Saint Bernard dog

Question
Dear Renee
I have a male Saint Bernard dog, 14 months old and he is not aggressive with any of the family members; however, when an outsider approaches him he starts barking    only when this outsider seems reluctant to pat him or shows that he/she is frightened. Furthermore, if the dog is not on leash he might start running out of my home to follow any of these passing strangers; however, he doesn't harm anyone. Please give me an answer as to how I could stop this behavior.

Second question, is that as a result of the dog running away and barking at people outside the house, I started keeping him on a leash more frequent. I take him for three walks per day as well as take him for at least one hour to run on the beach and swim in the sea. As for the rest of the day I either keep him locked up in his room or keep him tied on a leash; however, he is kept in an area surrounded by all the members of the house so he doesn't feel isolated. So, I wanted to ask you a few questions regarding this situation. First, is having him tied on a leash for a big part of the day make dogs more aggressive? Second, is the leisure time I give him per day enough to make the dog happy and satisfied or is it too little freedom time for him and might lead to his depression?

Finally, I was wandering if I let him have sex does this affect his behavior in any way? For example does it make him aggressive or develops a marking habit in the house?

Thank you for your help


Answer
Hi Tamer.

OK, lets start with your dogs maturity level. He is basically still considered a puppy, albeit, a huge one :).
Given this fact, he is in his adolescent phase where he is going to test his limits and try to spread his wings a little. The guarding behaviors you are describing are his attempts to protect his territory and his pack. He's a BIG boy and probably getting a little hard to control, but control you must. I would recommend not allowing him at the door while you are opening it. Set limits for him when people are around and expect respect from him. You have to let him know that you are the leader and portray this through your behavior. Don't let him get all excited (barking and carrying on) around others, as this will only nurture the behavior and make it worse. Make him act in a calm way and reward him when he's calm with a pat on the head or a treat, or whatever motivates him. As far as leashing him, as long as he is dragging the leash and not tied to something, I don't think it would traumatize him in anyway until you can get a handle on his behavior. However, if he is tethered for long periods, it can really hinder your ability to get this under control. Some dogs that are tied out tend to be lungers, barkers, and pullers. I don't feel that a large dog (and puppy) like this should be tied for any length of time as it's not conducive to a stable dog. He's always going to try to get attention and will learn the wrong ways to get it. I recommend you get this boy into some training classes, starting with obedience and then maybe work your way up to pulling or agility of some sort. These can be great ways to challenge a dog of his type and while walks and play are great fun, they are not much of a challenge. Dogs need mental stimulation to be balanced.

As far as the sex thing goes, get him neutered now. This may greatly increase the success of his training. His hormones are going to soon be raging and this will only make it harder to get him to cooperate. Once he starts marking, it is more difficult to teach him to stop it and unfixed dogs can be more aggressive.

So, to sum it up:
1) get this dog fixed.
2) get him in a training program.
3) make him earn his attention with good/calm behavior
4) Set limits and make him follow them.
5) Get control of him now

There are MANY good books on training dogs.

A few authors that come to mind are, Brian Kilcommons, Suzanne Clothier, Cesar Millan, Monks of New Skeet, Patricia McConnell, among many others.

I would recommend you look into getting a couple of books to help give you a guide to go by.

Good luck to you.