St Bernard

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

I have a female saint who will be six in June. She is in good health, she has never been to the vet. She isnt as supple jointed as she was when she was a pup but is still well able to go. My advise for looking after them, is as follows.
Dont bother with vets, my dog has never been vaccinated or neutered, i think that happy dogs are healthy dogs and as long as you take really good care of them they will be unlikely to be ill. Vets will always find somthing wrong. She is wormed and gets flea drops regularly and during the summer is washed about once a week or every two weeks depending on how dirty she is. We use warm water and dog shampoo or any shampoo really. We never clipped her, we just snip the tangles on her bum and behind her ears. She hasnt been neutered, i think neutering them makes them age prematurely. They are notoriously hard to breed so she still roams free even in heat and it has never been a problem.
I think health is dependent on how happy the dog is. A dog will get ill and die young if you keep them in a cage or tied up, my dog has never been tied up or caged, ever. She is constantly with us, if she is not off in the car somewhere then she is usually waiting in the car to go, but whatever is going on she constantly has company. She is left at home on warm days (13degrees or more). She is always in and out of the house or asleep in someones bed. (put shower curtain on bedspread if your dog has similar bad habits). We bring her for short walks regularly, mabe 1km at a time more because she looks idle and bored than for exercise.
She is fed, 1/2 of a kg of mince a day, usually with dog nuts (cheap ones) or spagetti and mabe some carrots. She is a fussy eater, some days she eats nothing and some days she eats everything. You can get cheap mince in dunnes/ tesco/ aldi/ lidl for 3eur/kg. She has been fed on this since a pup 8weeks old, but sometimes dad puts a drop of cod liver oil or veg oil in her food. She is 75kg.
She has never been trained as such, she kind of learned on the job, like i said she comes everywhere with us, we usually let her off the lead and she potters about and does her own thing. This may sound really irresponsible, but she has done this since a pup so we have never had any issues with it. She is very protective at home and would stop strangers from coming in, but when in strange places she is very gentle and quite clingy. Adults and children are drawn to her and she is constantly being rubbed and played with and she never had a bad reaction to anyone.
She sleeps on a single bed in a well ventilated shed at night. it is really important their bed is up off the ground and that they are in cool places at night as they tend to overheat, but having said that on the rare occasion she does sleep in the house. (very rare, she doesnt like it and i think it is really bad for her).
We never had any dogs before her and im sure others wont agree with the way we keep her.Saints are alot of work, they are very hairy, shed alot, take a long time to mature, can be hyperactive, will chew everything as pups, cost alot to feed, need alot of space and alot of company. If i had realised all this before i got her, i probably would have thought twice, but having said that my whole family adore her, everyone in the house thinks more of the dog than they do anyone else.

Photos of the dog,

Op sounds like u are doing a great job!!! Enjoy him get him used to being groomed and his nails being clipped ( so as a young pup lift his paws and feel his nails then reward him) u are being a really responsible owner and I wish u the best of luck with Charlie!!! Congrats on the new member of ur family!!

Irishchick wrote: »

No one can make an owner do anything.

I agree

lyingeyes wrote: »

I have a female saint who will be six in June. She is in good health, she has never been to the vet. She isnt as supple jointed as she was when she was a pup but is still well able to go. My advise for looking after them, is as follows.
Dont bother with vets, my dog has never been vaccinated or neutered, i think that happy dogs are healthy dogs and as long as you take really good care of them they will be unlikely to be ill. Vets will always find somthing wrong. She is wormed and gets flea drops regularly and during the summer is washed about once a week or every two weeks depending on how dirty she is.
I think health is dependent on how happy the dog is. A dog will get ill and die young if you keep them in a cage or tied up, my dog has never been tied up or caged, ever.

We never had any dogs before her and im sure others wont agree with the way we keep her.

Saints are alot of work, they are very hairy, shed alot, take a long time to mature, can be hyperactive, will chew everything as pups, cost alot to feed, need alot of space and alot of company.

Although I think your sound like you love your pet and she has a good life ....

I feel sorry for your dog...what do you plan to do about vet care? wait until she is sick with something preventable before you become a believer in health car for pet?or will you just visit a vet to have her PTS at that stage?I hope so natural deaths in dogs are not generally peaceful in-spite of what people like to believe.

St Bernards are a giant breed of dog its almost inevitable that at some stage your pet will end up in a vets with issues.THey are gorgeous lovely dogs but the breed has its fair share of issues.....wether its for heart issues, eyes or joints will be the question in most case.....

Why would you not want to know about problems like heart issues and joint problems that can be treated with drugs to improve quality of life?or lengthen life?

At 6 your dog shouldn't be that stiff btw...its a good age for a saint but contrary to popular belief dogs dont often just slow down and become less supple for no reason....Like people they get issues and pain which cause them to be uncomfortable and less supple....but many of them are treatable or at least manageable.....

Happy dogs are not always healthy dogs. If they were vets would not exist.

On the other hand OP your pup likes like a lovely little dote.I wish you the best with him
but Il join my voice to the others on the thread and add please please please get pet insurance! Saints are such big dogs that even minor issues can be expensive to treat just cos of the dose they need...they are like try to dosing calves not dogs! and like I said above they are not a breed free of issues.Even well breed ones run the risk of heart issues.the sheer size of their bodie as they get older puts pressure on their hearts..its a recurring theme in all the giant breeds.

OP just in case anyone hasn't explained the push for insurance :

Insurance companies wont pay out for a pre existing condition. That's why it's important to insure before anything happens .

Also just make sure the policy you choose does not have a very high excess!