St. Bernard
| St. Bernard | ||
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| FCI Standard No. 61 | ||
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| Origin : | ||
| Alternative names: |
St. Bernard Dog, Chien du Saint-Bernard, Saint Bernard Dog, Perro San Bernardo |
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| Withers height: |
Males : 70-90 cm. |
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| Varieties : |
Short hair (stick hair) and long hair. |
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| List of domestic dogs | ||
The St. Bernard or St. Bernard Dog is a Swiss dog breed recognized by the FCI ( FCI Group 2, Section 2.2, Standard No. 61 ).
Origin and history
The dogs of the hospice on the Great St. Bernhard , which was founded around 1050, are understood under the name St. Bernard . Dogs to support the monks are suspected from around the end of the 17th century. The monks got dogs from the surrounding area, which are among the ancestors of today's mountain dogs . A downright continuous breeding was not possible at the top of the pass, dogs were brought in again and again because the trunk had expired. As a rule, the dogs did not get old either. 6 to 8 years were common due to the external circumstances. The early St. Bernhard dogs had only a distant resemblance to today's dogs, neither the size nor the colors corresponded to the current dog type. It was not until the 19th century that the appearance stabilized, with long hair, unsuitable for work on the pass, being added; Germany, for example, created its own standard under the name Alpenhund . In 1887 the Swiss standard was generally recognized and from then on was in charge.
The Saint Bernard became known through its use as an avalanche dog by the Augustinian monks of the hospice on the Great St. Bernhard and above all by the avalanche dog Barry , who is said to have saved the lives of over 40 people. Due to the development of the breed, the St. Bernard is no longer well suited for this task; it has become heavy and too bulky and has been replaced as an avalanche dog by dogs of other breeds. However, there are still a few St. Bernard dogs that are trained as avalanche dogs, for example in the Barry Foundation , which is based in Martigny and maintains the St. Bernard tradition there. Dogs are an indispensable aid in the search for avalanche victims, especially if the buried victim is not equipped with an avalanche transceiver .
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Today the Saint Bernard is a house and companion dog . He has been the Swiss national dog since 1884.
breed
The Saint Bernard was much lighter and smaller at the beginning of the 20th century than it is today. The St. Bernard has been unsuitable as a rescue dog for decades and can no longer be used as a working dog . Some scientists see signs of torture breeding in some lines.
description
The St. Bernard reaches a height at the withers of up to 90 cm. The hair, long-haired or stick-haired, is very dense and smooth, in white with reddish brown or reddish brown with white in different shades. They should have white spots (markings) on the chest, paws, nose, throat and tip of the tail. Desired badges are a white ruff and a symmetrical dark mask.
Essence
The Saint Bernard is a big, strong dog. Despite its imposing size, it is very sensitive and has a reliable character. He is very gentle and loving, even with strangers. Overall, he is a well-balanced, calm dog who needs close contact with the family because of his attachment. He shows pronounced protective behavior, is self-confident and his "stubbornness" is typical for the breed.
health
The breed is severely affected by hip dysplasia . A familial accumulation of osteosarcoma (bone cancer) has also been described. In addition, like many large dogs, this breed has increased gastric torsion .
Like most large breeds of dogs, the Saint Bernard has a comparatively low life expectancy. 30 percent of dogs die before the age of five, 52 percent before the age of eight, and 74 percent don't live to be ten years old.
marketing
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Until 2005, the hospice on the Great St. Bernard was the main breeding ground for the breed. That year, the Augustinian Canons sold the breed to the Barry du Grand-St-Bernard Foundation, a foundation that now continues the breed. During the summer months, however, around half of the dogs are in the hospice. The canons made this a condition of sale because the dogs are an important tourist attraction on the pass. A large number of souvenirs with the legendary dogs are for sale.
In June 2006, the Musée et Chiens du Saint-Bernard was opened in an old military arsenal in Martigny . In addition to living specimens, the museum shows all kinds of exhibits related to the St. Bernard dog, including postage stamps from all over the world and pictures of Barry as an advertising medium.
Many of the mythical stories about dogs are fictitious, but have been retold and rewritten so often that it is difficult to separate truth from legend. This also includes the famous schnapps keg that dogs wear around their necks in many pictures, supposedly to give avalanche victims a drink to warm them up. The legend probably comes from a letter that one of Napoleon's soldiers wrote while traveling across St. Bernard. The completely overwhelmed canons had used the dogs as transport animals to bring food to the exhausted soldiers. This letter read: “We are amazed that there are very large dogs in this monastery that track down travelers who are lost in the snow. They pull them up, offer them brandy, which they have tied around their necks, and lead them into the house. " The story was passed on orally and recorded as a motif in various films, but its truthfulness is highly controversial. Some of the barrels that have been preserved show that it was probably just a piece of jewelry, because these barrels have no opening. In addition, the barrel would be a major hindrance for the dogs when looking for people buried in deep snow - quite apart from the fact that the consumption of alcohol is counterproductive if you are hypothermic .
literature
- Otmar Kuttenkeuler: St. Bernard. The long-haired and stick-haired St. Bernard. Müller, Cologne-Braunsfeld 1978 ISBN 3-481-26632-4 .
- Antonio Morsiani: St. Bernard. Kynos Verlag , Mürlenbach / Eifel 1995, ISBN 3-929545-15-2 .
- Marc Nussbaumer: Barry from the Great St. Bernhard. Simowa-Verlag, Bern 2000, ISBN 3-908152-02-X .
- Iris Kürschner: Barry. The hospice dogs from the Great St. Bernhard. AT-Verlag, Baden 2008, ISBN 978-3-03800-436-3 .
Web links
Breed standard No. 61 of the FCI: St. Bernard (PDF)
- Swiss St. Bernhards Club
- St. Bernard Club Germany
- St. Bernhard's Club eV
- World Union of St Bernard Clubs (WUSB)
- St. Bernard Club Austria
- Breeding association of Swiss dog breeds
- Barry Foundation Switzerland Zuchtstätte du Grand St. Bernard (from the Great St. Bernard)
Individual evidence
- ↑ The St. Bernard Dog. In: Hans Räber : Encyclopedia of Purebred Dogs. Origin, history, breeding goals, suitability and use. Volume 1: Farmers, shepherds and cattle dogs, shepherds, mastiff-like dogs, pinscher-like dogs, spitz-like dogs, Nordic dogs, Schensi dogs, dwarf dogs, poodles, Dalmatians. Franckh-Kosmos, Stuttgart 1993, ISBN 3-440-06555-3 .
- ↑ Employment & Training ( Memento of the original from December 13, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link has been inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. on the website of the Barry du Grand-St-Bernard Foundation
- ↑ Material from the Barry Foundation ( page no longer available , search in web archives ) Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (PDF; 1.2 MB)
- ↑ Gabriele Metz: From mountain rescuer to gentle family giant. In: Our pedigree dog 6/2011.
- ↑ Steen Bech-Nielsen, Mark E. Haskins, John S. Reif, Robert S. Brodey, Donald F. Patterson, Richard Spielman: Frequency of osteosarcoma among first-degree relatives of St. Bernard dogs. In: Journal of the National Cancer Institute. Vol. 60, No. 2, 1978, ISSN 0027-8874 , pp. 349-253.
- ↑ A. Egenvall, BN Bonnett, Å. Hedhammar, P. Olson: Mortality in over 350,000 insured Swedish dogs from 1995 to 2000: II. Breed-specific age and survival patterns and relative risk for causes of death. In: Acta Veterinaria Scandinavica. Vol. 46, No. 3, 2005, ISSN 0044-605X , pp. 121-136, PMID 16261925 , doi : 10.1186 / 1751-0147-46-121 .
