Question re: St Bernard

Rocky2 wrote:
I have had Saints and Newfies, both well over 175 lbs. Before you harness either breed, define what you are trying to accomplish. If the goal is to allow them on a tie out at a campsite when the adults are not present..I question doing that at all. If adults are present, rather than a harness I would consider a run line with bungee connection. A committed St Bernard will break almost anything you can tie him/her to. I tied up my St Bernard female (225 lbs) to the bumper of old full size Ford station wagon. While talking with someone about 20 feet away, she pulled the car out of park and rolled the darn car over to me.

LMAO picturing that scene, that would have gone viral on YouTube.

As you can tell by this, though, a dog the size of a Saint could pull out anything you tie it to, and could do damage to itself or something else in the process. At a campsite, I sometimes use a pair of ex-pens for my dogs, but only if I am with them and, honestly, that would not be a viable option for a Saint, who could knock the portable fencing down in 1 second flat. If I were your daughter, I would start with some obedience training first and go from there.

As an owner of a large breed dog myself, I can honestly say that a harness is the last thing they need unless they are used as a working dog. A few jerks on the neck under its own power and it will learn where the end of the lead is, not to mention the pure strength of the neck muscles in a dog. I would just get a good strong collar (NO PLASTIC BUCKLES FROM WALMART) and go with it. I use a standard chain choker collar for vaccination tags and walking, but when it comes to tieing out to a picnic table he get a super strong collar and a double cable, and he still can drag a picnic table that takes 4 people to move.

I used this type Step-in on my 8 year-old girl following throat surgery for laryngeal paralysis. She was never allowed to wear a collar again due to the associated risk factors. She was a calm, sensible girl and at 8 the youthful zoomies and silliness were a thing of the past. If your daughter's dog is likewise this type might work for her as well. I would strongly suggest that if she goes this route that for the first few times he is tied out that it be under close supervision to see how he reacts in it to various stimuli. Caveat :) if he too is the longhair variety do not leave the harness on any longer than necessary. It's a beyotch about tangling the coat, especially a wet coat!

How about a padded leather collar.......LINK

Go Dogs wrote:
I would use caution, here. Honestly, a 150 lb. muscular dog with a harness could pull down many, many things that he might be tethered to. Think, porch, fence, etc. Harnesses are used for pulling contests and sled dogs-they allow a dog to get great leverage.

Exactly.
I wont' go on a tethering rant in general, just point out that it is a particularly bad idea in this case, for the reasons mentioned above.

This is their first summer at that lake house, so no past experience. They've been letting him be on the lead for awhile, with a collar, but that's not good for his neck. He doesn't have a harness, it was me who thought that might be a better solution. I've never had big dogs so I know nada. Thanks for the input.

I have had Saints and Newfies, both well over 175 lbs. Before you harness either breed, define what you are trying to accomplish. If the goal is to allow them on a tie out at a campsite when the adults are not present..I question doing that at all. If adults are present, rather than a harness I would consider a run line with bungee connection. A committed St Bernard will break almost anything you can tie him/her to. I tied up my St Bernard female (225 lbs) to the bumper of old full size Ford station wagon. While talking with someone about 20 feet away, she pulled the car out of park and rolled the darn car over to me.

Buy a length of nylon webbing long enough so that you can tie a figure-8 that loops around each leg and over the dog's shoulders and secure with a tape knot. Clip your lead onto the top of that, or use a bowline.

Tape knot

I would use caution, here. Honestly, a 150 lb. muscular dog with a harness could pull down many, many things that he might be tethered to. Think, porch, fence, etc. Harnesses are used for pulling contests and sled dogs-they allow a dog to get great leverage.

No, not for walking. He walks nicely. They live in a summer house on a lake front and sometimes put the dog on a 20' tie-out so he can chase ducks, splash at the water's edge, etc. It's not a hazardous situation and he isn't left there for hours. It's not a public park and the neighbors all know him. So I was asking like if you might tie-out a large dog at a campsite, if there was room and it was safe.