Oh, and the dogs sleep in the bed. We had to buy stairs for them both as neither could jump up. We also had to buy a king-sized mattress (the one mentioned earlier) to accomodate two adults and two dogs.

19

Although welcome on the bed, mine prefers to sleep on the floor or on the couch (his couch :p). He will join me occasionnally in bed, but prefers the floor because otherwise it is too hot for him.

20

I grew up with a Saint. Her name was Genevieve and she topped 200 pounds. Crazy huge dog.

They shed like crazy (she was a rough coat), drool like crazy, and are just so large that anything at tail-level needs to be nailed down or able to bounce. She loved people but was also extremely protective and not particularly dog-friendly. Obviously, a 200 pound dog is a hazard and the training has to be extensive and good.

I would not under any circumstances buy one from a pet shop or a backyard breeder.

Gennie lived to 7, I believe. She was euthanized after developing bone cancer.

Wonderful dog, but I’d never get a giant breed for myself. Too much heartache.