Question for St. Bernard owners....Baby pix of my new..uh..Newfie?

[Beekissed]

I'm wondering what you think about your dogs temperament. Smart, easy to train, docile?

I am coming to a difficult time in dog ownership and am thinking about adding another dog to the mix.

I have an old dog, Lucy, that is GP/lab mix. No one knows exactly how old she was when we got her but she already had several teeth worn down in the front when we did. We have had her for around 8 years now. She had been abandoned on a farm and we took her in.

She is starting to show a lot of pain in her gait, stiffness in her joints and her teeth are now worn down to almost nothing and the gums are inflamed and tender.

We have been blessed with her in our lives but now we must make the decision that no one wants to make. I don't want her to suffer anymore and I think this winter may be the sticking point. I've been babying her along with pain meds and soft foods but I love her too much to make her suffer just because we don't want to miss her.

Now...after that long story...I come to the original question. I currently also have a Choc. lab/BC mix as Lucy's companion, the incomparable Jake. He will literally go to pieces out of loneliness and boredom if she is gone. He is high energy and already makes her life miserable most days by forcing her to play.

There is an ad in the locals for free pups from a Golden Retriever/Lab mix and a St. Bernard. I'm thinking I'd like that combination to replace dear Lucy as a LGD and as a companion to hyper Jake.

Any thoughts?

 

[tortoise]

From a professional dog trainer (me):

It has absolutely nothing to do with breed of dog. Yes, there are tendencies in each breed, depending on the purpose the breed was developed for. BUT, we are so far away from the dog as a working, purposeful animal that these tendencies are often weak.

In every breed you will find all temperaments.

Look at the individual dog. Best to look at adult dogs so you know what you are getting!

 

[Farmfresh]

Since the dog is a mix I would probably like it better, but my hubby's aunt had Bernards and they were pretty nasty, mean dogs both of them. Maybe more about the owner than the breed however.

One thing I do know is that they don't live very long. :/

 

[Beekissed]

I will be looking at the parents of the pups very carefully.

I really like the retriever side of the mix, as I've had labs and lab mixes in every dog we've owned. I find them delightfully easy to train, they make wonderful family dogs and they are great around the chickens and such.

I also find the larger dogs move a little more slowly and seem to be more calm around livestock, so I'm hoping the ST. B part of the mix will add this component.

The GP side of Lucy was what appealed to me...she has always been so slow and gentle.

 

[big brown horse]

Hi Bee, I'm on my third. And none of them have had the same personality.

The youngest (now 3) and newest one did have to be professionally trained (so did I) to be better socialized etc (all of them came from the pound or a rescue), she had the most serious issues...neglected, abused and probably taken from her mother too soon. She is the best darn LGD I could have asked for though. Nothing gets into this yard, not even crows.

She is tall and wirey and very athletic and loves it outside 24/7. She is the smallest and weighs 95#s wet. She is very tall though.

My middle St. (now 11-12 years old) has always been very codependent and would be a lap dog if she could. She loves the chickens etc, but doesn't want to spend too much time with them. She would rather be my shadow. Even though she is codependent, she does well when left home alone. Jane was also a great athlete when she was younger. Tall big boned gal weighes 115#s.

The first one (now gone sadly) was stubborn but dedicated. I think she would have made a good LGD if she had lived long enough to make the move up here with me. She died at 9 from bone cancer. (She was an easy keeper and tended to get fat if I didn't keep my eye on her weight.) She hovered around 125#s...yet she was the shortest of all three...she took after her mama I guess.

They have been the best dogs in the world IMO for different reasons. (They do shed a ton though.) They don't eat much, my lab ate more than them.

 

[Wifezilla]

Growing up one of the neighbors raised st bernards. I remember them being big babies who LOVED attention. All the rugrats (me included) could go right up to them, though there was a big risk of getting tackled or slobbered on

I friend of mine had a mix. Outside dog that tended to hang with the horses, but still very friendly and always wanting a good back scratch

 

[Beekissed]

Great info!!! Sally...glad to see you back, hon! Give that girl a hug and an extra kiss from all of us.

Sal, what you told me is basically what I've heard about the breed all my life. They seem to have the same temperament of the Labs, Newfies, Great Pyrs that I've researched. Smart, sweet, stubborn at times but overall great dogs....I like all those traits in good measure!

I simply LOVE big dogs. Something about them makes me smile....I think I identify with them more or something. We have the same traits....layed back, not easy to rile but something fierce if you threaten someone they love.....and big lovers.

All my labs have been such lovey-dovey, moochy, needy dogs that you just can't help but love them back. They socialize well and easily and they learn everything with lightning speed.

Thank you, guys!!! I'm almost hoping that all the puppies will be taken by the time I call, as I don't take commitments to my animals lightly. Once I get one, it stays for life, goes wherever I go, is part of the family. Commitment likes that makes for a lot of trouble sometimes.....something I don't need right now.

 

[Javamama]

My best friend always had St. Bernards. Nice dogs, but they didn't know their own strength at times, and I couldn't deal with the slobber.
Plus, they tend to have much shorter lives than smaller dogs.

 

[SKR8PN]

I hope those pups are still available.

We had two Saint's when we were growing up. Both were the sweetest dogs you could ever ask for, and were very loyal to family members. Genie was the first, a standard, both big and slobbery, and lived to be about 10 years old and saw me off on my first day of school.
Brandy was the second one. She was smaller and a lot "drier" than Genie in the slobbers dept. She was there for my high school graduation party. My mother spoiled both of those dogs rotten and in return they gave the entire family( and a few neighbors!) love and fond memories.

As far as my mom was concerned, a St Bernard was the ONLY breed of dog worth having. Everything else was just a snack.

 

[MorelCabin]

I LOVE St Bernards...if it weren't for the fact that my hubby would definitely try to turn it into a lap dog (dog lover he is) I would definitely consider one as an outdoor dog. We had friends with one as a kid and he was the best dog ever! Used to hook up a tobaggan to him, put all us kids on it and he would take us on a walk around the block all by himself...and always brought us back unharmed. If you had a hotdog in your hand though he would sit by your side and drool buckets until you lost your appetite completely and just gave it to him