Saint Bernard dog

The Saint Bernard dog has a powerful figure, a proportionate height, vigorous and muscular in every part, with a powerful head and a highly intelligent expression; it measures seventy to eighty centimetres, and some males can weigh up to one hundred kilograms. There is a long-haired and a short-haired variety. The coat is white with two golden spots on the sides of the head and at the beginning of the neck. In dogs with a dark mask, the expression appears more severe, but never sullen. These wonderful dogs are nowadays excellent companions, sweet, calm, sociable and affectionate. The Saint Bernard dog has a powerful figure, a proportionate height, vigorous and muscular in every part, with a powerful head and a highly intelligent expression; it measures seventy to eighty centimetres, and some males can weigh up to one hundred kilograms. There is a long-haired and a short-haired variety. The coat is white with two golden spots on the sides of the head and at the beginning of the neck. In dogs with a dark mask, the expression appears more severe, but never sullen. These wonderful dogs are nowadays excellent companions, sweet, calm, sociable and affectionate. The breed developed in the Alps: the whole world knows the dogs bred by the monks of the Great Saint Bernard hospice, founded in the 10th century by the saint of the same name. Thanks to their flair and sense of direction, these dogs saved hundreds of travellers lost in the snow, demonstrating an innate instinct for finding people. Acting in groups of four, after locating the body of a wounded person, two dogs would lie down next to him to warm him up, while one would lick the person trying to revive him and the fourth would bring succour to the man. The famous Barry, who is preserved, stuffed, in the Bern Museum, single-handedly saved forty men before being killed by the forty-first who mistook him for a wolf. The Saint Bernard dog is now widespread in every country: adapted to every climate, it can live peacefully even in the city, it does not need large spaces if it can walk a few hours every day. It requires an adequate and good quality diet; it is a rustic dog, so a few brushes are sufficient to keep its coat in good condition. It adores the family in which it lives, it cannot stand loneliness, its life is firmly bound to its pack leader. A reliable friend for children, in the United States it is used as a baby sitter. It is never aggressive, but knows how to make itself respected by other dogs with whom it maintains, if not challenged, a sociable relationship.