A 49-mile route in the Western Alps that’s free of snow for a couple of summer months should be famous enough for being Switzerland’s the third highest road pass. It could also be famous for its treacherous route used by early travelers trekking between a hospice and Bourg-Saint-Pierre on the Swiss side. It is known best, however, for its dogs, the Saint Bernard. Over a span of some 200 years, about 2,000 people were saved, including 250,000 of Napoleon’s soldiers, many of whom kept diaries telling of being saved by the dogs from what the army called “the White Death,” Kids, travelers and soldiers were rescued because of the breed’s uncanny sense of direction, resistance to cold, and knack for finding people buried under snow and lying on top of them to provide warmth. The last documented recovery was in 1897 when a 12-year-old boy was found nearly frozen in a crevice and awakened by a dog.
St. Bernards are no longer used to rescue the stranded in the Alps, in part because they’re too heavy to lower down from a helicopter with a guide. Nor are monks breeding their namesake breed which they had been doing until September 2004. Breeding the dogs now falls to the Barry Foundation which says it is perpetuating the oldest Saint Bernard dog breeding center in the world, the hospice kennel of the Great Saint Bernard. The foundation whelps an average of 20 puppies a year born out of thirty-four St Bernards, including about six males (one of whom is always called Barry in honor of his famous predecessor). Most pups are sold for around $2,670 each, and as adults, they will be smaller and have a longer tail than St. Bernards of old.
We found what we think is a 42 minute long video by 360 ° GEO Reportage taken at the facility. It’s in French, and perhaps someone would be good enough to give us a translated synopsis of its content? Footage of lovely dogs and scenery can still be enjoyed by non-French speakers.
The thumbnail image is one of two earliest depictions of the breed painted by well-known Italian artist Salvatore Rosa in 1695
Hi my friends Saint Bernard is going to be 13in one week. I know u are a breeder and I was wondering if u can please point me in the right direction when it comes to finding out about the oldest Int the world & how I go about registering him for the oldest in the world.thanks for your time.Gina
Hi Gina, we aren’t breeders, we’re not even Saint Bernard owners. We are an advocacy for purebred dogs. Off the top of our head, we’d suggest contacting the Guinness Book of Records, or Saint Bernard Clubs around the world (just Google “Saint Bernard Club of….) Hope this helps, and what an amazing dog!