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Spikole t1_j1rgqpq wrote

Do they still use Saint Bernards to help there? Monks trained them to go out in groups of three males in the alps many years ago. If you could walk they would lead you back to the monks, if trapped and unable to walk two would sit and keep you warm and one would go back to get monks for help. Long haired saints are a result of rough winter they mixed with Newfoundlands for thicker coat. These coats froze and weighed them down killing them not helping them and they quickly went back to short hair only. The long hairs we see now like in Beethoven are actually just a mistake that didn’t work out. They’re able to sniff someone below ten feet of snow… mine was great at hide and seek when he used his nose.

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lineasmg t1_j1rqsb1 wrote

They don't. In the is case there were around 200 rescue volunteers and several helicopters that helped search for the missing people

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CrocoPontifex t1_j1s0ynb wrote

They are too big and heavy, break through the snow cover all the time which makes them slow. Its mostly german shepards these days.

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thatsapeachhun t1_j1tig6s wrote

And Labs, due to their resistant nature to cold conditions, ability to smell through water, and unrelenting worth ethic.

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Muntjac t1_j1vhyab wrote

Iirc, they haven't used St Bernards for their original purpose since the late 1800s or early 1900s. After the darn Victorians got to them and did their usual kennel clubbin' pure breedin' shenanigans, the modern dogs are nothing like the original rescue dogs, which were smaller and more varied (and tbh the modern dogs would be pretty crap at the job). Back when the dogs were originally used, and before the newfies were brought in to help save the breed after avalanches killed a bunch of them, the monks didn't use a proper stud book or anything like that. They kinda just let the best workers breed, no matter how they looked.

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