The Beginning of Purebred Saints

Siegmund writes in 1893, "At the beginning of the pure bred Saint Bernards the enthusiastic fanciers could only acquire very few dogs directly from the Hospice. But nevertheless they found many large farm-dogs in the countryside who all more or less showed their ancestry from Saint Bernard Dogs or from the ancestors of the dogs that finally were chosen for the Saint Bernard Hospice."

Dr. Straumann, another expert, remembers having seen many draught-dogs on the market at Berne who, according to their stature and color could be called "Saint Bernard Dogs". Consequently, the dog was present in many locations, not only at the Hospice.

These were the conditions when Heinrich Schumacher, butcher and innkeeper in Holligen near Berne, began his breeding program in the latter 1850s. Schumacher was the first individual to use a stud book (first Swiss Stud Book, 1884), thus creating accurate pedigrees. Schumacher must be considered the first breeder of purebred Saints. Schumacher's first entry was Apollo I, SHSB #3 (SHSB #1 was Leon who belonged to E. Baur and B. Siegmund). It should be noted that the first stud book comes well after Schumacher began his breeding program and thus, many of his early dogs had no SHSB numbers. Barry I, who is mentioned earlier, was used as sire to provide foundation for Schumacher's kennel. Barry I, born in 1854, had no SHSB number and should not be confused with other later dogs also called Barry.

Barry I was a short-haired, red and white male, whose grand-parents came directly from the Hospice to the Count of Rougemont. Blässi was Schumacher's first bitch (long-haired, born in 1856). She too, came from the Hospice. Schumacher's first breeding resulted in a short-haired dog named Sultan who was white with red and black patches. Sultan was bred to a short-haired, yellow colored bitch, who possessed white markings and a dark mask. Her sire came directly from the hospice while her dam was of unknown ancestry. Sultan and the yellow bitch produced the famous Favorita I, who together with Sultan I won the first prize at the 1867 World Fair in Paris.

A repeat breeding yielded Barry II and Toni I. Favorita and Barry II had brindle patches. Toni I was long-haired. According to pedigree records, Toni I was not used and was the last long-haired dog in Schumacher's kennel. Schumacher's "newly edited and revised" pedigree of short-haired Saint Bernards (October 22, 1886.), reveals that he continued to use dogs from the Hospice during each third generation of breeding. Overall, however, he maintained strong inbreeding.
After the third generation of offspring, Schumacher bred only short-haired dogs.

Schumacher kept in constant contact with the monks from the Hospice, his main goal being the revival of the old Barry-type dog. In 1862, he began shipping Saint Bernard dogs to England, Russia and the United States of America. While Schumacher's breeding program worked toward an ideal, embodied in the old Barry, other breeders found favor in heavy heads, strong stops and short muzzles. Künzli described them as "rachitische Wasserköpfe" (rachitic hydrocephalus) with a more or less strong prognathism.

Breeders entered the market and began breeding indiscriminately. Selling puppies was very lucrative and many dogs which only slightly resembled the Saint Bernard were sold for large sums of money.

[up]

The Saint Bernard Pass >
The Origins of the Dogs >
The Dogs from the Hospice >
Short- and Long-Haired Saints >
Their Rescue and Life-Saving Work >
The Beginning of Purebred Saints >
The Legendary Barry >
Bibliography, Acknowledgement, Dedication & Copyright Notice >

Pollux (W. Gurtner). All photos were taken between 1890 and 1897

View more historical pictures SHSB Volumes I-XVI (1884-1914)

Dr. Künzli wrote the following about the Saints at the August 12 -14,1899 exhibition in Thun: "Among others we saw dogs which resembled seriously some brave butcher's dogs. One fatal error in breeding of the short-haired St. Bernards is the recklessness with which breeders neglect good hindquarters. They believe the only goal in breeding lies in the head. As soon as a certain size is reached, many dogs, mostly of outstanding type and with considerable heads, show more or less miserable hindquarters, loose and clumsy gait.", and, "Another sin is being done inasmuch that the albinism of the head is not being eliminated."

These thoughts were echoed by A. Tagmann in the "Tierbörse": "It is obviously not very easy to swim against the prevailing stream, fashion has a great power."

The confusion was profound. Views on what the ideal Saint Bernard should look like, differed markedly. The Hospice was of little aid, as it also presented different styles. This inconsistency was a direct consequence of having to periodically replenish their stock from the valley.

Germany established their own standard in 1878. They rejected the name "Saint Bernard" and used "Alpenhund" (Dog from the Alps). Thus, the same dog could be exhibited under several different names. Saint Bernard, Alpenhund and Leonberger were often shown in the same ring. Fortunately, a degree of organization arrived with the recognition of the Swiss Standard in 1887.

Through confirmation of the Swiss Standard, Swiss breeders were validated as the premier authoriry on Saint Bernards. Interestingly, the Hospice continued to ignore aspects of the Standard. In 1917, 12 of 13 dogs from the Hospice were "Mantelhunde" (dogs with mantle) and only one had patches on white ground. All missed the dark mask. Eight years later, in 1925, Hospice dogs were described as rather small, many were completely white, and all had a curled-up tail. Contrary to popular belief, the Hospice had little to do with the formation ofthe Standard by which we continue to judge our dogs, today.

Schumacher retired from breeding in 1890. He stated that "new breeders" were trying to ruin his work by exaggerating size, breeding dogs with short, thick, round heads and muzzles which were not long enough. Those dogs, according to Schumacher, lost their harmony ("Ebenmass") in gait as well as intelligence and agility. Regardless of Schumacher's criticism the public favored the heavy, long-haired dogs.

Most of today's Saints can be traced back to Schumacher's dogs. The fact that the old "Küherhund" (cowherd's dog) has completely disappeared, shows that even Schumacher's dogs were not at all purebred dogs. The Natural History Museum Berne contains 36 skulls from "Schumacher dogs." When viewed and measured, we see large variability in size and shape.We assume corresponding variance as we imagine other aspects of these dogs including body size, length of flew etc. These differences in styles continue to exist today. However, the current degree of morphometric variance may be attributed to line breeding and subjective interpretations of the Standard, rather than to inpure lineage. Dr. Künzli's and Schumacher's comments concerning gait, are appropriate when applied to the modern Saint.

[up]