• The common depiction of St. Bernards would be that they carry a small barrel of brandy around their necks. It was once believed that the alcohol is given to trap humans in the Alps to keep them warm. However, according to the monks who bred the dogs, this is false. The dogs would instead lie next to the humans and keep them warm through their body heat until rescuers arrived.

• The name of the breed was derived from an 11^th century monk, Bernard of Menthon, who established the pass where the dogs patrolled in the Alps. Prior to this, the breed was known as “Saint Dogs” or “Alpenmastiff.”

• The original appearance of the St. Bernard is that they have short hair, very different from how the dogs look in modern day. The change came about during the early 19^th century when several dogs died because of avalanches. The monks attempted to save the breed by crossing the remaining St. Bernards with Newfoundlands creating dogs with long coats. This made the dogs more resilient of the cold but lost their ability as rescue dogs because the cold temperature freeze their fur and weighs them down.

• A memorable role of St. Bernards in films would be the comedies “Beethoven” and “Beethoven’s 2^nd”. According to the filmmakers, during the sequel, the rapid growth of the breed made it difficult to shoot scenes involving puppies and made them cast over 100 puppies.

The Saint Bernard has always been depicted as a rescuer of lost people trapped by blizzards and avalanches in comics as well as adventure stories. But an important note is that alcohol would caused more harm to a person experiencing hypothermia. However in reality, Saint Bernards do not carry these barrels. But it would be cool if they did, wouldn’t it?

Did you know that brandy would kill a person suffering hypothermia??? It can help with oversoming shock, but if given when one is near death, it can kill.

St. Bernards are often portrayed, especially in comics, cartoons and old live action comedies with small barrels of brandy worn around their necks. This was supposedly used to warm the victims that the dogs found. However, the monks that origianlly bred them in Switzerland deny that any St. Bernard has ever carried casks or small barrels around their necks. It is believed that the origin of the image is an early painting. The monks did keep casks around for photographs that tourists took, but that was purely for marketing’s sake.

However, the St. Bernard was indeed used for search and rescue.