The Saint Bernard, also called the St. Bernhardshund and the Alpine Mastiff, is a large working group dog that developed in Switzerland. They were originally used by monks to locate missing travelers. Today this breed is used for search and rescue as well as for pets.
The Saint Bernard is a large dog that stands between 24 and 28 inches tall and weighs between 110 and 200 pounds. You may best remember the St. Bernard as the type of dog Cujo was. They have a short to medium long coat that comes in multi-color patterns of orange, brindle, red, white, and black.
Beethoven, the famous movie dog that captured every family’s hearts is a Saint Bernard. The Saint Bernard is an enormous dog with a shaggy coat that varies in length.
They have endearing saggy faces with adorable droopy eyes. Adult Saint Bernards are laid-back and they seem to follow you around, constantly wanting to accompany you.
The Saint Bernard breed is not for everybody. Owning one is a commitment and the breed is for absolute animal lovers because they can be very high maintenance. People who have trained and managed their Saint Bernards properly will have very rewarding experiences with the canine.
Saint Bernards are dependable and loyal creatures. They are great family dogs and thrive in human companionship. They don’t want to be left alone. Saint Bernards are miserable without their owners. A large family will be most beneficial for this breed because there will always be people around.
As pups, Saint Bernards are more expressive with their excitement. They are very active and awfully charming. They are large clumsy puppies and they will often use their girth to get their way.
The key to having a manageable Saint Bernard is through socializing, training and curbing unpleasant behavior as early as possible. While they are still young they must be socialized with members of the family. Gradually, they will develop sense of familiarity with his “pack”.
The next thing, and maybe the most important, is obedience and house training your young Saints. It is imperative that owners should potty train them. Give the dog a designated area to eliminate their wastes.
Detect the signs they display when they have the urge to go. Immediately place them to the designated area and stay with them until they finish the deed. Do this consistently until they get used to the idea. Always shower them with vocal praises like “Good Dog!” or show some physical affection after every successful endeavor.
Obedience training is not an option for Saint Bernards; it is a necessity. Basic commands like sit, stand, heel, and come must be implemented to make them manageable. Curb bad behavior by consistently and firmly saying “No!” when disagreeable deeds are done. Be assertive but never harsh. Compliance must be lavishly praised. Saint Bernards are very intelligent and they will catch up in no time.
When they grow up to their gigantic sizes, they will be easier to manage because the early training had conditioned their mindsThe vet will surely thank your determination.
Saint Bernards need regular exercise to keep them fit. They tend to be lazy on their own but they won’t shy away from physical work out if they are accompanied by their owners. Grooming must also be done regularly. Brush their coats frequently to cope with their shedding.
Saint Bernards drool a lot and you must learn to embrace this. It is in their nature.
Spread their feedings into two to three small meals a day. They prone to bloat and may cause serious health problems if not dealt accordingly. Always feed them high-grade dog food which tends to provide better nutrition for your Saint.
Overall, Saint Bernards are devoted and loving dogs. Dealing with them needs patience and determination and when done, as it should be, they are a joy to be around. Their companionship and dependability is worthwhile.
How do you stop a St. Bernard puppy from jumping on people
Get a prong collar ans leave it on. When it attempts to jump in a stern voice along with a correction from the collar should stop this. Say no and pull back on leash! Good luck
Put your dog on a leash and put the handle around a door knob on the opposite side of the door that the dog is on, and close the door. Put your dog in a “sit” and walk up several times, and reinforce the “sit” by saying Good Boy or Good Sit. Greet the dog only when he does not jump and praise. Do this with several other people too. You can also teach the command “4 on the floor” and only touch or praise when the dog has all 4 paws on the floor. You have to practice this and always be consistent and NEVER praise jumping by laughing or allowing it. You can also turn away every time he tries to jump and say “no” and give no attention until all 4 paws on the floor.
I got a saint bernard puppie and I CAN NOT get her to stop biting me. I get a toy for her to chew on and she will chew it for a min. and go right back to going after my hand. HELP!
What is your response when she bites your hands?
I have the exact same issue with my 15 week old saint bernard. Nothing I do has changed his biting behavior, other than giving him rawhides…but apparently rawhides make some dogs really sick and mine is one of them. Sigh. I’ve tried saying no very sternly, pretending to be in pain with and without walking away after, keeping my body in a “dominant” position while reprimanding, and giving him another toy (that he abandons after a minute just like yours). For now, I send him outside every time he starts biting. I think it’s gotten about 30% better, but it’s still not good. We’re considering a shock collar because nothing else works (even giving him a smack does not phase him one bit). I also bought a bunch of treats/toys that are supposed to keep him occupied like JumBones, Busy Buddies, Nylabones and a Kong. I also found that when he’s really biting a lot- sometimes that means he needs a nap (just like a toddler would). Good luck!
The biting is so annoying, but the pup will grow out of it in time, you just have to ignore puppy when they start chewing on your hands,legs etc, but also saying no in a stern voice, iv got a 4 month old st bernard, he is still biting, a little, but as i said they will grow out of it, and lets hope we dont all need valium by the time that happens lol
Truthfully, this is not good advice. For several reasons:
1- Plenty of dogs don’t ‘grow out of it’. We frequently get calls at my company from dog owners looking to help dogs who are 1-2 years old and are still nipping. They thought the dog would grow out of it but never did.
2- Even if the dog physically grows out of the behavior, and it may not, addressing the biting allows you to go after the deeper relationship issues. Saying that a dog will grow out of bad behavior allows them to do bad behavior and get away with that. With all dogs, especially a large St. Bernard, this sets you up for having an imbalanced relationship.
3- Telling isn’t training. Simply telling the dog ‘no’ in a stern voice sets you up for big problems. It may work to use a stern voice in the beginning but early every dog will eventually realize that a stern tone is meaningless and that is how you end up with people who are yelling at their dogs and their dogs don’t pay attention.
4- Ignoring isn’t training. This fosters the behavior and allows bad behavior to continue. This sets you up for a lifetime of a bad relationship with the dog.
But still it is okay to say no in a stern voice
That depends because, when you do tell a dog to stop or whatever you still have to train it to not do the things you don’t want it to do and the things you do want it to do, so you should properly train it than not properly train it you know?
But if that is all you are doing then it will likely work against you. Saying no in a stern voice is not dog training.
So how do you “train” them properly if “no” is not the correct way to do so. I just adopted a 1 y/o St. Bernard and he has some basic training I can see. But he def needs a lot of work. I took him to the pet store today, for socializing and a harness, and he was very difficult to manage. “No”, “stop” and even a swat on the back didn’t stop him from lifting his leg on every isle corner. He seems to be a great dog with a ton of Intelligents.
It’s not that ‘no’ isn’t the correct way. The word is meaningless. You could say ‘no’, ‘pickle’, or ‘hogwarts’. It doesn’t matter. What does matter is what goes with that ‘no’. Most people simply tell their dog ‘no’ in a stern voice and think they are training.
Generally we use a leash and training collar and pair ‘no’ with a correction. Dogs are physical learners and not so much verbal learners.
Side note, harnesses are a bad idea for all dogs but especially bad for St. Bernards. Harnesses teach dogs to pull and are awful for training.
Haltis are the best thing. For the most part there is no pulling. But I have the same issues with biting…. and listening… and peeing in the house. Im lost as to what to do with her. If I cant get her under control soon then I may have made a huge mistake and hate thinking that.
I am 100% with a Halti. My Saint Bernard is now 8 months. She is not thrilled with this, but it has been my savior when it comes to walking, also when people come over, as she is a bit of a jumper with adults, but getting better.
Hi, we have just adopted a 11/2 to 2 year St. Bernard from the pound. He is very active and seems to have had very little training. He has already gotten out of the yard. Do you have any suggestions on training or collars or obedience training. We also have three cats and he did not do well with them!!!! Any suggestion would be appreciated.
When you say he got out of the yard do you mean you were there with him or he was alone? If you need him to stay in the yard while you’re gone you’d need a hidden fence, we use the Dogtra brand.
The training I’d recommend would be one of these two-
http://www.dogbehavioronline.com/foundation-obedience-p/
http://www.dogbehavioronline.com/advanced-ecollar-obedience-p/
I’d say it’s pretty important to start getting that big guy under control. Nothing worse than having a large dog that doesn’t understand rules and boundaries.
i have a st bernard of about 4 months years old and i have him tied up and when i untie him and i want him to follow me he does for a while then he sees somebody else and then follows the other person like if he doesnt know that im his owner what do i got 2 do
You want an off leash trained dog before you even have an on leash trained dog. You have to go in order, first train the dog on leash and then start working on off leash obedience.
mm ok ill try hopefully it works
I have a 5 mth old St. Bernard. She is already at 70 lbs and she is very well trained and obedient at home but when I take her anywhere, to the vet, the groomer, she pulls me, jumps, is just extremely overly excited. Any suggestions on what I could do to get her to calm down away from my home? I am afraid to take her to parks and places until I get her under control.
First ask yourself what you did to get her to be very well trained at home. If it worked there, what is stopping the same method from working elsewhere? If the method that worked at home won’t work elsewhere then you know that you need entirely new methods.
Second, I always look at the training tools we’ve got. A lot of people start out behind the 8 ball because they’re using retractable leashes, harnesses, etc. Make sure you’ve got the right leash, right training collar, etc.
Third, what type of correction are you using when she acts out in public?
I was told to use a prong collar because she is so large so I got one and the rubber tips for it. As for at home I dont even need to use it she walks on a leash in my yard without pulling and I can let her off the leash and she listens to me but in public she is so people friendly that she pulls and wants to jump on people. An example would be when we go to the vet or groomer they are both on very busy streets and she wants to jump out of the car and I’m afriad she will run in the road and get hit so I have to crack the door and reach in and grab her leash then she gets out pulling and jumping and I try to correct her and make her sit until she calms down like I have been shown but it just isnt working for some reason but when we get home I can say sit and open the car door and she will stay calm and not dare jump out of the car even with the door open until I grab her leash and say come. I have tryed the same things I do at home in public but it just isnt working. Someone told me that she is just excited to be out and she would grow out of it but I am not willing to bet on that because when she gets to be 150 to 200 lbs I want to know that I can take her places without being worried. Any advice would be very helpful thanks!
You’re right, she won’t grow out of it. If anything, she’ll grow more into it.
The old excuse of ‘the dog will grow out of it’ drives me nuts because the dog is deriving pleasure from the activity. Why is the dog going to stop getting pleasure just by getting older?
It sounds to me like you’ve got a technique issue. Corrections should be quick little taps, never any pulls. I’m not seeing it but what you’re describing makes it sound like you’ve got tension on the leash. It needs to be slack at all times, only tight for brief moments while the correction is administered.
You are right. I was told to wrap the end of the leash around my left hand while holding the end closer to her tight with my right hand. It has worked with some things but I will try with the leash being slack. Thank you so much!!!!!!
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I have a 2 yr old male saint bernard, he is a great dog all the way around, EXCEPT for peeing in the house. I cannot get him to stop. I’ve tried no, the crate, spanks on the butt, tapped him on the nose along with very stern no, and ive tried putting him outside alone. I cant get him to understand thats not ok. Any suggestions, im getting a bit desperate and so is my carpet.
Thank you
Million dollar question:
Are you correcting him in the moment he pees or after?
He usually only does it at night, but when I have seen him in the process I correct him then. Right now its still pretty cool at night here in Florida, so I guess I could just leave him out at night. Im worried though when summer comes. He has to stay inside.
If you can narrow it down to when he does it, at night, then you need to attack that weakness. Crate him at night, use a bathroom to contain him, or whatever you can to make sure he doesn’t have free run at night until he’s earned it.