Newbie here and question!

[da-bear]

Hi!  I've been looking for a Saint message board!!  This is great!

My little girl, Millie, will be a whole year old sometime this month - she is a rescue, so i don't have very much information on her background.  We found her at a shelter at 7 months old (how could you give up that face!!)

I would love to know if you saint owners have had the same troubles we have had in her training.  Do you find that your Saint is slow to follow commands?  Stubborn maybe?  I don't want to think that she's ... not bright... but she is definitely not as quick to learn as our other dog (some kind of terrier-mix). Depending on her mood (and how tired she is) Most of the time she'll just stare at me when i ask her to "come".  And then usually you see the wheels turning, and then maybe eventually she'll get up...  Kind of funny to see, but not good enough!!

[Jaimie]

I have no experience with Saints but I am sure someone on here will be along shortly to help you.  Millie is beautiful, you just couldn't give up that face, no way.

[Anky]

I don't have a Saint either, but I have a Great Dane, and many people's conception of them is that they're dumb and hard to train.  They're not if you do it right.  They get bored very easily, and constant repitition is a no no.  If they do it like 3 times in a row, call it a day.  It's very difficult for people who're used to more intense dogs to get used to, but it's just the way they learn.

Ang

[GrumpyBunny]

I don't have an actual Saint, but my Saint mix is very quick to learn, and generally pretty quick to obey.  Of course, he responds to a "come" command much quicker when I have a cookie in my hand, than when I have the nail clippers in my hand! 

I think overall Saints and other large breeds may not be as "high energy" in terms of learning and obedience as some other breeds, but there are other positive trade-offs instead.  And I totally agree with Anky that most large breeds can't really see the point in a lot of repetition.  They are kind of like "I showed you I can do it once, why should I show you five times?"   

I also believe large breeds do tend to make up their own minds on things they think are "worth their time" more than some other breeds might.  A lot of this possibly stems from the jobs they were traditionally bred to do - jobs that involved some independant thinking and decision making on their parts...  

But you may find, once the real Saint owners start to respond that I am totally wrong, or that it varies greatly from dog to dog... 

 

[jabear]

Congratulation s on her impending birthday! You have one beautiful girl there. I think that overall they might be a tad more stubborn than other breeds but like with anything consistency is they key to making it work. Yummy treats, making it fun and consistency should get you a happy puppy that listens soon! Good luck!

[shangrila]

Hi da-bear. Welcome to BPO!

I have a 14 month old saint named Zoey. I find that she is a little slow to learn. It can be frustrating sometimes, because I find she is often slow to respond unless I've got food (if theres food involved, she's very eager to do whatever tricks it takes to get it). I think that part of it is just that saints are usually very mellow, another part is that being so huge it physically take longer to get up from a sitting/laying position, and part of it is that saints just aren't at the top of the dog IQ scale. But I'd take a 'slow' dog with a good temperment over a smart one who was aggressive any day. Zoey may not be the brightest bulb in the box, but she sure is the sweetest and prettiest and I love her the most.

[Yaz]

Hi Da-Bear;
Your Saint looks quite adorable. Congrats on getting a rescue Saint as well. I have a five and a half month old Saint Bernard pup named Guinness and he's our first Saint. I've trained and owned various breeds from a Norfolk Terrier to a Bullmastiff. Our last dog before Guinness was an Australian Shepherd, so it's been an extreme change in terms of energy, temperment and response to commands. I completely understand your frustration with your pup's taking time to determine if she wants to obey. I remember with my Aussie you'd say jump and he'd jump (literally), so it took some time to get used to Guinness who, when being trained, would ponder his response. But having said that, I would say that his intelligence level is right up there with the Aussie. In fact, he was the top dog in his basic obedience class. And now, at five months, he will sit, stay, down, come, wait, off, etc, with less pondering and more response. The beauty of the Saint is that they do really want to please you. He will work for praise and when he does a good job and gets a verbal reward there is a bounce in his step. Lastly, Saints are considered one of the top ten breeds to train:

"Easy to Train Breeds:

I have trained over 8,000 dogs and am still learning. In my years of experience, I’ve noticed, these are the breeds that were happened to be the easiest to train. They were rarely stubborn, dominant, or became aggressive toward people, dogs or kids.

    • Maltese
    • Sheltie
    • Collie
    • Saint Bernard
    • Australian Shepherd
    • Toy or miniture Poodle
    • German Shorthair Pointer
    • Pointer

Good luck with your girl and I'm certain as the bond between you will continue to increase and she'll learn to anticipate what you want of her.

[Lyn]

Bubba is my first Saint, but I have been around a few others. They all seem to have the "Do I feel like responding right now" type of attitude. Of course that attitute disappears all together if you have food. lol

Training took alot of patience. With Bubba it takes him about 5-6 seconds to sit. He slowly moves his butt to the floor. Same with down, 5-6 seconds to put his butt down then another 5-6 seconds to lower his upper half. He learned both commands really quickly. He's just a slow mover.

[Anky]

With Bubba it takes him about 5-6 seconds to sit. He slowly moves his butt to the floor. Same with down, 5-6 seconds to put his butt down then another 5-6 seconds to lower his upper half. He learned both commands really quickly. He's just a slow mover.

Hahaha that just SO reminds me of Sanity.  If I say "SIT" he'll start to move reeeaaaallllyy yyyy slowly.  Then he'll pause halfway down and look at me.  I have to say "On your BUTT!" before he'll go down the whole way.  It's like "Ummmmmm what was I supposed to do again?"

Ang

[GYPSY JAZMINE]

I don't have any experience with Saints per say but I know Pyrs were bred into the Saint lines in the late 1800's along with Newfies to strengthen St. genectics & bring the St. breed back from the edge of extinction...M y Pyrs Samson & Pippin are very smart dogs, no doubt, but with Sammy at least, it takes him a bit..He's a big ol' boy & it takes a minute to get to complying with a command...lol!

[da-bear]

Thanks, everyone!!
This is my first SB, so i'm still not entirely used to her behavior (even though i've had her since February!) Our Stella-dog (we think she's Basenji/Rhodesian Ridgeback/Pit Bull) is very quick and obviously smart, if not manipulative. 
Millie the Saint, however?  I've never met a goofier, happier pup.  She's a real doll, but 'will work for food' is probably her motto.
The only command that she does with no problems is 'sit', but that's probably because she was going to do it herself, anyway. 

And shangrilarcadi a:  I'll take the slow dog, too. Hands-down.

[DixieSugarBear]

The only command that she does with no problems is 'sit', but that's probably because she was going to do it herself, anyway. 

That is so  a Great Pyrenees thing. They will only do it if they have to or they think it is there idea. 

[Saintly Girl]

Maxwell is my first Saint as well.  He's 1 now and it took me 7 freakin months to properly house break him!!!!  Man.  You should have seen those puddles!!!  10 square feet of pee!!  It seemed that no matter how often I put him out he'd do it anyway.  I used tons of pet stain remover and papertowels!!!  Now he will not pee in the house at all.  Even if he's locked up all day and we're at work.  I think it just clicked in his head one day.  As for training, Maxwell is supppper slow.  He did very well in obedience when he was very young but now he seems to have either lost it or forgot his training.  Don't get me wrong, he's not totally dumb.  He still knows certain commands, but a rocket scientist he is not.  You have to be very diligent and do the training constantly.  Every day even or he'll forget.  Supposedly on the Dog Breed Intelligence list Saints are ranked 65 in a total of 79 rankings of breed intelligence.  That's pretty darn low.  They are a great dog and sure they take a bit longer to learn but there are a lot of smart ones too.  Just train her a little every day and she'll be fine.  It was quite different with my cocker. He's a little freakin genious.  He was totally house trained by 11 weeks and still knows every trick in the book.  He's newly deaf now but he's still smart as a whip at 12.

[Saintgirl]

First let me say Congradulation s on getting your Saint! We rescued our boy when he was around ten months old, and he is almost two now. He is our first Saint, but he will not be our last, in fact I can't imagine my life without one. He is far from the brightest dog I have ever encountered, but he is by far the most loving and the most willing to please. Food was and still is a major motivating factor in his life. I have found that throughout the day we would work for maybe five minutes, and then give him lots of time to rest up for the next training session that day. Slowly he started to pick up on it, and once he got it you could almost see how pleased he was that he understood what you wanted him to do. They really want to please, but it takes them a little longer to pick up, so be patient and consistent, she will come along!!