St Bernard’s originated in London and not the Alps, new book claims
Blathnaid Corless
Thu, 9 March 2023
St Bernard - swisshippo
They are as synonymous with Switzerland as Toblerone and yodelling.
But St Bernards as we know them today originated in London, not the Swiss Alps, according to a new book.
The earliest records of the world’s most famous rescue dog come from monks at a hospice at the St Bernard Pass in the Swiss Alps in 1707 and it has long been assumed that the breed started here.
The rescue work of the monks’ dogs came to prominence in the early 19th century through stories of the heroism of a mountain dog called Barry - who was said to have saved between 40 and 100 lives.
Inspired by such tales, John Cumming Macdona, an English clergyman who founded the Kennel Club, imported dogs from the Alps that were allegedly Barry’s descendants. But unlike Barry - a short-haired mongrel - these were large, brown, long-coated dogs.
Prof Michael Worboys, a historian from the University of Manchester, now claims in his new book, Doggy People, The Victorians Who Made the Modern Dog, that the breed recognised today was influenced by a fictional scene created by a Victorian animal painter at his studio in St John’s Wood, London.
Edwin Landseer - Heritage Art/Heritage Images via Getty Images
Edwin Landseer’s rescue scene of two Alpine Mastiffs in 1820 - inspired by stories of Barry - prompted Mr Macdona to recreate the majestic breed from the painting even though they bore no resemblance to the real-life dog.
The colourful and friendly canines he bred soon became a sensation at Victorian dog shows, with over half of St Bernards in the first Kennel Club Studbook in 1874 from Macdona’s kennel. His own dog, Tell, also became a canine celebrity.
However, these long-haired, gentle giants looked nothing like the monks’ original working dogs.
“It’s fascinating that Macdona’s St Bernards, due to their size, weight and long coats, were ever thought to have been good working dogs in snowy mountains,” Prof Worboys said.
“The newly invented St. Bernards were bred for show, not work; form trumped function. Macdona was a founder member of the Kennel Club, whose shows fostered the increase in the number, standardisation and beautification of breeds.
“Though defined by their form, the new breeds were also given backstories, and St Bernards had a good one that celebrated Victorian values,” he added.
After he died, Barry was taxidermied and placed in the Natural History Museum in Bern.
Barry
But after visitors complained that he looked “wrong” and nothing like the modern St Bernard, the museum remodelled him to make him taller with a more noble appearance.
Landseer’s painting also popularised the false idea that St Bernards carried a barrel of brandy on their collar, and the museum added this feature to Barry to make him more appealing.
Ciara Farrell, the Library and Collections manager for Crufts, said that while the St Bernard is not a direct descendant of the dogs in the Alps, the evidence is “too tenuous” for it to be re-registered as a native British breed.
“The modern St Bernard is descended from - but not a direct descendant - of the dogs that the monks would have had at the Hospice of St Bernard in the Western Alps,” she said.
She added: “I wouldn’t say that it was invented from scratch in the 19th century - it definitely shares ancestry with those original Swiss dogs - but some other dogs have been bred along the way as well to try and recreate the St Bernard as they knew it. And you can see from the pictures that they've ended up with a heavier dog than the one known from the Alps.”
On Friday, St Bernards will be competing in Crufts which is taking place from March 9 to 12 in the NEC in Birmingham.
Charles Cruft, who founded the show in 1886, was reportedly an admirer of the breed, making them a logo of his early shows.
Overbreeding since the Victorian period has led to Saint Bernards being placed on the Kennel Club’s Category 3 list: breeds considered to be more susceptible to developing specific health conditions associated with exaggerated conformation.
It shares this category with eight other breeds including the German Shepherd, Bulldog and Pug.
Penny Forrest, who is representing the English Saint Bernard Club at Crufts, said: “St Bernards are a Category 3 breed for showing because of previous health issues they’ve had. They used to have really heavy, wrinkly heads. We had an issue with the eyes at one point because of that - they literally couldn’t see through their own faces.”
She told The Telegraph it has taken generations of breeding to eradicate some of the extreme genetic problems.
“Because they’re a giant breed we did have a problem with hips at one point, but that’s much better now.
“Where they started to introduce new lines, we lost a lot of the height in the breed. They’re now breeding the height back.”
‘Really basic stuff’: Crufts showcases ‘good citizens’ scheme as dog attacks rise
Jessica Murray Midlands correspondent
Thu, 9 March 2023
Photograph: Christopher Furlong/Getty Images
At the Good Citizen Dog Training ring at Crufts, a number of dog owners are trying to distract their pets with colourful balls, outdoor toys and, in once case, an inflatable paddling pool.
The dogs, however, stay put. From the large dalmatian to the miniature pinscher, all have been trained to Kennel Club silver award standard, and (mostly) engage only when told to by their owners.
Their display is followed by a “Safe and Sound demonstration”, reminding people how to approach dogs in the street they don’t know – ask the owner’s permission, let the dog smell the back of your hand first and then slowly progress to gentle strokes.
After a spate of serious dog attacks in recent months, the Kennel Club is more keen than ever to promote the educational benefits of Crufts, which opened at the Birmingham NEC on Thursday.
“Crufts is really about dog ownership – the interaction between people and dogs, and dogs living in our society,” said Bill Lambert, a Kennel Club spokesperson. “We can’t talk about all the good things about dogs without recognising the responsibility that comes with them. And a lot of this is really basic stuff that anyone can do.”
A BBC investigation this week revealed the number of dog attacks recorded by police in England and Wales had risen by more than a third in the past five years, with nearly 22,000 cases of out-of-control dogs causing injury in 2022.
This year alone has brought the death of a four-year-old girl in Milton Keynes, who was attacked by a dog in her back garden, and Natasha Johnston, who was killed by the dogs she was walking in a Surrey park.
“Although some numbers may be inflated because of better reporting, we certainly seem to have seen an increase in these major incidents over recent months,” said Lambert, adding that the sharp rise in dog ownership during lockdown could be behind the increase.
An American cocker spaniel parades before the judges at Crufts. Photograph: Katja Ogrin/Getty Images
“It seems likely that we have quite a lot of untrained, poorly socialised dogs out there that could possibly lead to an increase in incidents, and of course we have a lot of inexperienced new dog-owners too. So it’s almost a perfect storm.”
This year Crufts has a four-day programme for its Good Citizen training ring, covering how to train and socialise a dog to ensure they develop a steady temperament, and are calm “good citizens” in different environments.
Dog owners are also helping to spread awareness. On Friday, Courtney Goodey, 27, is competing at the event with her Australian shepherd dog, Mr Bixby. She has trained him to go into youth groups and teach children how to interact with dogs. He can, on command, demonstrate the behaviour of dogs when they don’t feel comfortable or safe and may be more likely to bite, such as backing away and lowering his tail.
“It’s just making them aware of things to look out for because, unfortunately, some parents don’t seem to actually do much with their own kids around dogs, especially if they don’t have them at home,” said Goodey, who is a trained dog behaviourist and former school sports coach. “Some parents don’t know what signs to look for in their dog, and they think sitting the child on top of the dog is cute for a photo.”
She teaches children not to go running up to dogs in the street to hug them.
“You do, unfortunately, see quite a lot of dogs outside now that aren’t maybe as well-behaved,” Goodey said. “I think people maybe aren’t doing the research behind the breeds, or just going for the bigger the better. It’s a shame there have been so many incidents, because dogs are such a nice thing to be around.”
Jessica Murray Midlands correspondent
Thu, 9 March 2023
Photograph: Christopher Furlong/Getty Images
At the Good Citizen Dog Training ring at Crufts, a number of dog owners are trying to distract their pets with colourful balls, outdoor toys and, in once case, an inflatable paddling pool.
The dogs, however, stay put. From the large dalmatian to the miniature pinscher, all have been trained to Kennel Club silver award standard, and (mostly) engage only when told to by their owners.
Their display is followed by a “Safe and Sound demonstration”, reminding people how to approach dogs in the street they don’t know – ask the owner’s permission, let the dog smell the back of your hand first and then slowly progress to gentle strokes.
After a spate of serious dog attacks in recent months, the Kennel Club is more keen than ever to promote the educational benefits of Crufts, which opened at the Birmingham NEC on Thursday.
“Crufts is really about dog ownership – the interaction between people and dogs, and dogs living in our society,” said Bill Lambert, a Kennel Club spokesperson. “We can’t talk about all the good things about dogs without recognising the responsibility that comes with them. And a lot of this is really basic stuff that anyone can do.”
A BBC investigation this week revealed the number of dog attacks recorded by police in England and Wales had risen by more than a third in the past five years, with nearly 22,000 cases of out-of-control dogs causing injury in 2022.
This year alone has brought the death of a four-year-old girl in Milton Keynes, who was attacked by a dog in her back garden, and Natasha Johnston, who was killed by the dogs she was walking in a Surrey park.
“Although some numbers may be inflated because of better reporting, we certainly seem to have seen an increase in these major incidents over recent months,” said Lambert, adding that the sharp rise in dog ownership during lockdown could be behind the increase.
An American cocker spaniel parades before the judges at Crufts. Photograph: Katja Ogrin/Getty Images
“It seems likely that we have quite a lot of untrained, poorly socialised dogs out there that could possibly lead to an increase in incidents, and of course we have a lot of inexperienced new dog-owners too. So it’s almost a perfect storm.”
This year Crufts has a four-day programme for its Good Citizen training ring, covering how to train and socialise a dog to ensure they develop a steady temperament, and are calm “good citizens” in different environments.
Dog owners are also helping to spread awareness. On Friday, Courtney Goodey, 27, is competing at the event with her Australian shepherd dog, Mr Bixby. She has trained him to go into youth groups and teach children how to interact with dogs. He can, on command, demonstrate the behaviour of dogs when they don’t feel comfortable or safe and may be more likely to bite, such as backing away and lowering his tail.
“It’s just making them aware of things to look out for because, unfortunately, some parents don’t seem to actually do much with their own kids around dogs, especially if they don’t have them at home,” said Goodey, who is a trained dog behaviourist and former school sports coach. “Some parents don’t know what signs to look for in their dog, and they think sitting the child on top of the dog is cute for a photo.”
She teaches children not to go running up to dogs in the street to hug them.
“You do, unfortunately, see quite a lot of dogs outside now that aren’t maybe as well-behaved,” Goodey said. “I think people maybe aren’t doing the research behind the breeds, or just going for the bigger the better. It’s a shame there have been so many incidents, because dogs are such a nice thing to be around.”
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