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Interested in adopting a Saint?

DON'T ADOPT A SAINT BERNARD IF YOU...

ARE ATTRACTED TO THE BREED MAINLY BY IT'S APPEARANCE

The appearance of the Saint Bernard you have seen in the show ring is the product of many hours of bathing and grooming.  This carefully constructed beauty is fleeting: a few minutes of freedom, romping through the fields or strolling in the rain restores the natural look.  

The natural look of the Saint is that of a large, shaggy farm dog, usually with some dirt and weeds clinging to his tousled coat.  The true beauty of the Saint lies in his character, not in his appearance.  Some of the long-coated and most of the short-coated breeds' appearances are less dependent on grooming than is that of especially the long-haired Saint.

Saints were bred to share in the work of their master (they are service dogs, used for saving lives, hiking, pulling carts, etc.) and to spend most of their waking hours working with their master.  They thrive on companionship and they want to be wherever you are.  

They are happiest living with you in your house and going with you when you go out.   While they usually tolerate being left at home by themselves (preferably with a dog-door giving access to the fenced yard), they should not be relegated to the backyard or kennel.  A puppy exiled from the house is likely to grow up to be unsociable, unruly, and unhappy.  He may well develop pastimes, such as digging or barking, that will displease you and/or your neighbors.  An adult so exiled will be miserable too.  

If you don't strongly prefer to have your dog's companionship as much as possible, enjoying having him sleep in your bedroom at night and sharing many of your activities by day, you should choose a breed less oriented to human companionship.  Likewise if your job or other obligations prevent your from spending much time with your dog.  

No dog is really happy without companionship, but the pack hounds for example, are more tolerant of being kenneled or yarded so long as it is in groups of 2 or more.  A better choice would be a cat, as they are solitary by nature.

Basic obedience and household rules training is NOT optional for the Saint.  As an absolute minimum, you must teach him to reliably respond to commands to come, to lie down, to stay, and to walk at your side, or on or off a leash and regardless of temptations.  

You must also teach him to respect your household rules: e.g. is he allowed to get on the furniture?  Is he allowed to beg at the table?  What you allow or forbid is unimportant, but it is *critical* that you, not the dog, make these choices and that you enforce your rules consistently.  

You must commit yourself to attending an 8 to 10 weeks series of weekly lessons at a local obedience club or with a professional trainer, and to doing one or two short (5 to 20 minutes) homework sessions per day.  As commands are learned, they must be integrated into your daily life by being used whenever appropriate, and enforced consistently.  

Young Saint puppies are relatively easy to train: they are eager to please, intelligent, and calm-natured, with a relatively good attention span.  Once a Saint has learned something, he tends to retain it well. 

Your cute, sweet little Saint puppy will grow up to be a large, powerful dog.  If he has grown up respecting you and your rules, then all his physical and mental strength will work for you.  But if he has grown up without rules and guidance from you, surely he will make his own rules, and his physical and mental powers will often act in opposition to your needs and desires.  For example: he may tow you down the street as if competiting in a sled-dog race; he may grab food off the table; he may forbid your guests entry to "his" home.  

This training cannot be delegated to someone else, e.g. by sending the dog away to "boarding school," because the relationship of respect and obedience is personal between the dog and the individual who does the training.  While you definitely want the help of an experienced trainer to teach you how to train your dog, you yourself must actually train your Saint.  

As each lesson is well learned, then the rest of the household (except young children) must also work with the dog, insisting he obey them as well.  Many of the Saints that are rescued from Pounds and Shelters show clearly that they have received little or no basic training, neither in obedience nor in household deportment; yet these same dogs respond well to such training by the rescuer or the adopter.  

It seems likely that a failure to train the dog is a significant cause of Saint abandonment.  If you don't intend to educate your dog, preferably during puppy hood, you would be better off with a breed that is both small and socially submissive.

Dogs do not believe in social equality.  They live in a social hierarchy led by a pack-leader (Alpha).  The alpha dog is generally benevolent, affectionate, and non-bullying towards his subordinates; but there is never any doubt in his mind or in theirs that the alpha is the boss and makes the rules.  

Whatever the breed, if you do not assume the leadership, the dog will do so sooner or later and with more or less unpleasant consequences for the abdicating owner.  Like the untrained dog, the pack-leader dog makes his own rules and enforces them against other members of the household by means of a dominant physical posture and a hard-eyed stare, followed by a snarl, then a knockdown blow or a bite.  

Breeds differ in tendencies towards social dominance; and individuals within a breed differ considerably.  You do not have to have the personality or mannerisms of a Marine boot camp Sergeant, but you do have to have the calm, quiet self-assurance and self-assertion of the successful parent ("Because I'm your mother, that's why.") or successful grade-school teacher.  

If you think you might have difficulty asserting yourself calmly and confidently to exercise leadership, then choose a breed known for its socially subordinate disposition, such as a Golden Retriever or a Shetland Sheepdog, AND be sure to ask the breeder to select one of the more submissive pups in the litter for you.  

If the whole idea of "being the boss" frightens or repels you, don't get a dog at all.  Cats don't expect leadership.  A caged bird or hamster, or fish doesn't need leadership or household rules.

A Saint becomes deeply attached and devoted to his own family, but he doesn't "wear his heart on his sleeve."  Some are noticeably reserved, others are more outgoing, but few adults are usually exuberantly demonstrative of their affections.  

They like to be near you, usually in the same room, preferably on a comfortable pad or cushion in a corner or under a table, just "keeping you company."  They enjoy conversation, petting and cuddling when you offer it, but they are moderate and not overbearing in coming to you to demand much attention.  

They are emotionally sensitive to their favorite people: when you are joyful, proud, angry, or grief-stricken, your Saint will immediately perceive it and will believe himself to be the cause.  The relationship can be one of the great mellows, depth and subtlety; it is a relation on an adult-to-adult level, although certainly not one devoid of playfulness.  

The Saint Bernard's thick shaggy coat (long-haired variety) and his love of playing in water and mud combine to make him a highly efficient transporter of dirt into your home, depositing same on your floors and rugs and possibly also on your furniture and clothes.  

One Saint coming in from a few minutes outdoors on a rainy day can turn an immaculate house into an instant hog wallow.  His full chest soaks up water every time he takes a drink, then releases same drippingly across your floor or soppingly into your lap.  

Saint Bernards are seasonal shedders, and in spring can easily fill a trash bag with balls of hair from one grooming session, or clog a vacuum cleaner if left to shed in the house.  

I don't mean to imply that you must be a slob or slattern to live happily with a Saint, but you do have to have the attitude that your dog's company means more to you than does neatness, and you do have to be comfortable with a less than immaculate house.

Most Saint owners begin with some degree of distaste for drool, but as this is an integral part of the Saint, this dislike usually progresses to some level of nonchalance.  

A sure sign of a Saint addict is that not only do they not understand other people's squeamishness for this substance, they spend many hours trying to come up with useful purposes for the gallons of drool that can be produced on a regular basis.  Some say that the world record "drool toss" from an adult Saint is over 20 feet!  This makes your walls and ceilings well within reach of even an average drooler.  

Saint's drool because of their jaw and mouth structure, which allows them to breath while performing tasks, this is a quality inherent in the breed.

If you cannot get used to the idea of drool in your house, then try one of the many breeds of dogs that do not drool.  Saints are definitely not in this category.  Although I have heard of cats who drool, the quantity is not remotely comparable, and hamsters don't drool at all.

The thick shaggy long-haired Saint Bernard coat demands regular grooming, not merely to look tolerable nice, but also to preserve the health of the skin underneath and to detect and remove foxtails, ticks, and other dangerous invaders.  For pet grooming you should expect to spend 10-15 minutes a day.

Saints are not a cheap breed to adopt, as running a rescue program with due regard for temperament, trainability, and physical soundness (hips especially) cannot be done cheaply.  

While the veterinarian work is the main cost to a rescue, the time the rescue volunteers put into each saint's training, socialization, grooming, and related expenses are also costly.  

No dog deserves to be cast out because his owners want to move to a no pet apartment, or because he is no longer a cute puppy, or didn't grow up to be a beauty contest winner, or because his owners through lack of leadership and training have allowed him to become an unruly juvenile delinquent with a repertoire of undesirable behaviors.   

IN CONCLUSION
If all the proceeding "bad news" about Saints hasn't turned you away from the breed, then by all means DO ADOPT A SAINT!  They are every bit as wonderful as you have heard!

NC Saint Bernard Rescue