Saint Bernard Puppies Blog

Most people who may be asked what they think of the Saint Bernard will remember the time they watched a Woody Woodpecker cartoon or TV wherein they have seen a big fluffy hair dog, running about in the snow, with a mini-barrel attached to its collar. It is said that these barrels contained spirits or alcohol that gave weary travelers the boost needed to return home in times of peril in the snow.

The Saint Bernard has always been depicted as a rescuer of lost people trapped by blizzards and avalanches in comics as well as adventure stories. But an important note is that alcohol would caused more harm to a person experiencing hypothermia. However in reality, Saint Bernards do not carry these barrels. But it would be cool if they did, wouldn’t it?

Saint Bernard’s are quite famous for their image of carrying a small barrel of alcohol on their collars while saving someone trapped in the snow. Being a dog of sweet and mellow temperament, they can be dependable protectors when their family is threatened. They are muscular and tall dogs of power with deep chests. With a squarish head, their eyes are dark, black noses and ears that hang loosely down to the face. Feet are large as to keep them from sinking into the snow. Coats are dense and can be either long or short hair with colors usually white with mahogany, red, brindle and tan & black markings.  If one is interested in owning this canine, then read up on the breed standard. The breed standard indicates what a genuine purebred Saint Bernard should look like. It even says what the flaws and faults are. A dog that mirrors the standard is one of quality. But when buying a Saint Bernard one must be aware of scammers who try to cover up flaws and faults. Take a look: Read the rest of this entry »

Looking for a  friendly and playful dog?. You have no worries with Saint Bernard pup!

Save money on vet bills! Do the basic health check yourself.

Look at the face of this Saint Bernard puppy. It is like he is just about to say something…

Providing adequate nutritional needs of our pet dogs is very essential to keep them in good shape and in good health. Quality and quantity should always be considered since nutritional requirements will also depend on their body structure and activities.

If you are caring for a Saint Bernard which usually weigh from 170 to over 200 pounds and has a powerful, strong and muscular body, of course you need to provide them with a high grade quality -dog food that holds at least 40 % of protein, moderate in fats and contains fiber. It would be best to give them two or three undersized meals a day than the habitual feeding which comes ones or twice a day since they are prone for bloating. Always try to be consistent with their feed to maintain their physical condition.

Dogs have become such an important part of our society, that the need for them to fit in well with other human beings and not pose a threat or a disturbance is critical to their long term acceptance by our neighbors and others around us. Not all people are dog lovers and to make sure that they’re not inconvenienced by our pets, training is essential.

Also, dog training is an integral part of a working dog’s life for them to be able to assist humans in activities like hunting and police work. Training dogs is a specialized skill since the key difficulty lies in how to communicate efficiently with them.

All training of dogs is a repetition of the basic principle of reward and punishment in various forms and combinations. Communication of these signals is the key to proper training. One very important thing to remember is consistency of signals. The reliability of the training depends on how well a dog is able to be sure of what your signals mean.

It must also be mentioned that different dog breeds take to training differently. Dogs like the iconic German Shepherd are very easily trained due to their high intelligence. Another important factor is the emotional state of the dog. A dog that is frightened, anxious, or insecure doesn’t train well and this reflects the importance of factors like proper socialization of puppies.

A lot of studies have shown that proper puppy socialization goes a long way towards ensuring a good temperament and receptivity towards training. Lots of handling, petting and generally being around humans in their everyday life goes a long way towards making a dog well behaved and easy to train.

Training Saint Bernard puppies should not begin too early however, as there is evidence to show that before a certain age, the brains of puppies are not significantly developed enough to process complex learning.

Professional dog trainers are best when it comes to training your Saint Bernard dog as they will ensure that the proper habits are set for life, including how to behave around strangers. For the safety of your Saint Bernard, it is your duty as an owner to ensure that he or she is well trained.

Want to solve your dog’s behavioral problems?

Secrets to Dog Training covers all aspects of dog training, including behavioral issues that can ruin the relationship between dog and owner. If you have ever tried to train a dog, you know from experience what a challenge it can be. Here is what’s inside Secrets to Dog Training to help you avoid all the frustration and pain usually associated with training a dog yourself. Among many others, you will learn how to:

• curb your dog’s aggressiveness
• make your dog understand what is right and wrong
• house train your dog
• stop your dog racing in the house
• deal with a dominant dog
• overcome separation anxiety
• stop your dog jumping on people
• apply the cutting edge Dog Whispering technique
• deal with more than one dog in the house
• stop the family cat being harrassed.

Visit Secrets to Dog Training official website for more information.

Now that is a face that is hard to say no to!

What a misconception!!

Did you know that brandy would kill a person suffering hypothermia??? It can help with oversoming shock, but if given when one is near death, it can kill.

St. Bernards are often portrayed, especially in comics, cartoons and old live action comedies with small barrels of brandy worn around their necks. This was supposedly used to warm the victims that the dogs found. However, the monks that origianlly bred them in Switzerland deny that any St. Bernard has ever carried casks or small barrels around their necks. It is believed that the origin of the image is an early painting. The monks did keep casks around for photographs that tourists took, but that was purely for marketing’s sake.

However, the St. Bernard was indeed used for search and rescue.

It makes me very sad that the large-bodied dogs live for the shortest time…why? Is a creature’s life-span indirectly proportionate to his size? Well it seems like it. A Havanese can easily live for over 17 years, while a St Bernard or a Bernese Mountain Dog doesn’t live longer than 8 years in general! I think this is one of the cruelest tricks of nature…no matter what anyone says.

Some health issues that a St. Bernard may suffer from include the following: Hip Dysplasia, bloating, tumors, skin conditions, heart disease, eyelid problems, albinism, bone problems, Epilepsy, skin allergies, laryngeal paralysis, temperament problems and Osteosarcoma which is a bone cancer which has been shown to be hereditary in this breed. Some of these diseases are hereditary and nothing much can be done. With other problems, you CAN do some things to alleviate his problems in the short- and long term.

With bloating for instance: don’t feed him more than 2x a day. Keep him comfortable after a meal. Excessive energy will flip his stomach, due to the deep chest cavity. Try to go on a all natural organic diet, called the BARF diet. It has been known that large dog breeds react well to the BARf diet and it helps to alleviate joint and bone problems as well as bloating. You can help in this way…

Look after your St Bernard. He will love you back ten-fold….even for a short time….

The heaviest and largest dog in known history was a Saint Bernard named Benedictine. He weighed 152.5kg (336 lbs), how a number of further studies bring to light the fact that Benedictine actually weighed: 162 kg (357 lbs). Pretty awesome by any standard!