Saint Bernard. Saint Bernard Dog Complete Owners Manual.

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

About the Authors

Chapter 1: Introduction...................................................................

Chapter 2: The St. Bernard...............................................................

Chapter 3: Choosing a Breeder..........................................................

Chapter 4: Vital Statistics

Chapter 5: Temperament

Chapter 6: Before You Buy

Chapter 7: Choosing the Right Dog

Chapter 8: Health Problems

Chapter 9: Daily Feeding and Care

Chapter 10: House Training

Chapter 11: Medical Care & Safety

Chapter 12: Grooming

Chapter 13: Socializing

Chapter 14: Training

Chapter 15: Poisonous Foods & Plants

Chapter 16: Caring for Aging Dogs

Chapter 17: Rescue Organizations

Chapter 18: Resources & References

About the Authors

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George Hoppendale is an experienced writer and a true animal lover. He enjoys writing animal books and advising others how to take care of their animals to give them a happy home.

Asia Moore is an animal lover, professional Dog Whisperer and experienced Author who has written more than 100 breed specific books.

Asia lives on Vancouver Island, off the west coast of British Columbia, in Canada, and believes that with the right training, all humans and dogs can live together in harmony.

She and her dog whispering detective team, which includes an 9-year-old Shih Tzu named Boris, train humans and rehabilitate canines by teaching dog psychology to human guardians, in order to prevent or help alleviate problem behaviors that arise through common as well as unusual misunderstandings between humans and their canine counterparts so that everyone can live a happy and stress-free life together.

Visit Asia and her dog whispering team online at:

www.K-9SuperHeroesDogWhispering.com and

www.MustHavePublishing.com

www.EduMal.tv

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Chapter 1: Introduction

It’s important to gather as much information as possible before you take the plunge to share your home with a furry friend.

The St. Bernard Dog Complete Owner’s Manual will answer the questions you may have when researching this purebred canine. If you are considering sharing your home with the very large St. Bernard, this manual is for you.

Learn all about this canine with the alpine rescue history including facts and secrets, and how to care for every stage of the St. Bernard’s life.

This book contains all the information you need, from choosing a breeder and finding the perfect puppy to how to care for an aging dog.

In addition, you will learn about transitioning through house breaking, adolescence, daily care, health problems inherent in the breed, feeding, grooming, training, first commands and beginner hand signals as well as the end of their life, so that you can make an educated decision when deciding whether or not the outgoing and muscular St. Bernard is the breed for you and your family.

As well, this manual contains valuable information, tips and tricks that can easily be applied to any breed of canine.

Chapter 2: The St. Bernard

The friendly and patient St. Bernard is a powerful, large-sized purebred canine that is a member of the Working category.

The appearance and size of the St. Bernard will largely depend upon the appearance and size of both parents, but we will learn more about this in the following chapters.

A well-socialized St. Bernard will be a friendly, outgoing, gentle and affectionate large dog that is known for their watchful, dog nanny skills for watching over young children.

This dog is quite inactive indoors and they will need their exercise whether or not they want to in order to stay fit and healthy. They need to get outside and move about on daily disciplined walks as well some playtime in the back yard to keep them happy and in good shape.

The St. Bernard is a dog that enjoys romping in the snow and giving them a job to do, such as carrying weight in a backpack or pulling children on a wagon or sled will give them a sense of purpose.

They love children and will truly enjoy as much companionship as they can get, otherwise, if they are left alone too much, they will become depressed and bored, which can lead to destructive behavior.

Overall, the St. Bernard is a gentle and calm and friendly dog and because of their large size it will be paramount to ensure that they learn rules and boundaries and how to walk correctly on leash without pulling when they are young puppies, as many of these dogs will outweigh their guardians.

You will want to control such a heavy dog not by attempted force and brute strength, but instead with mental control by developing their will to respect you as leader so that they will follow your commands and directions without question.

Although the St. Bernard is usually a sweet-natured, patient dog that is friendly toward strangers and affectionate with family members, because of their size and powerful strength, you will definitely want to start training early so that you can avoid the usual problems that can occur with a dog that has quickly grown up to be a large and heavy dog that you can no longer control.

You need to be aware that attempting to exert physical control over such a large dog will most often result in you being the loser.

If you are considering the St. Bernard for your family companion, you also need to be aware that this dog comes with a list of serious, and often life-threatening health problems that can shorten their life with many loving dogs dying prematurely from cancer-related or bone and joint problems during middle age (4 to 5 years).

A further consideration is where you live, because after many centuries in the snow covered Alps, the St. Bernard is a cold weather dog.  In other words, this dog will not do well living in a warmer climate, or indeed, even in a home that is kept warm. If you live where the weather gets hot or humid, you will need to make sure that your home is air-conditioned.

Statistics indicate that according to 2015 American Kennel Club (AKC) registrations, the St. Bernard holds the #50 popularity position amongst the 179 registered breeds.

1. History/Origin of the St. Bernard

The modern day St. Bernard was first seen immortalized over 300 years ago, in the 1695 canvas of two paintings attributed to an Italian artist by the name of Salvatore Rosa.  

The earliest known depiction of the breed was two paintings done in 1695. Some attribute these to the work of a well-known Italian artist named Salvatore Rosa.

Although the St. Bernard is no longer used as a rescue dog, they continue to be associated with their original working history that ties them to the Monastery and hospice, in the only mountainous Alps pass between Italy and Switzerland, founded by an Augustine monk by the name of Bernard de Menthon, now named the Great Saint Bernard Pass.

Records indicate that the unique lifesaving work of these dogs evolved over time as they were first watchful companions to the monks during their long winter periods of snowbound isolation.

Many foot travellers who braved the snow covered pass and found themselves in trouble during heavy snowfalls often needed the assistance the Saint Bernard rescue dogs were able to provide.

The Monks used the St. Bernard dogs to patrol footpaths after snowstorms in search of stranded travellers and eventually the trained dogs would be sent out in groups of two to search for people buried in a landslide or heavy snowfall. Once the dogs located a person, the other dog would return to the hospice to get help while the other dog remained to provide warmth to the traveller.

This dog’s amazing instinct to dig beneath the snow to locate and rouse buried people saved many lives and is still a strong instinct in this breed today.

As is the case with many breeds, while many theories exist, the true origin of the St. Bernard may never be known. A reasonable theory is that this dog was most probably the result of breeding the large and heavy Molosser, which arrived in Switzerland with invading Roman armies, with local dogs.

Interestingly, although many people still believe that the St. Bernard rescue dog carried a barrel of brandy hanging from their neck when searching for fallen travellers, the monks of the St. Bernard Hospice firmly deny that this was ever the case.

It is believed that this brandy carrying myth arose from an 1820’s painting by an English artist named Edwin Landseer, who depicted a St. Bernard with a cask around its neck and that this myth was further solidified in a popular 1831 engraving also depicting the St. Bernard with a cask around its neck.

During 1830, as a result of many dogs having perished during two years of uncommonly severe cold spells and a dwindling of breeding stock, the monks began to experiment with cross breeding in an attempt to create a dog with longer hair that they hoped would be better protected from the extreme cold.

As a result of experimental breeding practices, some 160 years after the first breeding records, large longhaired dogs (the Leonberger and Newfoundland) were introduced into the mix and the monks learned the hard way that longer hair was not the answer. Ice would form on the longer hair when the dogs traversed through deep snow, which then added weight that resulted in the dogs no longer being able to work.

The idea of longer hair was discontinued, they gave away all the longhaired puppies and the monks returned to their almost exclusive use of shorthaired dogs for mountain work.

First recognized by the American Kennel Club (AKC) in 1885 and by the United Kennel Club (UKC) in 1920, the intelligent St. Bernard is a large and powerful dog with a friendly and patient temperament.

2. St. Bernard Secrets

The St. Bernard is also known as the Saint Bernard and the Saint and they are nicknamed the Barry Dog and the Noble Steed.

Before they were finally designated as the Saint Bernard, throughout their early history this dog has also been called by many other names, including Alpine Mastiffs, Holy Dogs, Hospice Dogs, Monastery Dogs, Mountain Dogs, Saint Bernard Mastiffs, and Swiss Alpine Dogs.

It was not until 1880 that these Alpine hospice dogs that had provided rescue services to so many were finally given the breed name of Saint Bernard.

Prior to the year 1830, all Saint Bernard dogs were shorthaired.

While the St. Bernard never did carry brandy casks during their rescue missions, the monks still keep casks around for tourist photographs.

Although no longer used as rescue dogs, over the three centuries, when the St. Bernard were used extensively in this role, it is estimated that they rescued more than 2,000 people.

The 1981 Guinness Book of World Records lists a St. Bernard named Benedictine V Schwarzwald Hof that weighed an amazing 315 pounds (143 kilograms).

Barry (Barry der Menschenretter), the most famous St. Bernard hospice dog, with more than 40 rescues to his name, rests in a monument in the Natural History Museum in Berne, Switzerland. 

Now, before we get any further into this book, it’s important that you please understand that much of the content written in this book can be applied to EVERY dog, because when it comes right down to it, a dog is a dog no matter what size, shape, color, price tag or fancy purebred or hybrid name we humans might ascribe to them.

Every dog has a uniquely wonderful set of gifts to share with their human counterparts, if only us humans would listen. They tell us when they are unhappy, when they are bored, when they are under-exercised, yet often we do not pay attention, or we just think they are being badly behaved.

Many humans today are deciding to have dogs instead of children and then attempting to manipulate their dogs into being small (or large) furry children. This is having a seriously detrimental effect upon the health and behavior of our canine companions.

In order to be the best guardians for our dogs, we humans need to have a better understanding of what our dogs need from us, rather than what we need from them, so that they can live in safety and harmony within our human environment. Sadly, many of us humans are not well equipped to give our dogs what they really need and that is why there are so many homeless, abandoned and frustrated dogs.

As a professional dog whisperer who is challenged with the task of finding amicable solutions for canine/human relationships that have gone bad, once humans understand what needs to be changed, almost every stressful canine/human relationship can be turned into a happy one.

The sad part is that many humans are simply not willing to do the work and devote the time necessary to ensuring that their dog’s needs are met. Almost all canine problems are a direct result of ignorance or unwillingness on the part of the canine guardian to learn what the dog truly needs.

First and foremost, our dogs need to be respected for their unique canine qualities. For millennia, dog has been considered Man’s best friend, and in today’s society, when we want to do the best by our canine companions and create a harmonious relationship, we humans need to spend more time receiving the proper training so that we can learn how Man can be dog’s best friend.

A St. Bernard is a dog and therefore can be Man’s or Woman’s best friend providing that we do the above.  That’s the biggest secret because if the human treats the dog well and understands what the dog needs, the dog will be happy and the owner will be happy. This is a universal truth that applies to any dog, whether a St. Bernard or any other breed.

For example, it is not possible to write a book specifically about How to train a St. Bernard or specifically about what The first few days with your St. Bernard will entail, etc., as while basic training techniques apply to every dog, every dog and every human/dog relationship will be unique.

For this reason, when referring to daily feeding, care, house training, behavioral training, socializing, etc., although there may be specific reference to points relevant to the St. Bernard breed, these chapters are NOT written to apply specifically to the St. Bernard, as much of this information can be applied equally successfully to any dog breed.

Chapter 3: Choosing a Breeder

1. Locating a Reputable Breeder

Although a good breeder cannot guarantee the lifelong health of any puppy, they should easily be able to provide a prospective St. Bernard guardian with plenty of information about the health of the puppy’s parents.

Prospective guardians should definitely ask the breeder what sort of health tests have been carried out on the parents of a puppy they may be considering purchasing.

For instance, a reputable breeder will have had their breeding dogs tested for hip, thyroid, eye or other problems inherent in the breed and prospective puppy purchasers should always inquire about possible congenital problems the parents or grandparents of the puppy might have, including any premature deaths.

2. Meet the Parents

Meeting the mother and father of your new St. Bernard puppy can tell you a great deal about what the temperament and demeanor of your puppy will likely be when they grow into adulthood. The St. Bernard puppy’s personality or temperament will be a combination of what they experience in the early days of their environment when they are in the breeder’s care, and the genes inherited from both parents.

Visiting the breeder several times, observing the parents, interacting with the puppies and asking plenty of questions will help you to get a true feeling for the sincerity of the breeder.

The early environment provided by the breeder and the parents of the puppies can have a formative impact on how well your puppy will ultimately behave as an adult dog.

3. Questions to Ask a Breeder

Get to know your breeder by asking them why they decided to breed the St. Bernard and how long they have been breeding.

Ask if the breeder will permit you to visit their facility and will they give you a tour.

Ask the breeder if they own both breeding parents, or if they do not, ask if they are familiar with or have worked closely with both parents of the St. Bernard puppy you may be considering.

Ask how often the breeder allows the females and males to breed and reproduce.

Ask if the breeder will allow you to see the other dogs in the kennel and notice whether the kennel is clean, well maintained and animal friendly.

Will the breeder permit you to see other adult dogs, or other puppies that the breeder owns, socialize together?

Pay attention to whether the breeder limits the amount of time that you are permitted to handle the St. Bernard puppies. A reputable breeder will be concerned for the safety and health of all their puppies and will only permit serious buyers to handle the puppies.

Check to find out if the breeder is registered or recognized by your local, state or national breed organization.

a) Medical Questions: every reputable breeder will certainly ensure that their St. Bernard puppies