What were Saint Bernards bred for? The original job explained

Part 1

The alpine passes they were built for

The Great St Bernard Hospice has been run by Augustinian canons since the eleventh century, and it sits almost 2,500 metres above sea level on a pass connecting Switzerland and Italy. The hospice has welcomed travelers crossing that pass for almost a thousand years, since it was founded in 1050 by Saint Bernard of Menthon. Crossing the pass was dangerous at any time of year. To help find people who got lost or trapped in the snow, the monks began keeping dogs at the hospice sometime in the seventeenth century. Hospice records mention a dog as early as 1707, and the dogs are thought to have arrived as watchdogs sometime between 1660 and 1670 before taking on rescue work. If you picture your own dog out in that kind of weather, you get a sense of why the hospice needed dogs built for cold and deep snow.

Part 2

The rescue work behind the legend

As time went on, the canons began taking dogs with them when they went out looking for travelers. Over roughly two hundred years, this partnership between monks and dogs is credited with saving more than 2,000 people. The dogs were not like modern avalanche dogs; their main job was finding the way back to the hospice through heavy blizzards. The familiar image of a Saint Bernard wearing a small brandy keg around its neck is almost certainly not how the dogs actually worked. That barrel is tied to Barry's stuffed body at the museum in Bern, which has worn one for most of the two hundred years it has been on display, even though the story behind it probably never happened. So if you've pictured your dog trotting out with a keg of brandy, you can let that image go.

Part 3

Barry, the most famous rescue dog

Barry was born in 1800 at the hospice and worked there as a rescue dog until 1812. He is credited with helping save 40 people during his working life, and he was already well known before he died. One story tells of Barry finding a boy asleep in a cave of ice, warming him by licking him, then carrying him back to the hospice on his back. The museum in Bern says that feat is unlikely, since even the strongest dog could not carry a child that way. Another legend claims Barry died at the hands of a soldier who mistook him for a wolf, but that story is untrue; he actually retired to Bern and lived out his last years there. Barry weighed around 40 to 45 kilograms, lighter than the Saint Bernards bred later.

• Born in 1800.
• Weighed around 40 to 45 kilograms.
• Credited with helping save 40 people over his career.
• Retired to Bern in 1812 and died there in 1814.
• His body is displayed at the Natural History Museum of Bern.

Part 4

How breeding shaped size and coat

The original hospice dogs were bred mainly for strength and hardiness. Over time, breeders favored heavier, stronger dogs so the breed could better handle rescue work. Barry's own weight, around 40 to 45 kilograms, was much lighter than the 54 to 81 kilograms modern Saint Bernards typically weigh. That shift means the Saint Bernard you know now is heavier and bulkier than the dogs that first worked the pass.

Part 5

From working dog to family companion

With the advent of helicopter rescue services, lighter dogs such as collies are now preferred, since Saint Bernards are considered too heavy. The Saint Bernard dogs no longer live at the hospice year-round; most moved to the Barry Foundation in nearby Martigny in 2004. The Barry Foundation is committed to preserving a breeding tradition more than 300 years old.