I haven't known many St Bernards but do have an opinion on the "visitors".
Next time you see one of them, bait it to keep it around until the animal control officers or humane society can pick it up to get it out of the neighborhood!
I live on a farm also, and in lake country,and we get visiting neighbor dogs, but we know them and have good relationships with our neighbors. We trust their dogs and they trust ours. When we have had strange dogs around, we call the neighbors to see if they know the dog and if not the local humane society gets a call. Often people drop off dogs on the roadside at the end of the summer when they go back to the city from their vacation wonderland. It's sad especially for the animal who never asked to be treated unfairly.
If you are concerned for your safety ad that of your family, by all means make the call.
We have more of a coyote problem here instead of bears. One breed that has worked out on two area farms is a Newfoundland. I know that some of the other neighbors say not to trust them completely because they may turn on you. I've never seen evidence of this, but it would be worth looking into this breed. Some of the things you want to watch out for when researching breeds are phrases like, "protective", "needs socialization", "loyal to one person". These can be code words for "possibly aggressive", but no author wants to turn off potential sales of a book by slighting one breed over another. Most dog breed books are positive in nature so you need to learn to read between the lines.
I think if I were looking for a dog in bear country, I'd get one that will bark a warning and then run real fast! LOL
Good luck in your search!
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