Welcome to the South East Saint Bernard Web Site.
Hi my name is Rainer and I am married
to Zoë .We have 5 children they are Natasha who is engaged to Terry who
gave us our first grandchild, Lucy-Jane in January 2003, David, Stuart, Andrew
and Marianne. And of Course there are Ali and Lou Lou our beloved Saint Bernard's.
Ali arrived in February 2003 aged 7 months old, and Lou Lou arrived in October
2003 aged 8 weeks old. We had a few problems settling Ali in after he came
to us, which we have still not over come, but with the help of two very good
breeders (Chris & Penny Williams And Tom & Gwen Harwood) we hope to
over come the lack of socializing. This I believe is down to the breeder ALBERT
SCHILDT in Kent, when we visited he spoke as if he had been breeding for a
long time, when in fact, Ali was from his first ever litter and Albert was
a complete NOVICE. He had failed completely in the socializing of Ali, but
by the time I had realized that Ali had a problem that I would probably not
be able to overcome on my own, it was too late, Ali was now a part of our
family and we would not be able to part with him. But in saying that Ali has
a problem, it does not mean he is a bad dog in fact quite the opposite is
true. With the family and friends that he knows, you could not find a better,
better-balanced dog. But as soon as we go to somewhere that he does not know
he changes and wont let any strangers near him, any how that is something
that we are working on and with a little luck we might be able to get him
to be a bit more at ease with strangers. Now to Lou Lou she is the complete
opposite of Ali, she actively seeks out people to play with, this is obviously
because we got her at a much earlier age and after having spent many an evening
speaking with the breeders Chris and Penny Williams, I know that they put
a lot of time into making sure that their puppies are properly socialized
and ready to be homed with a new family. We have made fantastic strides with
Ali, and he so much more at ease with strangers, and not so aggressive anymore.
For this I would like to thank; Chris & Penny (Vikingstar), also Tom &
Gwen (Alpennine) for all the help, advice & time they have given me over
the past few months. Finally, if you are thinking about buying a Saint Bernard
puppy please be very careful where you buy from, because there are a lot of
people who only breed for the money and they don't really care about the quality
of puppies that they are selling to people. After my past experience I feel
it is only fair that people should be made aware of these so called breeders.
What I actually mean to say is that just because your dog has 20+ puppies
it does not make you a good breeder that you will find is down to the two
dogs concerned. It is just so sad that people can buy a couple of dogs and
then call themselves a breeder but fail to keep within the Kennel Clubs Code
of Ethics, by not giving the help and support to the puppies / dogs new owner/s.
So BEWARE.
It has been very very hard work but Ali is now a different dog, people can
now come into our house and Ali does not growl or bark at them any more. This
has been a very testing time for me and my family, and at one point we nearly
gave up on him and had him euthanased as I felt we, could no longer cope.
Again thanks to Chris and Penny (Vikingstar) who spent many hours with me
on the phone giving me encouragement and advice which in turn saved Ali's
bacon, I just thank the lord that there are people like them about who help
even when they are under no obligation to do so. I had to be very tough with
Ali, but it worked out well and in the end we got there. The moral of this
tale is don't give up on your dog it may not be his fault and just be careful
where you buy your Saint Bernard puppies from.
Lou Lou has just had her second season, oh boy was this hard work, and I am
now at the point where Lou Lou is being a bit of a flirt with Ali, and is
driving him nuts with desire. Or is it Love. Well Lou Lou is still to young
at the moment, we will have to wait and see what might happen at her next
season.
Hello again here is an update to our family life. We became the proud grand parents again with our first grandson 3 months ago, and last week we were told we are expecting our 3rd grand child next year. Boy oh boy all these grandchildren are starting to make me feel old. But the good bit is spoiling them all day long and being able to give them back at the end of the day, COOL. My dogs have taken extremly well to the new additions to the family, I guess Ali is thinking Oh My God another child to climb and play on me. I must admit the changes in Ali have been fantastic, I am now at the point with him were I dont need to be any where as hard on him as I was, he is now a great family pet. The moral of this tale is dont give up on the dog it might not be his fault.
Hello again, I hope you all had a good Christmas and have an even better New Year. On the 1st of January I gave up smoking and so far so good its been 4 and a half weeks and I feel great for doing it, although the down side is that I have put on a bit of weight, lol, thats not to say that I was overweight before I gave up. We are going to try and produce a litter this year. With a little luck we should have some puppies around August or September. If you are interested then get in contact with me on my Contacts Page. Anyway thats all for now.
Hello everyone, How are you all? Well I hope. I have just added some new Photo's to the gallery page. I am still not smoking, cool. It's been 6 and a half weeks now, and I am still going strong. It won't be long now before Lou Lou has her next season, I will keep you all informed on our progress. Contrary to what a particular breeder says I don't copy from books, In fact I actually read them, but then I can read and write in English. And as for the South of England Saint Bernard Club and the Eastern Saint Bernard Club, I have never spoken to a friendlier bunch of people who are extremely willing to help you with advice and tips, well that is if you don't think you already know it all and try and tell breeders who have been with the breed for the last 40 years or so, that they had vaccinated a puppy to soon, and you have only been in the breed for 4 or 5 years. At the end of the day it is a very good idea to be a member of a Saint Bernard club, because of the wealth of knowledge that is available to you. And if you attend any dog shows be prepared to help as there is a lot of work involved in setting these shows up and any help is always appreciated.
Hello everyone.It has been a few weeks
since I have updated this site, I am sorry but I have been busy. Anyhow, I
am still not smoking, its been nearly 6 months now, and I could not feel any
better, well except for the weight I have put on. Lou Lou's season came and
went, lets wait and see if we have any pups, you never know. You would think
that some people would learn by thier mistakes, ie you have a litter of 21
pups and if you lose 13 of them, you would not then serve up 2 bitches at
the same time, with the possibility of having 20 plus pups again. But then
again if you are in it for the money I would not expect anything differant.
You know who I am talking about. Anyway thats
all for now. See you all soon.