The fact that he led Bonaparte's army through the mountain pass in 1800 made this dog (then known as the Bari Dog) famous in Europe throughout the 19th century. The legendary dog ​​"Barry" became the poster child for rescue dogs. The direct ancestors of the Saint Bernard are the large farm dogs that were more common in this area. After several generations of breeding according to established standards, this dog was developed into the breed it is today. Henrich Schumiccher from Horligen near Bern was the first to publish a pedigree for his dogs in 1867. In February 1884, the registration of Swiss fine-bred dogs began. The first registered Saint Bernard was Leon, and the next 28 registered were also related to Saint Bernards. On March 15, 1884, the Swiss St. Bernard Dog Club was established in Basel. At the International Dog Congress on June 2, 1887, the Saint Bernard was officially recognized as a Swiss breed, and the conference also issued a breed standard as a binding. Since then, the Saint Bernard has been considered the national dog of Switzerland.

Saint Bernard

​The Legendary Saint Bernard

There are many theories about the origin of the Saint Bernard dog. The most likely theory is that in the 1st and 2nd centuries AD, the Roman army brought a huge Asian dog, the Molosser, to Switzerland and crossed it with a local dog (this local dog was used when the Romans invaded) in this place).

​Function

In the following centuries, Saint Bernard dogs were widely used on farms and dairy farms in the Alps to guard herds and trailers. In 1050 AD, the Saint Bernard dogs of Taihund developed rapidly. At this time, Archdeacon Bernard de Menhon established a famous shelter in the Swiss Alps to take in those Saint Bernard dogs who crossed the Alps.

Because the shelter was destroyed by war in the late 16th century and most of the archives were lost, the time when the St. Bernard dogs first came to the shelter cannot be verified. It was not until 1707 that the first recorded mention of the St. Bernard dog was recorded (also occasionally). The shelter's St. Bernard dogs were already well-known by then for rescuing tourists in distress at the St. Bernard Pass. A careful study of historical data shows that St. Bernard dogs first came to the shelter between 1660 and 1671. It is possible that the Saint Bernard dogs came to the shelter to accompany the monks through the long winter (in which the shelter was isolated from the rest of the world).

​Isolated asylum

In this isolated shelter, inbreeding of St. Bernard dogs makes a difference.Same hospice dog. Under cruel conditions, only dogs with extremely strong survival skills can survive and reproduce. Therefore, its genetic characteristics are passed on to future generations.

The lonely monks all took Saint Bernard dogs with them when preaching. They soon discovered that this dog could also find its way in the snow. This dog with an extremely developed sense of smell could find lost people in a snowstorm. The Saint Bernard dog worked with the monks from then on and left many touching stories.

​Rescue Dog

St. Bernard dogs have been in shelters for three centuries and are estimated to have saved 2,000 lives. Although a train tunnel was later built to cross the Alps, and the number of people walking or riding through the St. Bernard Pass was greatly reduced, the monks continued to keep St. Bernard dogs as their companions, which also commemorated the tradition of the asylum.

St. Bernard dogs can do these tasks without training because they have a rescue instinct; or more accurately, this instinct is the basis for the monks to train St. Bernard dogs. Accompanied by monks, young dogs patrol with older dogs, searching for travelers who have been accidentally killed or injured. When the dog finds the victim, it will lie next to him, warm him, and lick his face to restore consciousness. At the same time, a dog will return to the shelter to call the police and lead the rescuers back to the scene of the accident.

​Saint Bernard dog skills

In addition to their extremely strong road-finding ability and keen sense of smell that can find victims buried in snowdrifts, St. Bernard dogs have an incredible sixth sense that can detect the arrival of avalanches. It has been reported that a St. Bernard suddenly left its original position a few seconds before an avalanche struck. A few seconds later, tons of ice and snow were already in its original position.

​Shelter Dogs

Although the rescue dogs of shelters before 1800 were well known, they were still called "shelter dogs" and had no other name. Between 1800 and 1810, a St. Bernard named "Barry" who lived in the shelter was the most famous dog in history. For half a century after his death, the shelter dogs in Switzerland were called Barry dogs (Barry rescued a total of 40 people, and legend has it that the 41st person Barry wanted to save mistook him for a wolf and killed him). This legend is just an interesting story. In fact, Barrie died peacefully in Bern, Switzerland, in 1814. A portrait of Barry is still preserved in the Natural History Museum in Bern.

From 1816 to 1881, the climate in the almshouse was extremely bad, and many dogs died. At that time, it was easy to find similar dogs in the valley, and within a few years, the almshouse dogs returned to their former appearance. In 1830, the same situation happened again, accompanied by evilThe bad weather was caused by defects and diseases caused by inbreeding. The monks used heterosexual crossbreeding to make the dogs larger and healthier. The Newfoundland was larger than the Saint Bernard at the time and had a rescue instinct, so it was chosen to be crossed with the Saint Bernard. This hybrid achieved its intended purpose without destroying the type and characteristics of the Saint Bernard. But because of this hybridization,

​Long-haired Saint Bernard

For the first time, long-haired Saint Bernards appeared. Before 1830, all Saint Bernards were short-haired.

It was originally thought that the long-haired Saint Bernard was better able to withstand the severe cold in the almshouse, but unfortunately, ice can freeze on the long hair, making this dog unsuitable for rescue use. After discovering this fact, the monks gave the long-haired Saint Bernard dogs as gifts to their friends, leaving only the short-haired Saint Bernard dogs.

As early as 1810, Britain imported some almshouse dogs to crossbreed with their Mastiffs. At that time, the British called this kind of dogs "secreddogs". In about 1828, the name of this kind of dog in Germany Called "alpendog." In 1833, writer Daniel Wilson first named this dog a Saint Bernard, but it was not until 1965 that the name clearly appeared, and in 1880 the name was officially determined as the name of this dog. .

​Simultaneous reproduction

In the second half of the 17th century, both long-haired and short-haired Saint Bernard dogs were bred in the valleys of Switzerland. Eventually, the dogs spread throughout Germany and other continental European countries.

In 1877, an international conference was hosted by Swiss Saint Bernard dog experts living in Zurich. At this conference, the international standard for the Saint Bernard was developed.

In 1888, the British Saint Bernard Club was established, and they accepted the Swiss’ international standards. The club has been working hard to promote the development of the Saint Bernard and is one of the oldest specialist dog clubs in the UK.