El St. Bernard It stands out not only for its imposing and endearing appearance, but also for the long history behind it. Part of this story is the mythical image of this dog with a barrel hanging around his neck, something that has survived to this day in the form of merchandising and fictional characters, especially in film and television. However, this element has never been officially linked to race.
The origin of the Saint Bernard
We find it in the Hospice of the Great Saint Bernard, founded in 1049 on the Great Mount Saint Bernard, in the Alps. It was born in honor of Bernardo de Menthon, an archdeacon of Aosta, who dedicated his life to spreading the Christian faith among the inhabitants of the area. In this hospice the monks helped travelers and pilgrims who passed through the mountains.
From the middle of the seventeenth century they began to breed dogs to protect the place, although thanks to their abilities they soon began to be used for rescue work. This is how the St. Bernard, which in 1887 would go on to be officially listed as an official Swiss breed.
The myth of the barrel
The monks of this hospice affirm that the Saint Bernards of the area have once carried barrels and relate this myth to the painting of the British Edwin landser "Alpine Mastiffs reviving a traveler in distress" (1831). In it we can see a Saint Bernard with a barrel hanging around his neck trying to rescue a man trapped under the snow. Being one of the favorite paintings of Queen Victoria I, this image became enormously popular.
Legend has it that inside these barrels, these dogs housed brandy, in order to help and provide warmth to people who were rescued in the snow. However, this would not be a good idea, as alcohol dilates the blood vessels, causing the body temperature to drop rather than rise.
The hospice of San Bernardo today
A curious detail of this story is that, despite being considered a myth, the hospice of San Bernardo itself today has a gift shop where we can buy dog collars with attached barrels, or other objects that reproduce the image of this breed with its inseparable complement.