Hi all, I have a 12 month old St. Bernard, who has been reared as a family pet/indoor dog. She can be high strung and does a lot of running around the house (although the door is always opened for her to play outside) She also thinks she owns everything in the house, if left alone even for a minute she will have ripped something up or chewed on skirting board, she has her own toys but prefers to ruin our things!

This behaviour isn't good but now we are going to have a baby in July, so I'm afraid how she will react to the shift in attention. Everyone is telling me we have to get rid of her but I refuse. It's our fault she acts like a spoilt child (if you give out she barks at you and runs away) and she is OUR dog. Any ideas on what I can do?

I agree with you about not getting rid of your dog. When my last child was born we had 6 dogs in the house ;-) The health visitor was horrified, but was told that the dogs were planned, the child wasn't, so the dogs stayed :-D My daughter used one of the dogs to learn how to walk by climbing up her legs and holding on. The dog would very carefully walk forwards a step at a time, with the child in tow :-p

You need to start changing the rules of the household now. Limit where your dog can go, and when. You have time to get her used to it by starting of with a few minutes at a time and building up. When she starts to go manic in the house take her into the garden and close the door so that she can't get back in. Oh, stay outside with her for the first week or so until she gets used to the idea that she isn't being abandoned outside ;-) If she is ruining your things then I would seriously consider getting a cage for her. Again she will need time to get used to this. I would also look to her diet. Some diets make dogs very hyper so she may be on the wrong food.

Above all, take things slowly, you do have time, but be consistant.

I have tried bringing her outside when she starts going manic, I stayed with her for a week or so, which she was fine with. When I started leaving her out there on her own, she figured out how to open the back door and comes right back in!!

I have a babygate on the bottom of the stairs since she was born and she started attacking the spindles(?i think thats what they're called) of the stairs and she finally figured out that she couldn't get through them so now she sits at the bottom of the stairs and just whines and whines.

I have heard it could be diet before so I tried her on a few different brands over a few weeks to see if this made a difference (nope!)

I contacted a trainer today and she is going to come to the house in 2 weeks and she'll hopefully help us out.
MJ sees me as her master so she does listen to me (most of the time-but she is a puppy so she can get excited) but she pays no attention to my partner what so ever. 

It just seems like we've tried alot with no positive feedback!

For starters well done for taking a stand and getting help so you can live in peace with your dog.  Have you googled NILIF?  It stands for Nothing In Life Is Free - I promote this at my training classes because it really can change a persons relationship with their dog.

Do you go to training classes?  I would personally be taking her training each week so you will have plenty to practice with her everyday.  10 mins of training 2 to 3 times per day will make a huge difference.

What are you feeding her on now? 

Hi and welcome

I don't have any direct experience of your breed or your situation sorry.  However there are a few bits of information in your posts that bear some thinking about...

She's only 12 months so still very receptive to training and change.  Can you and your partner get her back to training classes?  It will be very helpful if you can transfer some attention to your partner to take the pressure off you so ask your partner to take over feeding and training for a while.  This might also reduce your dog's attachment to you as you really need to be able to leave the room without her getting distressed.

It sounds as if your dog likes problem solving - opening doors, finding alternative ways round baby gates are good indicators.  Can you find some indoor training exercises to help channel this.  Hide and seek is a good one.  It sharpens recall, gets your dog to search for you, and teaches patience.  Being out of sight becomes less stressful too.  You can also look at food orientated challenges - putting food in an activity ball or a Kong could help to keep her amused.

When you're trying to get her used to being left - do it very gradually.  It helps if you can time yourself, leaving it only a little bit longer each time.  Also, lock the door so she can't come back in!!  Do you have a side gate you can use to go back to her?  This will take the focus off the back door.

Finally - if you're going to make changes with diet do try over a longer period.  Each change can take up to 8 weeks to show if it's working.  Good luck

The health visitor was horrified, but was told that the dogs were planned, the child wasn't, so the dogs stayed

Fantastic!!!Love it.