St Bernard

Have you done any research on Saint Bernards?

Make sure you get insurance for def, saints can cost a lot of money when something goes wrong, because of their sheer size and weight.

You need to read up on general care and exercise for saints as they can be quite different from other breeds.

Has the breeder had all the relative health tests done, ie Hip and elbow scoring, heart tests etc? If not i would highly advise you to walk away and go to a breeder that carries these out.

I know of a very good breeder who has just recently lost his young saint to heart problems, even though it was heart tested when it was younger. So it just goes to show how much of a problem these things can be even when tests are carried out.

deejer wrote: »

They are registered if that makes any difference.

Not for any underlying health issues nope!

andreac wrote: »

Did you see the certs of the Hip and Elbow score results? Where did you find the breeder? Was she recommended by the kennel club or anything?

Cant stress this ENOUGH!!! Please check her out thorughly before buying as you will regret it sooner rather than later when you're attached. You wouldnt buy a car on word of mouth without checking its service history etc, that would be madness...same goes for buying a puppy. People will tell you anything in order to sell pups. Please be very vigilant. Andreac has give great advice. Hips and heart are a big think in SBs.

For your sake im hoping shes a good breeder and you get a good representation of the breed.Best of luck...but keep your eyes wide open.

+1 on everything said so far.

I've two rescue SB. Biggest issue for us was their lack of training. My latest rescue was given away because it kept knocking over their small children and he was only nine months old.

A hyper SB running into you can be sore.....


So training is our focus ATM.

Cant add anything here. I just want to back up the claims that have been made. I am a vet nurse and can confirm that they can suffer terribly

You may feel disappointed to walk away but it will give you the opportunity to try and get the healthiest pup you can.

Plus your wallet will thank you for it.

deejer wrote: »

Well after an hour long chat on the phone with the lady last night I am happy that she is a responsible breeder with the relevant certs. I am calling to her on Sunday where she will be able to show me all the paper work, the two parents and our new pup.

Again thanks everyone here for the advise, much appreciated. I was not the most popular person at home when I said we may not be taking the dog though.

Please just make sure you SEE The Certs in person. If your fobbed off then walk away.

You would be even less popular at home if the pup became ill and you came home with huge vet bills

+1 to all of the above.

Deejer, understand this: when you take that puppy, there's no way on this planet you'll ever give him back. Unscrupulous breeders RELY on the empathy of the ordinary person. You adopt a pup, you become attached to it, you adore it, and if it ends up being a poorly bred pup, you feel like you're its chance for a happy life and you'd never give it back to the mean person who it came from. Some folks even convince themselves they've rescued the pup.

With that in mind, just be aware that the following are standard excuses:

"I don't have the papers, I'll send them on"
"The vet okayed them, I'll get a copy of the certs and post them to you"
"The vet said I didn't need the x-rays - they're expensive and he said the dogs were fine"
"They're the picture of health, sure, look at them"

And so on.

Hi OP

Great choice in a dog

Hope some of the following helps.
we got 2 St Bernard-Bernese crosses from a breeder in Wexford nearly 19mts ago now during the heavy snows (which meant they weren't socialsed in time) - (her Bernese got into her St Bernard that she was breeded).
Were told bone scores etc were all fine, no history of issues in the mother but never checked the papers and to our shame never saw the mother. Our trust here has come back to haunt us - just wanted to get home while the roads were reasonably open before the next snow fall.

We did however get pet insurance - saved our lives and our bank balances.
For the first while all seemed fine - then when getting them neutered we chose to get an x-ray of their hips just on the off chance of any issues - gawd - both of them have really really bad hip dysplaysia - for a year now we have been bringing them to hydrotherapy every single week...

Some other things to watch out for.
1. Do research on the right food - you want to ensure you don't get a food that encourages growth. We are now feeding ours Orijin and boiled chicken and rice. As well intentioned as vets are they are dealing with sales guys so do your research online and talk to a number of breeders.
2. Walks - the Bernard does NOT need long walks - start very very slowly - say 5 minutes max and following vet guidance increase per month. We now walk ours a max of 30 minutes a day. With a rest day after the swim.
3. Begin training immediately - and I mean asap - ours are quite good on the lead - though then they get excited at seeing another dog they can pull a bit - combined they are nearly 15stone - but normally they are great - we use the front harnesses. Be careful of collars you want to protect their necks. Also you may have to repeat the training cycle 3 or 4 times as much as for another dog - St Bernards sometimes really need a command drilled in. For us - Stay sometimes works; Come here - well depends; Sit - can't use with the hips; Look - very good now.
4. Stairs - keep them off stairs - again can impact the onset of hip dysplasia.
5. Socialisation - expose them to as much good experiences as possible. Mine unfortunately had issues with some kids our neighbours mind while left alone a few times. Now meeting kids is a big problem... Similarly when they meet old folk with hats and sunglasses they get spooked. Cannot stress this enough - we found when we put ours into day care it worked wonders for us outside as our short walks just could not introduce enough new dogs. They are now great with other dogs mostly - just not people - one had a hip socket pop out so missed out on some early people socialisation - we are getting there though.
6. House proof - ours have
> chewed our skirting boards - destroyed sections.
> Licked the plaster off the wall back to bricks.
> Chewed wooden furniture to make it rickety - including our really good antique table and chairs - cost a fortune a few years ago - but who cares they are happy.
> Ate their way into a section of our leather sofa - a blanket and tape hides this.
> Ate and tore up some small trees and shrubs - they love wood - and for some reason sometimes like muck - so a few holes in the garden now.
7. House Training - we were using paper etc - and it was a mess. Someone suggested crate training - and this worked fantastically. For the first week get up every hour or so and take the puppy out to the toilet, and slowly extend the time. When introducing to the crate don't close the door straight away - again check online for guides on crate trainging - worked wonders for us and for another guy in work who used to get up to an absolute mess every morning.
8. Jumping up on you - Don't ever ever encourage this - your dog will soon be 7 or 10 stone - this will crush a kid if they try to jump up in excitement.
9. Bite inhibition - start it very early - use the yip to train the dog.
10. Handling - get your puppy used to you checking it all over - with their coats it is easy to miss a tic or a cut.
11 Eyes - check that the eyes are not too diamond shaped - this can cause problems but again you can find more online on this - we were lucky so don't need to worry about it.

Be prepared for everyone to come racing over to pet "Beethoven" - while this is good control it so that your little puppy doesn't get scared and learn to dislike interaction - always praise them afterwards and reward them.

I personally find this breed to be really really intelligent with very expressive faces when you know what to look for. They have definitely have firm ideas of self - so quite often you might find that if you say want them to go outside they will decide "fopp you matey" and stay where they are.

Take as many photos as you can - in a few months they will be huge - you won't see much of a difference but trust me without the photos you won't believe how little it was.

OP will you let us know how it goes?

No need to be nervous - St Bernard's make great pets - actually now after a year and a half I prefer - companions...

What happened OP??

Ah can't wait to see a pic!

Just gorgeous.:)

deejer....welcome to the forum! You WILL be here A LOT!!! He's flippin gorgeous. Best of luck with him.;)

Omg he is so handsome!

deejer wrote: »

First point I should make on this is that I know very little about dog breeding, I don’t know any dog breeders and I know very little about the St Bernard breed itself. My natural scepticism probably had a lot to do with how I approached the situation on the day. She had the hip and elbow scores. The bitch just didn’t look in the best condition, but then I was comparing her to the dog who was a monster of an animal.

Since coming home I have to say I am not 100% happy with Charlie’s eyes. I notice a small drop in his bottom eyelids but they don’t seem to be bothering him that much. I am hoping this doesn’t become an issue.

He is 3mths old on the 31st January and is going to be a handful id say. For a dog that hasn’t been toilet trained he is also doing fairly well – we are all learning on this point! Once we take him out after his meal he does his business (he even seems to have found a spot outside that he likes). At night he is also going on the paper we have left in this room. We are in the process of building a house so once we move we will set up a run for him out the back. (live on a farm so plenty room).

thats why i tried to warn you about the eyes. as i said so far i have spent over €2000 in vet bills for my guys eyes back at vets today another €80 have to bring him back next monday again. not looking at all good for one eye. the other eye thankfully has slightly improved. it is hard to walk away when you met the dog but, as hard as it is for me to say it, im sorry i didnt. as i said there is no way on earth i would give up on him now but its not only the money side though, that is a factor, its also the time and heartache.
anyways goodluck with ur doggy. oh just thought, make sure you feed him a good quality low protein food. very important for his growth and joints

ps.
Make sure Charlie gets used to being handled and brushed very fast.
Run your hands all over him - getting him used to you checking later for tics etc.
Check his nails and gently raise his lips so you can check his teeth, and get him used to you checking his ears for wax buildup - keep treats handy and keep rewarding him.

Our two girls both seem to get bad knots just behind their ears, on the inside of their legs where the hair is long and sometimes on their tails - all of this handling and brushing every few days makes it easier to deal with - they basically just chill and almost sleep while we make sure everything is ok.

Think I mentioned this before but do practise the bite inhibition. You really are a lucky guy - before I got my girls I had no clue about the St Bernard (or in my case St Bernese) - they really are loveable pets who just love getting some pets and plays.

Don't forget - take photos almost daily - that little pup will soon be over 7 stone, or as a male maybe as high as 10.

What food have you got him on? Did you change over gradually? If its done too quickly it can give them an upset tummy.

Is there a reason you changed his food? What did the breeder have him on? I would have stuck with that unless it was a really bad quality food.

Whats Benadate and did your vet give it to you?

Its better to transition a new food slowly with dogs as it can (not all the time though) cause an upset tummy or diarrhoea. Could you go back to what the breeder was feeding and start to introduce the new food slowly? Also not all dogs eat their food straightaway, some are grazers (like my last dog), although with a puppy i would think he'd be more likely to eat quickly. The food may just be too much of a shock to him too soon.

Has he completed his worming regime too?

Anymore pics?:D