A Saint Bernard mother (usually very caring and loving) breast-feeds her young for approximately 40-50 days: the breast-feeding period depends also on the number of puppies she has had.
A medium-size litter has 4 to 6 puppies, but these females can produce many more. If this occurs, weaning will begin a lot earlier, and sometimes it will need to be helped, by feeding the puppies on artificial (dog-) milk, to alternate with mother's milk. From day 21 onwards, and this goes for a medium-size litter too, it is best to start giving the puppies a little of the artificial milk, to get them used to the feeding-bottle; from the following week you can start giving them a little bit of baby food (baby-food for dogs exist) along with the milk. It is a first step towards weaning itself, which should start at their fifth-sixth week, by mixing a little dog food to their ration made of milk and baby food: this way the puppies will start getting used to chewing solid food, and soon enough they will be ready to make it on their own.

  Be careful of what the puppies could "choose" to swallow, as soon as they learn to feed themselves: dirt and leaves are delicious (and don't hurt), but sometimes the puppies eat stones or pieces of wood, and these could really be dangerous: a piece of wood could perforate the stomach, a stone could cause an intestinal blockage.

  With this term we indicate, in ethology, a basic step in the psychological development of the puppy, who will recognise as specific beings (two- or four-legged) those he has met from the forth week of his life on.
  If the puppies fail to obtain the imprinting on man in this period, it is highly unlikely they will in the future: dogs won't ever socialize all the way with people and they will have no chance of gaining their obedience, trust and consideration. .

At 20 days: worming against ascarides.

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At 35 days: second worming against ascarides.
After 10 days, take a sample of faeces from the puppy and make the vet run a broad spectrum antiparasitical test, to verify there is no presence of various parasites (such as the coccidia). If the exam should be positive, act with the specific medicine.

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At 45-50 days: first vaccination against hepatitis, leptospirosis, distemper and parvovirosis. Use extinguished vaccine.
After 10 days, third worming. After 5 days, vaccination call-back.

  A Saint Bernard is a dog of "élite", with a small circle of true lovers: even though litters are never to large, it is not an easy task finding a good master for all of the puppies.
  Do not wait, put adds (in newspapers and/or specialized papers) at the moment they're born, to be able to inform and get in touch with the future owners in time.
  Try to make a selection, be certain the future owner is a person who could handle in the best possible way a Saint Bernard: if the interested purchaser doesn't seem to us a person able to keep a dog such as this, all we have to do is tell him that the puppy he's interested in is "unfortunately, already booked".
  After a month of living with a "pack" of puppies, the owner usually struggles between the wish of keeping them all (because they are truly irresistable) and the rush of giving them away (because he's afraid he could be stuck with seven or eight giants in his garden).
  This personal conflict should not inhibit us from acting in a calm and responsible way: puppies shouldn't be handed over before they are at least two and a half months old.
  Even if we have a wide space at our disposal, and we are not preoccupied with the rush of giving them away, let's not make the opposite mistake and wait too long.
  Not only would the dogs suffer in leaving the environment they're accostumed to and what they consider already to be their family, but it could also become a problem finding a new owner for large puppies of four or five months.

  We have a big garden and it seems to us our dog is sometimes lonely.
Why then not keep one of "our" puppies (if we own a female) or a puppy we're entitled to for the mating (if we have a male)?
  It is a possible choice, that incurs, however, a few problems. As long as one of the dogs is an adult and the other is a puppy, cohabitation is peaceful, but as the puppy grows older big conflicts could emerge between them. The mother or father no longer recognize their children, therefore do not hope for parental sympathy: the child becomes a dog like any other to them.
In the case of two males, there could be a fight: the Saint Bernard is usually very peaceful, but if he got in a fight, consequences could be very serious. Among other things, father and son get into competition more often than two unfamiliar dogs.
  If it is a couple, let's always remember that a father and a daughter (or a mother and her son) should never mate: whereas they would certainly try to, because they have absolutely no taboo as far as incest.
  As a matter of fact it is not completely correct to say parents and children shouldn't mate: in breeding this happens quite often. But a mating in such a tight consanguineity implies a perfect knowledge of the blood-lines: if we lack this information (and a private breeder usually does) we are facing the risk of getting puppies with heavy fault.
  The best kind of cohabitation is usually that between two females: therefore, if we have a "lady" Saint Bernard, to keep one of her daughters could be a good idea.
  If we have a male, it is certainly better to keep a female instead of a male puppy: but remember to keep them apart while the female is in heat.