STILL AT WORK

Wairarapa Times-Age, 23 November 1942, Page 4

STILL AT WORK

FAMOUS ST. BERNARD DOGS TRADITIONS OF NOBLE SERVICE. IN SNOWS OF ALPINE PASS. As their name intimates the home of Switzerland’s famous St. Bernard dogs is the Great St. Bernard Hospice, founded as a shelter for wayfarers. more than 1,000 years ago, writes a Borne correspondent of the “Christian Science Monitor.” Winter lasts from eight to nine months in that isolated mountain region, and the snow is often piled up as high as 12 to 15 feet. Blizzards are sudden and descend with such fury that the vigilance and devotion of the local inhabitants and the trained dogs are able to render valuable service.

In prewar times summer travel to the Great St. Bernard Hospice showed a steady increase. However, no busses and no private cars could reach those snow-bound heights in winter. Yet, the Great St. Bernard Pass has always had its wayfarers during the snow season. Formerly those travellers were mostly workmen, also shepherds inhabiting this solitary realm. Later, when skiing attained all-round popularity, the Hospice became more and more the goal of skiers. And now, since the mobilisation of the Swiss Army in September, 1939. the Great St. Bernard Hospice is a rendezvous of soldiers stationed on the border. Modern Changes. Electricity, steam heat, telephone and radio have in recent decades improved living conditions in the Hospice. The residents are now informed beforehand of impending arrivals from Martigny, in the Swiss Rhone Valley, or from Aosta in Italy. If travellers are expected and a storm or avalanches should suddenly descend upon the region of this historic refuge, the carefully trained dogs are sent out to meet them, or to search for them. The animals are instructed to bark when they have discovered someone and to wake up those -whom they find asleep. If the person thus secured is disabled, the dog will drag him for a certain distance and by barking he will summon help. Dogs Kept Since 1670.

Historic records show that the Hospice was without any dogs up to 1670 A. D. From then on a few watch dogs were kept, but it is not clearly established of what breed they were. These animals soon took delight in accompanying their masters on their many errands and were quickly appreciated for their unerring sense of location. The dogs which have for the last 250 years been described as St. Bernards have been gradually developed through careful breeding and training in rescue work. The short-haired variety is the original kind.

In 1830 it was decided in a few cases to cross the dogs with New-foundlands, in order to raise animals which would be protected against the inclement climate with longer hair. However, this crossing did not affect the physical characteristics of the St. Bernards, and only their hair became longer. But experience showed that long hair was not desirable in that high altitude, as the melting and subsequent freezing of the snow produced icicles oh the shaggy coats. The result was that long haired specimens were sold or given away, and this explains why St. Bernard dogs in the mountains have short hair, and those in the low lands long-hair. The long-haired St. Bernards are, however, accepted as thoroughbreds. The Record of Barry.

It is said that if the atmosphere is calm a dog gets the scent of a person in need at a distance of 600 to 900 feet. If a wind blows toward him he gets it at a distance of several miles. Should a traveller have been caught by an avalanche a dog will locate him although the snow covering may be several feet deep. The dogs sense the approach of storms and avalanches, and numerous incidents have occurred where these animals went out on their own accord to meet travellers, then, after standing still and surveying the situation, gently conducted them by a detour out of the path of some impending disaster. It usually takes two years to teach a dog all he must know before he can be trusted out alone as a seeker and guide, but even after this period training is not stopped. Barry was one of the most notable of the dogs, and an inscription on a memorial erected to him at the Hospice says that he saved 40 persons. Barry’s monument, showing the dog with a little child seated on his back, recalls his rescue of a young girl. He-had found her half-buried in the deep snow, asleep. Gently Barry licked her face until she awakened. Then the animal crouched down and succeeded in getting the little girl to cling on his strong back. In this position he finally carried her through snow drifts and crevices to the Hospice.