The Saint Bernard was first bred in the early 18^th century by monks living in the Great Saint Bernard Pass in the Swiss Alps. The Saint Bernard dogs were kept to assist on rescue missions after snow storms and avalanches, as the Pass is covered a 49-mile stretch covered in snow for all but two or three months in the summer. In 1050, a hospice was founded in the Pass to help struggling travelers.

The first Saint Bernard dogs looked very little like they do today. They were smaller, and their fur was typically red and much shorter. They also had longer tails. Saint Bernards are descended from the same ancient Asiatic dogs as the mastiff. These dogs were brought over by the Romans and adopted in many civilizations – crossbred to create many modern species.

Saint Bernards were bred to be perfectly suited for their rescue missions. They have broad chests to clear a path through snow and large paws that would act like snowshoes to walk on top of it and to dig through it. They also have a tremendous sense of smell to sniff out people buried deep beneath the snow.

The dogs were sent out in teams of two or three, and when a traveler was found in need of help, one dog would run back to the hospice, utilizing their extraordinarily loud bark to alert the monks, while one or two would stay behind with the victim. While Saint Bernard drool is often considered to be disgusting and unwanted today, in the days when they worked in the Pass, this trait was a blessing. The dogs would lick the ice off of any exposed skin – particularly the face and hands. Then, the dogs would lie on the victim with their big, fluffy bodies to keep them warm until help arrived.

The most famous Saint Bernard at the hospice was called Barry, and, between the years 1800 and 1812 – when Barry retired and eventually passed away – he is known to have saved more than 40 lives. In 1815, Barry’s taxidermy body was donated to the Natural History Museum in Berne, Switzerland, where it still remains to this day (in a recently renovated exhibit, no less).

Perhaps the most famous people to be rescued by the Saint Bernard dogs in the Pass were the soldiers of Napoleon Bonaparte, who traveled through the Pass between the years of 1790 and 1810. Not one soldier died going through the Pass, and there are many documents relating the soldiers’ experience being rescued by the dogs.

Eventually, many of the hospice’s Saint Bernards were given away to families in the surrounding Swiss valleys after botched breeding experiments with Newfoundlands. Many of these people began breeding their Saint Bernards with a variety of other dogs, but most notably with the English Mastiff, resulting in their modern common appearance.

Despite long since abandoning using Saint Bernards for rescue purposes, the hospice continued to keep the dogs until 2004, when the Barry Foundation was formed. Kennels were built in nearby a nearby village called Martingy, and several Saint Bernard puppies are born there every year.