Anyone with a St. Bernard?

[SummerofDoom]

Dh and I have been looking at getting a St. Bernard for years and have finally possibly found a litter with availability, maybe.

I wondered if there were any St owners on here who could give me any tips? We've owned large breeds before (ridgeback, mastiff, boxer) but want to be completely prepared for the little guy

Also, any photos to share? I'm so excited

I used to own one, I sadly lost her to bloat aged 3 years and it broke me as she was the love of my life, things to be prepared for are - the rate they grow, literally turn your back for 5 minutes and they double in size, the slobber, Beastie (my Bernard) was quite dry mouthed and we got her used to having her chops wiped from early on, but we had slobber on the walls, the ceiling, the sofa, the kitchen cupboards and mainly ourselves, and the hair so much hair.
The puppy chewing, whilst little puppies chew small puppy sized things, Bernards chew big things, mine destroyed a leather jacket, an iron, a hard hat, too many pairs of shoes to mention plus a pair of steel toe capped boots, and so many brooms she loved brooms 🙄

You have to be careful and limit their exercise when young and stairs and not encouraged as they can do serious damage to joints when coming down the stairs, but get insurance Petplan insurance is best as anything veterinary cost a fortune as they are the size of a small horse so need so much more medication/anaesthetic than a regular sized dog.

My girl was amazing, she was so quick to learn, we brought her home at 8 weeks old and she only ever pooped once indoors, we did have a few wees but she caught on so quickly (unlike my Cavalier cross breeds that are stupidly slow at learning, my current girl wasn't housetrained at 7 months old and not from the lack of trying) but she was amazing, also learn to say no to people as the will swamp you wanting to fuss and hug the dog, I used to have to stop children hugging her in the street as she wasn't keen on it and rightly so, but you'll get lots of silly comments, mainly about Beethoven (the films) getting a saddle for the dog, asking where the brandy keg is etc etc etc

Photos, here are a few as I don't have many on the computer.

Aw thank you for sharing, she is beautiful. Yes, we know about the hair and the slobber! Our old mastiff was a drooly old boy so we got used to taking towels everywhere! We will live in a bungalow for the puppy stage, but it's huge, more like a one storey house with a massive footprint and huge garden so hopefully that will help with avoiding stairs.

Will be ready for the comments! I bet it got repetitive for you. We had an elkhound years ago who all the children wanted to pet as she looked cute and fluffy, she wasn't keen on sticky fingers so used to fending off would be puppy huggers 😂

I still have issues with kids and my current dogs as they, well my boy is very pretty and young girls love him, but I have to block some over zealous ones who try to get to him, I had one run towards us arms out shouting puppy, we quickly turned on our heel and headed in the opposite direction much to her dismay 😂

Oh Mastiffs are gorgeous and drooly, so you have previous experience, I once managed to rock up to work with a huge foamy shoe string all down the back of my jacket, still not sure how it happened as I used to dress for work at the last minute and then belt down stairs and out the door just stopping to grab car keys and handbag that had been left strategically by the front door to aid hair and slobber free exit, my boss was trying to gently draw my attention to it but I was completely oblivious.

So rain ponchos for all! Good to know. Are they generally mouthy puppies or not too bad? Already googling toys and beds, although ds (3) is insistent the pup will sleep with him! 😂 (not happening!)

little guy

I'm sorry but that made me giggle laugh I imagine he'll be bigger when you first take him home than my cavalier is full grown!

Best of luck with your gentle and slobbery giant.

She really wasn't too bad but she loved to chew thing just not hands and faces, biggest problem she had was just not knowing her size and strength, she used to knock my nieces over like skittles and she knocked me and my husband over a couple of times, not on purpose, well not me, but she caught my husband in the back of his knees and flipped him over in a proper somersault, but we learnt to side step when she was charging about, she didn't have a nasty bone in her body, they really are the best dogs, but I couldn't own one again as it would never stack up against her.

Did you puppy crate train GreyHare? I understand the puppy won't fit for long but have always done it for toilet training!

Hello, no, it was before the crate craze came along, but we did use a baby gate to enclose her in the hall and kitchen when very young, but she was an absolute breeze to toilet train, she never had an actual dog bed either, we started with a huge cardboard box and vet bed and then moved onto a folded up duvet, but she just used to flop on the carpet/ or clamber on the sofa or if warm she would flop on the Lino in the kitchen or she would sleep outside on the paving slabs.

My Bernard is a mum to 7 adorable 6 day old puppies i love the breed the easiest i have had to toilet train and never been a big chewer she gets threw bones tho