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St Bernard

Saintly History

The Saint Bernard's prowess as a search and rescue dog is legendary. Here is a look at the history that gave the Saint a heroic reputation.The Saint Bernard hails from the Great Saint Bernard Pass, a treacherous mountain route high in the Swiss Alps. In the 10th century, a monk named Bernard De Menthon founded a Hospice in the Pass to benefit all passing travellers.Each morning the monks from the Hospice searched the pass for lost travellers. The monks took along dogs known as Thalhunds or "Dogs of the Valley far below". Noticing how the dogs easily located people buried deep in snow, they quickly became part of the rescue work of the Hospice. Next they were called Alpine Mastiffs, a name that remained until 1856 when Sir Edward Landseer coined the name Saint Bernard and immortalized the dogs in many famous paintings.As the Monks became involved with rescue work, the dogs underwent training as well. They learned to locate, awaken and revive snowbound victims, move them without injury and summon help from the Hospice.The dogs were trained in teams of four with each dog serving a specific purpose. After the dogs had located a victim and removed the snow surrounding him, two Saints would lay with the person to keep him warm. The third Saint licked his face for stimulation and to keep him conscious. It was the fourth Saint Bernard on the team that we all remember. This dog was trained to return to the Hospice for help. On arrival a monk would fasten the now-famous little cask around the dog's neck. Contrary to legend the casks did not contain brandy, but were filled with a pint and a half of "marc", a beverage the monks distilled from grapeskins. This dog lead the monks to the victim. No other breed of dog is so steeped in romantic legend as the Saint Bernard. Its instinct for rescue work is still regarded as one of nature's great mysteries. The Saint has a well deserved reputation: In their long existence, these Gentle Giants saved over 3000 lives in the Saint Bernard Pass.

GENERAL APPEARANCE *** There are two varieties of the St. Bernard: Short-hair variety (Stockhaar, smooth coat) Long-hair variety (rough coat) Both varieties are of notable size and have a balanced, sturdy, muscular body with imposing head and alert facial expression.

Behaviour ** Temperament** Friendly by nature. Temperament calm to lively, watchful.

Important proportions *** Ideal proportion for height at withers to body length (measured from the point of the shoulder to the point of the ischium) = 5 : 6. Ideal relationship of height at withers to depth of chest = 100 : 45-50

Head *** General: massive and imposing.

Cranial Region *** skull strong, seen in profile and from the front slightly rounded; sideways it merges gently rounded into the strongly developed high cheek bones, falling away steeply towards the muzzle. Occipital bone only moderately pronounced. Supraorbital ridges strongly developed. The frontal furrow, which starts at the root of the muzzle and runs over the whole skull, disapears towards the base of the occiput. The skin of the forehead forms wrinkles over the eyes which converge towards the frontal furrow. When the dog is attentive, the wrinkles become more pronounced. When alert, the set-on of the ear and the topline of the skull appear in a straight line. Stop: markedly pronounced.

Facial region *** Muzzle: short, does not taper. Nasal bridge straight, with a shallow furrow running its length. Length of muzzle shorter than its depth, measured at the root of the muzzle Nose: black, broad and square. Nostrils well opened Lips: edge of lips black. Flews of upper jaw strongly developed, pendulous, forming a wide curve towards the nose. Corner of mouth remains visible Teeth: strong, regular and complete scissor or even bite. Reverse scissor bite acceptable. Missing PM 1 (premolar 1) tolerated Eyes: medium size. Colour dark brown to lighter nut-brown. Not deeply set, with a friendly expression. Eyelids as close fitting as possible. Complete pigmentation on eye rims. Natural tightness of lids desired. A small angular wrinkle of the lower eyelid with inconspicuous showing of the conjunctiva, as well as a small angular wrinkle of the upper eyelid are allowed Ears: medium size, set on high and wide. Strongly developed burr at the base. Ear flaps pliable, triangular with the tip rounded off. The back edge stands off slightly, the front edge lies close fitting to the cheeks.

Neck *** strong, dewlap not too exaggerated.

Body*** general appearance imposing and balanced Topline: withers well defined. Straight from withers to loin. Rump falls away gently and merges with root of tail Back: broad, strong and firm Chest: brisket moderately deep with well sprung ribs, but not reaching beyond the elbows Belly and lowerline: slight tuck-up towards rear Tail: set on broad and strong. Tail long and heavy, its last vertebra reaching at least to the hocks. When in repose, the tail hangs straight down or may turn gently upwards in the lower third. When animated, it is carried higher.

Forequarters *** General: Stance rather broad, straight and parallel when seen from the front Shoulders: muscular, shoulder-blade oblique, well attached to the chest wall Upper-arm: the same length or only slightly shorter than the shoulder blade. Angle between shoulder blade and upper arm not too straight Elbow: laying well onto the body Forearm: straight, heavy boned, tautly muscled Pasterns: vertically straight when seen from the front and at a slight angle when seen from the side Forefeet: broad, compact, with strong well arched toes.

Hindquarters *** General: hindquarters muscular with moderate angulation. Seen from rear, the hind legs are parallel and not too close together Upper thigh: strong, muscular with broad buttocks Stifle: well angulated, turning neither in nor out Lower thigh: slanting and rather long Hock joints: slightly angulated and firm Hock: straight and parallel when seen from behind Hind feet: broad, compact, with strong well arched toes. Dewclaws tolerated as long as they do not hinder movement.

Gait *** Coordinated, smooth reaching strides with good drive from the hindquarters. Hindquarters track in line with the forequarters.

Coat *** Hair: Short-hair variety (Stockhaar, smooth coat): Top coat dense, smooth, close lying and coarse, with rich undercoat. Buttocks lightly breeched. tail covered with dense fur Long-hair variety (rough coat): Top coat plain, of medium length with a rich undercoat. Over the haunches and rump usually somewhat wavy. Front legs feathered. Buttocks well breeched. Short hair on face and ears. Bushy tail.

Colour *** Basic colour white with either small or large reddish-brown splashes ("splash coat") or a continuous reddish-brown blanket covering back and flanks ("mantle coat"). A torn reddish-brown mantle (broken up by white) is of equal value. Reddish-brown brindle permissible. Brownish-yellow tolerated. Dark brown shadings on head desirable. Slight black shadings on body tolerated Markings: chest, feet, tip of tail, muzzle band, blaze and patch on neck must be white Desirable: white collar, symmetrical dark mask.

Size *** Height at withers: Minimal height: dogs 70 cm (27.56 in) Minimal height: bitches 65 cm (25.59 in) Maximum height: dogs 90 cm (35.43 in) Maximum height: bitches 80 cm (31.5 in) Dogs which exceed the maximum height will not be penalized, provided their general appearance is balanced and their movement correct.

Faults *** Every departure from the foregoing points should be considered a fault which will be assessed according to the degree of departure from the standard lack of correct gender characteristics unbalanced general appearance strong wrinkles on head, excessive dewlap muzzle too short or too long flews of the lower jaw turning outwards under- or overshot bite missing teeth other than PM 1 (premolar 1) low set on ears light eye entropion, ectropion eyelids too loose sway back or roach back rump higher than withers or falling away steeply tail carried curled over back crooked or severely turned out front legs poorly angulated, bowed or cow-hocked hindquarters faulty movement curly coat incomplete or totally absent pigment on nose, around the nose, on lips and eyelids faulty markings, e.g. white with reddish-brown ticks faults of temperament: aggressiveness, shyness.

Disqualifying faults *** coat totally white or totally reddish-brown coat of different colour wall eye, blue eye N.B. Males should have two apparently normally developed testicles fully descended into the scrotum.