Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I am seriously considering adopting a male 8 month old St Bernard, but there are some problems. I wanted to see if you all could help me out, give me some insight on whether these problems are true problems, or can be fixed or trained away.

More info about me: I have a 3 year old and a 1 year old, and am planning on having more soon. They are my main concern. I have committed the time, lawn space, and willingness to spend training and raising a large dog, and am looking for the right one. I have researched the St Bernard breed, and want to try to adopt one before buying a puppy. I'd like an indoor dog that I'd take on walks every day.

More about Bruce, the puppy:
According to the owner and my observance, he was pretty good-natured, curious, and after 15 minutes, let me pet him and rub his tummy. But guarded.

He was skittish and suspicious when I first came onto his front lawn, but appeared to WANT to like me and my baby. It took about 15 minutes for him to trust me, but in a guarded way. I stood up too fast and he jerked. From what I read, they should be confident and friendly. Is this behavior normal?

When I gave him a treat, he snapped too fast and almost bit me. BUT that can be easily trained, right?

He limps when he walks. I think he has a hip problem, but the owner says he's always had it and they have been giving him vitamins for it.

He is not house trained, but he's never made a mess in the house. He lives outdoors, but comes indoors freely. He lives with three other dogs, and is not at all aggressive. He has never had obedience training, does not like leashes, did not come when the owner called him until he felt like coming, and has not been fixed.

SO.... is this too much for me to take on? Is it very difficult to re-train an 8 mo old St Bernard?

Just a couple of thoughts. I'm guessing the owner of this dog has never properly socialized them or at least the pup. That could be the reason for him to display that guarded behavior. How did the other dogs act towards you? Not liking the leash, no obedience training and not obeying the owner would be enough to send up a flag. The red flag to me would be the limp. Since this breed can have a history of hip dysplsia it might be worth having the owner at his expense take the pup to his vet and give it a thorough examination up to and including having xrays taken. If the person balks at all of this it might be well worth it to search out a more reputable breeder. Good luck and let us know how you make out.
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If there are no dogs in Heaven, then when I die I want to go where they went.

Oh goodness, do NOT get this dog to come live at a home with small children! This is not the right temperament for a Saint Bernard. With kids that young, I would also recommend that you get a very stable dog who is at least a year old. Puberty is a very wild time for dogs, and that could be dangerous with tiny children.
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Kathy Diamond Davis, author, "Therapy Dogs: Training Your Dog to Reach Others," 2nd edition, and the free Canine Behavior Series articles at http://www.veterinarypartner.com/Content.plx?P=SRC&S=1&SourceID=47

With children in the house and the shy behaviors you are describing, I personally would not take this dog into my house.

MANY behaviors can be worked with and trained through. I believe most of what you are describing with this dog could be dealt with by a person with extensive behavior knowledge, time to train, patience with the progression, and TLC.

You- with children to deal with- it would not be fair to the dog to be put into a situation where if the children make a mistake and he misinterprets their intentions and acts out accordingly- he would possibly bite them and bite them to a point where the only choice would be to put him down. Another caution I would have with this dog and children would be his hip issues. An 8 month old dog should not be limping and no vitamins will solve that problem. An injured dog is not a safe dog around kids. It's sad, but it's just reality.

Sorry to paint such a gloomy picture for you. I love St. Bernards, but when dealing with the mix of kids and dogs together, you need to start out with a dog that is more "bomb proof" and not one that isn't coping well with his current life situation. The kind of dog you need is one that happily runs up to you and asks for attention immediately upon your arrival at his home. There are many St. Bernards that fit that description. They are out there. Just be a bit patient.
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Chelle and the rest of the crew including, but not limited to Kita and Taiko (the shiba inu wrestle maniacs), Adi (reserved and dignified tabby cat), and all 28 reptiles www.freewebs.com/performanceshibas

Thank you for all the replies, I really appreciate them. I think my "gut instinct" was telling me the same, but I just didn't want to believe it. I will just have to keep looking, or buy a pup and start fresh. All the reputable breeders of puppies are at least 100 miles away from me, though!

With two children that young, I do not recommend that you get a puppy. Not only are puppies wild, but dogs in puberty are very large, very immature, and going through dramatic physical, emotional and mental changes. To handle this with two children so young is a long shot.

A responsible breeder will usually have a great young adult dog available to a new home fairly often. Responsible breeders take their dogs back if anything comes up for the owner, and sometimes that is because the pup did not grow up with exactly the right conformation for show. If neutering is done by about a year of age and the dog had a good upbringing, you can tell so much more about temperament in a young adult than in a puppy. And you miss SO many problems.

There may be some hormonal activity in you just now that wants a puppy--that is sometimes part of being a parent of very young children.

Think very carefully. It is often best to wait until the children are 5 to 7 years old before even getting a dog. But if you do want to get a dog while they are so young, you need a very stable dog indeed. Having a child hurt and getting rid of a dog does not make for happy times. It is really best not to start with a puppy in this situation. The best dog to adopt is one who is stable and proven with children. And then, be careful, careful, careful! Read the articles at the link with my signature that are alphabetically listed with "Child" as the first word of the titles. It's a free site, maintained as a public service by the Veterinary Information Network.
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Kathy Diamond Davis, author, "Therapy Dogs: Training Your Dog to Reach Others," 2nd edition, and the free Canine Behavior Series articles at http://www.veterinarypartner.com/Content.plx?P=SRC&S=1&SourceID=47

I have two younger children in my house (4 and 8) and 2 dogs. My second dog came into the house when my son was 3 and my daughter wasn't born yet. I had many many people not want to adopt a dog to me because of my son's age. Rescues have a right to be skeptical and are looking out for the best interest of the dog. Genrally speaking, it's so very true, young children and dogs are a difficult combination. With that said, I do know it can work out, but there needs to be diligence and patience on your part on finding the right dog and knowing that you have the time, energy and patience to train the dog AND children how to live together. Dogs do not intuitavely know how to react to kids. Kids don't intuitively know how to react to dogs. Both need guidence and supervision when around each other. My dogs are not forced to deal with stupid kid behaviors and my tolerance for my kids doing stupid things to my dogs is zero. Both canine and child knows where the line is and know not ot cross it. There's large rewards for being good with eachother and strict consequences for being bad (seperation from situation).

Also, when I got my second dog I got an 18 month old ex-show dog. He had been socialized extensively with cats, dogs, kids, the world. He was confident, but not arrogant or pushy. Had all his health clearances done and was a good fit for our world. He needed more obedience skills than what he came with, but he was a willing learner and I enjoyed the break from the kids to take him to classes and teach him. Eventually my kids came to classes with me and training and working the dog to this day a family thing. Walks for the dogs are shared and not a chore, but a way for all of us to get out of house, get some exercise, and chat about the day. There's less enthusiasm when it's raining or cold, but we can still put on snow pants and run in the back yard together and chase snow balls.

If I had to do it all over again, I'd do the same thing. To this day I doubt I'll ever own a puppy again because the experience of getting an adult dog was so positive for our situation. It did take work. I did get rejected by a large number of people. The experience forced me to figure out my priorities and know I was making the right decision for the right reasons.

Take a long hard look at your situation. Your gut instincts with this St. Bernard puppy were correct. Go from there and good luck.
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Chelle and the rest of the crew including, but not limited to Kita and Taiko (the shiba inu wrestle maniacs), Adi (reserved and dignified tabby cat), and all 28 reptiles www.freewebs.com/performanceshibas

I'm glad you decided against this Saint, and hope you find the one you are looking for.
As others have said, an adult - with known health and temperament - would be a better choice for a family with young children. Working with SaintBernard Rescue, I have considerable experience with Saints of all ages. A well socialized adult will likely "know her size" and be an all around more dependable choice.
Saint Rescue organizations have a number of Saints available with known qualities and shortcomings. Give one of them a call if you're still interested in a Saint.
Best of luck with your choice.
As a caveat, young children should never be left unattended with any dog under any circumstances.