Buying A Puppy Suggestions - continues

Come prepared with questions for the breeder.  Ask to see the puppy’s sire and dam; if additional members of their pedigree are on sight ask to see them as well.  This will give you a glimpse as to how your puppy might turn out.  It will also show you the adult size, coat colors, and temperament.  There are two coat types with the Saint Bernard breed, smooth or short-haired and rough or long-haired.  The coat type is a personal preference.  It is not true that a smooth or short-haired Saint Bernard will shed less than a rough or long-haired Saint.  It has been my experience that the opposite is true, when you keep your Saint Bernards in your home.  My smooths have always shed far more than my roughs.  If you keep your Saints outdoors your experience will probably be different.  Saint Bernards drool, some drool a little and others drool a lot.  If you meet the sire and dam, you will have a better idea as to whether you will have a heavy drooler or a light one.

(more tomorrow)