Oh absolutely. I laughed. Sorry if that didn’t come across. But then I felt guilty putting down my dog to total strangers 
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You are not too old for a puppy, unless you’re over 80, maybe. Contact a few reputable St. Bernard breeders without cancer running in their lines, and let them know that you would like a puppy, or let them know that if a good, healthy dog needs to be returned because the family was overwhelmed, or if they have a retired breeder dog, you would like to have one.
My friends lost their Bernese Mtn dog summer 2020, to cancer. They were devastated, grieving. They got a year old stunningly beautiful, incredibly sweet Berner last January, word of mouth who I bet had been a Christmas puppy for Christmas, 2019, and the family didn’t realize what they were getting into. Anyway, this new Berner has totally healed their grief over the loss of the previous one. So get yourself exactly what you want (which is a St. Bernard who runs true to the breed, with a kind and easygoing personality) from a great breeder, either as a puppy or as a returned dog, or a retired breeder, and be happy.
Our dog was an emergency mental health dog, meaning we picked him up on Dec 26th from someone at a gas station, no records, for one of our kids who had suffered a loss at Christmastime. He came with a false backstory, and undisclosed heartworm, which we cured (expensive). Maybe is a coonhound/chow cross, but no one knows. He is terrified of fireworks and thunder, and now is even afraid of the wind. He has an incredibly strong prey drive, can be aggressive towards other male dogs, desperately wants to kill the bears, deer, coyotes,bobcats and raccoons in our neighborhood. He is an incredible shedder, plus he gets greasy and stinky unless he’s bathed with anti-greasing shampoo twice a month. Fortunately, he LOVES people, especially strangers, amazingly gentle and well-behaved. Totally worthless as a guard dog. He sleeps 20 hours a day. Has incredible control over elimination. Easiest dog you could ever have, and we’ve made a commitment to him for the rest of his life. But I wish that we had gotten a better dog, one that we had chosen by the characteristics of its breed.
You’re going to have this dog for the next decade probably. Ignore what anyone else says, and get what you want.
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Lots of good ideas here. We lost our 12-year old sheepdog just a year ago. I adored her, but I also felt very keenly the absence of a dog, particularly just before Christmas, so we started looking pretty quickly. I initially had the idea of adopting an older dog - a dog with epilepsy had been featured on the website of a wonderful dog rescue group here in Japan, and my daughter has epilepsy, so I was going down that road until my husband expressed reservations. We had an unhappy experience with a rescue before, and we also keep birds (parrots), so he felt much more comfortable with the idea of adopting a pure-bred puppy who would have breed characteristics (low prey-drive) and who we could train. He wanted another sheepdog, but at this point there are no Polish Lowland Sheepdog breeders in Japan, so we ended up doing something completely different and adopted a very well-bred toy poodle puppy. He’s been a terrific addition to our family, and while I hope we can find another sheepdog in the future (and I also still have an image of an ancient me adopting a series of ancient dogs), it’s nice to have a dog who is absolutely not comparable with our prior dog. We’ve gone from a very serious working dog to an equally smart dog who has been bred as a companion dog for many generations. Both wonderful, but very different. I am sure you will treasure your next dog as well, whatever choice you make.
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It’s much easier to raise two dogs than one in our experience.
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I wouldn’t say rescuing a dog without taking the time to get a lot of information on it is a good thing. Most people I know don’t buy dogs anymore because there are literally thousands who need homes (many are pure bred, a friend loves Saint Bernards and rescues them, plus she fosters other puppies on a regular basis). My friend bought a golden retriever a year ago from a breeder to replace a golden she rescued who passed, omg this dog is a nut case. She spends hours a day just trying to tire him out, and he’s destroyed so much. A dog should never be a quick decision, it’s going to be a member of the family for up to 20 years (obviously there are people who think otherwise).
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We were heartbroken when our sibling standard poodles passed last spring three months to the day. One died from cancer and the other succumbed to bloat 90 days later:(. They were 12 and so embedded in our lives.
My hubby said he never wanted another dog, but I started looking immediately. We need a non-shredder so that limited our search to knowing what we were getting. Our poodles were great dogs so we started looking at the poodle mixes and settled on a Australian Labradoodle, which is many generations deep. This dog is more amazing than I could ever imagine. Some of it had to be the prep and training by the breeder no doubt. Anyone at any age could bring one of these puppies into their home!
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We have a parrot too! A military macaw who is 36, we have had since he was a baby. Has always established his dominance early on with any new puppies we introduced. Yes, another consideration.
Thank you all so much for your input, so many valuable insights and makes me feel better about whichever route we decide on. Mostly makes me feel less alone knowing so many have gone through the same. I love the posted pics! When our daughter was growing up our household included the parrot, 2 -3 cats at any given time, 2 dogs, horse and goat. All were long-lived (horse was 34 when she died). So house feels rather empty now, and I know whatever way we end up with another dog, it must happen and it will be loved.
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I wanted a big, fluffy dog all my life, and finally, 8 years ago, when our younger daughter turned 5, we decided to get a dog. We didn’t want to deal with a puppy, and my husband insisted on adopting to save a life, so we adopted a 3-year-old-ish dog (some setter/Aussie shepherd/who knows mix). She was a stray and ended up at the animal shelter. We met her very briefly, but it felt right, and we went ahead with the adoption right away. She’s been the sweetest, easy-going, friendly dog, great with people and other dogs. No major health issues and no behavioral issues whatsoever. Clearly, she was trained before, lived with a family and somehow got lost. We all adore her; she’s literally my dream dog. Of course, we were lucky, but this is another example that rescue dogs don’t necessarily have issues.
So many great suggestions here–good luck!
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We were reluctant to get another dog when our perfect Aussie passed unexpectedly in July. But we wanted a companion for our three-year-old Aussie, Jazz, so we went for it. Louie (named for Louie Armstrong) has kept me hopping but I can’t even describe how much joy he has brought into our home. The work is well worth it.
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Just to add to my previous comment, our rescue dog was pretty sick when we got her (kennel cough and an ear infection, from being in a shelter), but we treated her, and after a month, she was a happy and healthy dog. Some food allergies that we eventually figured out. So, it wasn’t all completely idyllic and problem-free, but nothing major, and her sweet personality definitely made it all worth it.
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Not in my experience. And I’ve had dogs all my life too as I’m sure many of the other folks on this thread have. Having our previous dog as a puppy was A LOT! And made worse by her trying to assert dominance over our middle aged dog when she got to be bigger than him. She was a German Shorthaired Pointer mix and I think had that drive to establish her rank in the pack. Our older dog eventually backed down and the younger dog slowly calmed down but I’m sure it would have been much easier and much less noisy to have one dog instead of two. I’ve done it both ways.
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We got our last two dogs from a breeder who had kept them as show/breeding prospects but they hadn’t quite measured up to the breed standard. They had a known background but were older puppies—8 months and one year. This avoided the full puppy stage (we had a five year old at the time and these were small dogs) but we still got young, adaptable dogs.
I agree with Publisher. Two dogs is great. We have found that the older dog helps train the younger one. And they play with each other when they’re outside together. I don’t think we will ever have just one dog again.
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My point was Publisher and you may have had anecdotal experience with two specific dogs getting along well together — but that’s all it is anecdotal experience.
I have had anecdotal experience with two dogs getting along okay and not so okay and have had anecdotal experience with a single dog being very happy as an only child. So much depends on the dogs’ personalities. I have had two dogs three separate times in my life and single dogs 3 separate times. I think often when you have a single they bond more closely with the human, but I agree that two dogs can be great, but it is definitely not always “much easier”. It was much harder with my last two dog set.
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I’m so sorry! We lost our almost 16 yo Shepard/lab mix rescue 3 weeks ago; we had him for almost 15 years. The house hasn’t been the same this holiday season. Our next door neighbor (70 yo widow) lost her golden 2 weeks before our’s. She knew she wanted another dog right away and picked out a golden puppy. Her kids told her not to at “her age.” She told me she picked the most active one; I chuckled and said I’d remind her of that later 
she loves the company and energy, but even though she’d had many puppies in her lifetime, she said she’d forgotten how much work they were. It busts out of the crate, so she can’t leave him for long. She’s working on training, but the middle of the night trips outside are tiring. She’s very active and takes it for walks 3 times per day and golf cart rides 2x/day; it has playdates every day as well. I’m 15 years younger, but I’m exhausted thinking about it. She doesn’t regret it because he keeps her active. I think it is different for everyone. What is working for her wouldn’t work for me. I’m thinking about adopting, but I’m going to give it some time. I hope you find the right dog/situation for you; good luck!! 
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@Tigerwife92 so sorry about the recent loss of your dog. Our first dog was a lab/shepherd rescue. He lived to the ripe old age of 16.5, with 15 of those years as part of our family. Never had any medical issues until the day we had to make the decision to euthanize him for quality of life reasons. Still miss that dog!
We waited 9 months to get another dog, but we only waited maybe six months before we started looking. We had a friend who volunteered at a shelter so she would send us links to dogs she thought we would like. We went to visit one day - there was a black lab puppy and a 2 y/o 110 lb black lab/mix. We ended up with the 110 lb dog! We’ve had him for 10 years and he is a gentle giant. We are actually looking at getting a second dog right now - this time something around 40 lbs, and not a puppy.
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I agree that two dogs aren’t always easier than one. Some of it may be breed specific. As my username suggests, I volunteer with Great Pyrenees rescue We frequently get in bonded pairs. As livestock guardians, these dogs work with a partner on the farms. They become so attached to each other that they cannot be separated.
Here are some pics of my favorite bonded pair. They are currently in a foster home in Georgia if anyone is interested.
Sorry for the shameless plug, but these two are just awesome. Op, I highly recommend volunteering at a rescue. Most of our volunteers are empty nesters or retirees. We always need walkers, transporters as well as people willing to foster. The vast majority of the volunteers end up adopting one sooner or later.
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These photos! I miss my dog. I sold my house and rent and want another dog at this point, but not allowed. I would love to foster someday.
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You need to move 
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