St. bernard owner question?

Question

I think I want a st. bernard will someone tell me what they are like

Answer 1

Country of Origin: Switzerland.

Size: Shoulder height: 65 - 70 cm (25.5 - 27.5 inches). Should weigh at least 60 kg (132 lbs).

Coat: Can be long- or short-haired. Colors are red with white or white with red, or white with streaked patches. The legs, chest, and tip of the tail must all be white. There must be a white blaze and white neck patch or collar.

Character: The St. Bernard is very friendly, good-natured, and excellent with children. It will defend you and your possessions and is intensely loyal.

Temperament: Children, other dogs, and household pets are all friends to the St. Bernard.

Care: Regular grooming with a brush and comb is required. The ears must be kept clean and eyes checked regularly.

Training: Because they grow to such large size, young St. Bernards need to be taught not to pull on the leash. They must not be pushed too hard and require considerable understanding.

Activity: A St. Bernard only needs an average amount of exercise. Three short walks a day will keep it happy. Occasionally it will appreciate a longer walk with a chance to run free.

Answer 2

I have had two different st. bernards. first one was a male named Napolian (150 lbs ) Big lovable character but boy did he slober alot.
Second one was a female named Angie (100 lbs ) and was bred specifically not to slober . It was a welcomed change not having to clean all the glass in the house . These dogs are quite lovable and will protect you when necessary .
Of coarse because of their size a big budget is needed for food . The bigger the play area the better cause these dogs like to roam . They will run and jump in your lap like they are small dogs so be careful, they can be overwhelming to some people .

Answer 3

If you want a dog who...



Is heavy and powerful, with a thick furry coat
Is steady-tempered with everyone
Loves pulling carts and sleds and romping in cold weather
Is responsive to training in a slow, good-natured way
A Saint Bernard may be right for you.



If you don't want to deal with...



A very bulky dog who takes up a lot of space in your house and car
A heavy dog who wants to sit on your feet, lie on your lap, and lean his weight against your leg
Rowdiness and exuberant jumping when young
"Separation anxiety" and destructiveness when left alone too much
Fearfulness or aggression in some lines, or when not socialized enough
Some stubbornness and/or dominance problems, especially in males
Heavy shedding
Slobbering and drooling
Serious health problems and a short lifespan
A St Bernard may not be right for you.

Answer 4

I have two Saints and the previous answers here covered a lot of what you need to know, but maybe I can go into more detail.

Slobber...when they shake their head, they get some good distance and I routinely find slobber on the ceiling, on kitchen cabinets, doors, walls, etc. If you don't plan on crating them or keeping them in a particular room, you can count on surprise areas of slobber on your work clothes and coats from when you return home and they are so very happy to see you..... There is no such thing as a "non-drooling" St. Bernard. You may get lucky and find one with small jowels that slobbers only a little. In addition, it stains rugs and will collect underneath them as they lay on your floor.

One of my favorite sounds is the tails of my two babies banging against the wall when I come in, they are so happy to see me.

Health problems....bloating....you have to be very careful about their activity levels one hour before and one after eating and or drinking a lot. Bloat can take a Saint's life in a matter of hours, it's very serious. It's important that their food and water sources are raised up to mouth level for them. Hip Displaysia....we paid $3,500 for hip surgery on our male....and that was only one side. Fortunately that did the trick and we did not need to have the other side operated on.

Shedding....they shed a lot. I am fortunate to have two short hair St. Bernards and that helps, but as much as I brush mine, there is dog hair everywhere. I stopped buying fleece because the hair works its way under the fibers and is hard to get out.

They do not like to be alone, separation anxiety caused us to get a second Saint.

Having said all that, Saints are great dogs. They are intelligent, beautiful, curious, funny, extremely loyal, and loving. They are a lot of work, but worth every bit of it. I have enough room in my house where we could spread out, but my furkids always choose to be near me. You can just start talking to them or approach them and their tails start wagging with happiness. My male lets out this great snort as he's falling asleep, it makes me laugh all the time. My female loves attention and will nudge both of my hands for love...I can't just use one hand, she nudges them until they are both petting her. It's really cute. They are the best.

Answer 5

Well first of all, drool. They are slobbery and tend to drool, as far as shedding, they are not so bad if you shave them, however expect lots of fur in the summer. (Obviously) We had a saint bernard named Akita and she is a sweetie, very large and tall, and protective as any dog you will find. Ours played alot of tennis, frisbee, and loved to swim and play on the trampoline. They love to play, so if you have kids, they are amazing. Smart too however sometimes too smart for their own good. We had an electric fence around the outer 4 feet of the chain link fence, so if she found her way out of the chain link, she couldn't run away without the alarm going off. She still found ways around it, and she found if she runs fast enough, she will bolt right through the buzzing and the alarms. (Our yard was half an acre and she loved the dog next door.)

In all seriousness, you need to be strict, not SUPER strict, but when they are puppies, don't play rough with them to a point where they think your hands are chew toys. (Wave your hands in their face, rub on their maw, ect ect.) Or they will try to play with the hands, instead get a tug of war toy. (The dog always wins.) When they do something wrong, be firm and assertive, however never agressive.

Answer 6

I have a year old Saint...so I can help you out on this one!!

If you like a clean home and clean clothes, a saint is not for you...they drool, shed, poop HUGE amounts....they are drooly, some more than others but there is no such thing as a dry mouth saint so dont let anyone tell you there is.

Now for the good stuff. They are loving and cuddly (provided they are raised right, and you got him from a good breeder, more on that later) My boy is my very best friend.

You have to have alot of time for a saint. I quit my job to stay at home with him. They need to have you around or they will ruin your home. It takes a saint no time at all to wreck things or dig a big hole. They MUST MUST MUUUUUST be trained when they are little. A little puppy jumping up is cute...at 200 lb dog...not so cute. They are so giant they need to have good dog manners so they can be good dogs when they are older.

They need a high quality dog food. I reccomend Innova or a raw diet. You cannot feed them grocery store cheap-o food. They need high quality nutrients that cannot be found in any grocery store food .And be prepared to spend a lot of money on food,....it costs us 45$ every 8 days to feed mack his raw food, anda 33lb bag of Innova is 60 bucks and that lasts about 2 weeks.

Since they are such huge dogs, they have huge vet bills. Thats why a health gaurentee is so important. Also look into health insurance for your pet. Its no problem for their bills to reach into the thousands. We took our boy in fod blood work (250$) and xrays (almost 300$) so things add up fast!!

If you still want a Saint....please do your research. Dont just get any old saint from any old place. Find a good breeder. Do lots of research. Because they are giant breed dogs they have a lot of health defects and a good breeder will screen for them so there is less chance your puppy will get one.Make sure the puppy comes with 1-a health gaurentee...this is so important because if they do have a problem, you wont be stuck with a huge vet bill and 2- a 4 generation pedigree....this tells you all about your dogs family...so you can ask about certian dogs (ie, did your puppies grandfather have problems with his hips? what about his grandmother?)


So in short..if you have alot of time to spend with a dog and want a loyal loving dog in return (and its work, believe me!!) than go and find a good breeder and get yourself a puppy (remember tho....that cute little 5 pound puppy will be close to 100 lbs in 6 months so plan for that)

Answer 7

My Dad has one and they drool alot. They are very protective but the same time very friendly. They shed enough to make 3 or 4 wigs a year.

Oldman

Answer 8

They are lap dogs, they think they're chihuahuas lol. They need a firm human because of their size and as I said they don't know their strength most of the time. Very loveable, personable, all around a great breed.

Answer 9

They have a very short life span. 7 to 8 years.


The bigger the dog...the shorter the life span.

Every one else covered everything.

Answer 10

Please don't even think about it!

While some may be nice, most of them, as they get older, are the most vicious dogs that people have.

Worse, they slobber and their hair is usually a mess.

They are the dogs that are classified as "Junkyard Dogs".

They do have a place if you live in Alaska.

They have been known to kill people,,,and eat them!

Don't get a pit bull or Rotenwhiler (spelling).

Good luck...I tell you this from experience.