Does anyone know anything about St Bernards?

[missymoomoomee]

I have thought very long and hard about getting a St Bernard, I absolutely adore them, my house is big enough, have a fairly large garden, plenty time for walks etc, I just don't know anyone who has one and would like to know if there is anything I should know. I have done lots of research but haven't spoken to anyone who actually owns one. The only dogs I have previously owned have been huskys (many years ago now) and they are obviously quite different and unsuitable for a young family. Any help would be great thanks.

Please consider the cost. Insurance is a MUST as a course of antibiotics will be over 100 quid. They get congenital issues (skin and eye problems) so say an entropy on surgery (droopy eyes) will cost £800 or so. Insurance itself will be expensive. Price this up now. They also don't live that long, think of this if you have children.

You need to contact breed clubs for more info. Plus are you house proud? Constant drooling not everyone's cup of tea.

Plus they smell

Yeah I've looked into insurance (which will be about 60 a month) and life expectancy (about 8 years) and all the conditions they can get so I would be looking at health checked parents and grandparents from a breeder. I am just about to lay laminate floors in my house to reduce the smell that will no doubt come with having a large dog, everything I can look into I have looked into. I would just like to get an owners view of the good and bad. I did contact one breed club but the guy I spoke to was just trying to sell me a puppy that I am not quite ready for yet so it put me off a bit tbh.

Not any sort of expert opinion obviously but my mate's neighbour had three! They were lovely soppy things and seemed pretty calm, the guy said they ate a lot (!) and "ooh the trumps are summat else I can tell you love" :)

Sounds like you've done research and you're really keen so go for it I say, are they not rather rare now? Not seen one for years.

They slobber. A lot. Now, having Newfies myself, I'm not averse to a bit of slobber but the vast amount of slobber produced by the average St Bernard is a deal breaker for me.

My friend had St Bernards until quite recently, owning quite a few over a period of 25 years or so. When his last one died, he vowed he'd not have another as the temperaments are not what they should be in many cases so that's something to be aware of when you're looking at breeders. Ensure you meet all theit adult dogs and the stud dog (who will usually be owned by another person). Friend's last few dogs could be unpredictable, particularly around other dogs but occasionally with people too.

Laminate floors are actually not advisable with large breed dogs. They are slippery and large dogs can struggle on them when lying down and getting up. Pups do like to race around and one slip could cause permanent joint damage. Either keep the carpet (at least until the manic puppy stage is over) or put down the laminate but cover large areas of it with cheap rugs that can be washed/replaced regularly. Non-slip vet bed is cheap, washable and very effective for this purpose (I used it on my wooden floors when dogs were younger)

Personally, along with all the usual considerations, I'd look at longevity in the breeder's lines. Life spans can be woefully short and some things that can't be screened for (such as bone cancers) do seem to be more prevalent in some breeding lines.

I know a St Bernard. He's absolutely lovely.

The downsides are: Drool. Likes to take himself for a walk. Lots of grooming. Eats a huge amount of food (like, huuuuuge). They don't live that long. Oh, and did I mention drool?

He is a very gentle dog, lovely with the children he lives with (including SN), very friendly with people, very calm, good with other dogs, a bit territorial.

Like HarlettOScara says, I think you might need to put non-slip rugs down over some of the laminate.

I also got to play with two St Bernard x puppies today (they were on their way to a foster home until they are old enough to adopt). So cute it's not true.

Just be aware that despite health checking parents etc the breed standard is a droopy face so results in health problems. Rare to get a st bern that does not need treatment for congenital problems. Odd breed choice IMO for a family, ESP if not had a dog for some years. Sounds like you are thinking carefully which I appreciate. Try and speak to owners and visit them in person. Breed rescue groups may be more friendly than breeders and your vets locally may know a friendly breeder. You need to see the slobber etc before you decide you can deal with it. Young DC will be head height and have heads full of drool. Plus drool ruins clothes. Most bern owners carry a flannel/cloth with them alot for a reason.

Plus you have never seen a dog poo til you have seen a giant breed one! Have you got a big car btw?

The amount/size of poo depends on what you feed them. I feed a raw diet and the output is more befitting a spaniel sized dog...but feed sonething like Bakers or Pedigree and you'll need binbags instead of poo bags

I know/have known a few people with Bernards and looked after my friend's St. Bernard a lot. None are especially or notably slobbery. At least, not to the extent I had imagined they would be. I also haven't noticed that they smell. In fact, they smell less than my Golden Retrievers. A good diet will help reduce 'doggy' smells in any dog anyway, particularly a raw diet.

There are health problems within the breed, largely related to their size, but finding a good breeder who properly heealth screens can reduce the risk of things like hip dysplacia. Careful exercising as a puppy is an absolute must though.

I am suprised anyone from the breed club would try the hard sell. That is very unusual tbh. Is there more than onebreed club in your area for the breed? Sometimes there are sort of 'unoffical' clubs.

Personally, other than their obvious size (and bitches are smaller than dogs, plus, they aren't really as big as some people imagine) I think they're a good breed to have with a family. They are fairly sedate/laid back, don't require as much exercise as some breed, particularly when younger and are fairly easy to train.

Our neighbour has one, they have a large carpeted house with huge garden.

They found theirs through a rescue centre. She is great with kids and other dogs but other dogs don't seem to like her.

Obviously hair and drool mess the house, but blood stains when she is in season is something else!

Never noticed a smelly digestive system, our smaller dogs are much worse.

Oh and she likes to go on trips too, the bus, other peoples cars etc :)

Do you have small children? I ask, because our friend's have a Newfoundland, and he is always accidentally knocking toddlers over. He doesn't mean to, and he hates it when they cry- but he just can't help it he's so big!

They are one of the Kennel Club's 12 "High Profile Breeds".

This means they are prone to a very high range of inherited health issues.

Info here from the Breed Clubs.

Personally, I wouldn't touch one of these 12 breeds with a bargepole.

Thank you all for your replies. I never considered about the laminate actually so I may well either recarpet or get large rugs in every room.

I have 4 kids aged between 2 and 10, I may well leave it another year if I do decide on a St Bernard so they are that bit older.

I have been looking into raw food, one of my friends has started her dog on this and highly recommends it but I am going to ask the vet about the diet in this breed of dog.

I don't drive I much prefer to walk everywhere, my vet, fields, a canal and woods are all within about a 15 minute walk so I wouldn't need one (I don't think).

It would be a bitch I would be looking to get but I would be getting her spayed so I won't have to deal with the bleeding.

I didn't think they were particularly territorial dogs so this has slightly worried me, I shall definatly look more into that.

The drool doesn't really bother me too much, I am going to get leather couches and wipeable wallpaper and replace anything else I can to make it as easy clean as possible.

I didn't know it was rare to get a dog without a congenital illness, I have read that you should get a 2 generation health screening report, but this is something I shall look into carefully.

There only seems to be one breeder in my area (the person I called) so I think my best bet may well be to talk to the vet before I make any choices.

I know its an odd choice but I have been in love with this breed forever and it feels like a good time to be making the choice. I really am looking into it very carefully and taking everyones points on board and if I have even 1% of doubt that it wouldn't be the right choice then I wouldn't get a St Bernard.

Once again thank you all for replying it seems there is a lot I don't know or haven't considered yet.

You should consider how you might get to the vet in the event that it can't walk that far itself. With such a large breed, you can pretty much guarantee joint issues at some stage which may mean that walking as far as the vet is not possible.

Also, with giant breeds, it is recommended to allow a bitch to have at least one (preferably 2) seasons before spaying. The hormone surges help with physical and mental maturity and early neutering caused growth plates to close more slowly which can have adverse implications for joint development. So you should prepare to have to deal with at least one season.

We had a rescue St Bernard many years ago. A fantastic dog but quite hard to fit into family life and if you have other dogs. To start with he needed very restricted exercise until he was fully grown to protect his bones etc, we did not let him walk upstairs to help protect him etc. Very short walks but several a day.

He did slobber (loads) a bit. So be prepared when you are eating for slobber to fly across the table if he shakes his head

When he got older again he was back on restricted exercise so his exercise needs had to be given priority over family walks etc which can be hard. They are not dogs that can just come along with you regardless.

We raw fed but always have done - you do have to be very careul with their diet as puppies to ensure correct development of all big dogs so research will be needed. Any mistakes will could cause ill health in your dog. I doubt your vet will be in favour of raw feeding.

There are loads of health issues HD, report of more cancers in the larger dog breeds, ear problems which can be very frustrating to keep treating,eye problems, heart problem. Bloat is also a concern and the dogs need to be fed from raised bowls in several smaller meals a day. They suffer from heat exhaustion so have to be monitored in warm weather.

They are very easy to groom but again being a large dog and needing a daily groom this is very time consuming.

I personally would not ever get a breed off the KC High Profile Breed as they are knowingly still being breed with health issues.

They are super loyal gentle dogs but obviously any dog that size has to be well trained, having a St Bernard that jumps at people is just not sensible

They are great dogs but will require a lot of extra care and attention.

And without wishing to sound patronising, well done for doing your research, asking the questions and being sure you are ready to commit before getting a dog. I wish more people would take such a considered approach :)

Sorry to sidetrack, but I thought using raised bowls increases the risk of bloat?

There's never been a definitive conclusion to the debate about raised feeders so it comes down to personal choice. Personally, I feed from raised bowls simply because it's more comfortable for the dogs, especially now they're older and a bit arthritic.

I would bin the local breeder too, contact all the breed clubs and call round and see who is breeding for health. There will be breeders doing all sorts of health checks, importing sperm, and god knows what else whilst demonstrating their commitment to this breed.

Getting a dog from one of these breeders would be worth the wait and is the most justifiable way to own a breed that comes with a whole load of possible problems.

Would ditch the laminate especially for a pup, those growth plates are easily damaged and they will slide round too easily possibly leading to knee and hip issues as adults or to a more dramatic immediate injury. There are solid floors that are less slippy...might be worth exploring.

Ideally your car will be lowish, again good for pups as the jumping in and out is bad for them and important for an old/injured dog. If it is higher then investigate large ramps and plan to train your pup how to do it right:)

I dont have one, though have known a few but I own fellow giant breeds. Mine are cherished but love doesn't trump the health issues and am yet to see one of mine reach 8, they have died between 6 and 8 usually suddenly from problems known in the breeds. It is worth looking at the health stuff and being realistic not optimistic IYSWIM.

I don't think children and biggies is a big problem (children can be trained to flatten selves against walls and furniture at sound of impending dog) but there will be the odd squishing incident and tails at head height can really hurt.

I think, incidentally, that there is contradictory info on the raised bowl and bloat link. I know some giant breed owners feed their dogs lying down and think this the way forward?

Good luck, I do love my giants.

Thanks Harlett I didn't know that about the dog being in season so thats something else I will look into. I am very lucky that my vet does house calls but if there was an emergency and the vet couldn't get out I'm sure my neighbour would give us a lift (they have a massive car). You don't sound patronising at all, I have seen so many dogs abandoned/sold on/given away after 3 or 4 months because people buy a cute puppy and don't look beyond that. Its awful.

Thanks Cuebill my friend said her vet didn't support raw feeding either so I assume this is universal then (she has poodles). From what I have read and heard it is much better for the dog but I would need to do a lot more research on it to ensure it would be the right thing to do for such a large breed. I also didn't know about feeding little and often or from raised bowls so thats interesting to know. I don't have any dogs, just a few mad cats who love everyone and everything so I shouldn't have a problem there. I haven't properly looked into rescuing one yet, but (if I decide on this breed) I think that may be a route to go down instead of buying a puppy.

Thanks Beancurd if I decided on a puppy rather than a rescue I am willing to travel to a decent committed breeder rather than the nearest one. Everything I have read has said they live between 8 and 10 years, is this unrealistic? Should I be thinking along the 6 year mark? I will start looking into flooring too I don't think laminate will be the right thing by the sounds of it.

Not unrealistic but lots will die from 5plus quite often, bone cancer, bloat and cardio issues probably being the biggest reasons.

All big breeds have bone cancer as a possible problem and as pp said above some lines have real problems with it, sometimes it appears in a litter not having been much evidenced before...

Bloat incidence increases with age, a good reason to never leave them alone for too long. Bloat is also a bit random, some lines have more, food and exercise errors can contribute, stress contributes but sometimes there is no fathomable reason.

Mine are rescues and that opens up a whole other area of mayhem, breed rescues are often a bit chaotic and it's not unusual that not much is known about your rescue before it comes. Only one of my last five has been safe around other dogs, all were meant to be ok! The breed rescues I ahve been involved with have often been run by really batty dog fanatics or breeders not prepared to chance their stock with an unknown dog with very big teeth.

If you haven't had a dog for a while it is worth walking a giant beastie and pondering on how confident you feel with it on lead whether you can walk it with the kids etc I do home checks and lots of people who have got that far actually back out upon having twelve stone of dog bounce round their house and garden. Sounds a bit basic as you have had dogs but worth doing, there will be breed shows that you could go to whilst getting some experience.

Thanks for the info beancurd. Having looked into it further and hearing what you guys have had to say I have decided not to get a St Bernard (sob) while I still adore the breed I don't think its the right dog for a young family with all the health implications it would be too upsetting and I'm not sure I want to put money into a breeders pocket. Its sounding more and more like the breeding isn't being done properly and is being done for pure profit in a lot of cases. Thank you all for your help.