Alpine Spaniel

Alpine Spaniel

He is not recognized by the F.C.I.

Origin

Translation

En français, cette race se dit

Diese Norm ist in deutscher Sprache sichtbar

En español, esta raza se dice

In het Nederlands, wordt dit ras gezegd

Alpine Spaniels were bred by canons in Alpine monasteries to search for travelers during severe snowstorms, particularly at the Great St. Bernard Hospice, located at the Great St. Bernard Pass between Italy and Switzerland. The dogs were sent out in pairs to search for fallen travelers and were trained to return to the canons once found, guiding rescuers to the unfortunate souls. This Alpine breed was also used as a herding dog for flocks of sheep and cattle in mountainous regions, including the Himalayas. Between 1800 and 1814, a dog named Barry lived as a rescue dog at the hospice and was famous enough at the time that his remains were preserved at the Natural History Museum of Bern. However, during the taxidermy process, the taxidermist and the museum director agreed to modify the body to make it more representative of the breed at that time.

The head itself was modified in 1923 to represent the Saint Bernard of that era. Previously, the skull had been much flatter, with a moderate stop. In 1829, a Mastiff-like dog was brought from the Great St. Bernard Hospice and exhibited in London and Liverpool before thousands of people. This event brought to light the existence of an Alpine Mastiff, but the dog's drawings did not match pre-exhibition descriptions of the Alpine Spaniel, and these descriptions were ridiculed in later publications. Due to the perilous conditions in which this breed was kept, and a series of accidents, the possibility of its extinction was raised as early as 1839. However, before 1847, an epidemic ravaged the region, reducing the population to a single specimen, which forced the canons to crossbreed it with other breeds.

The Alpine Spaniel is a now-extinct breed of dog used for mountain rescue by the Augustinian canons who ran hospices in the Great St. Bernard Pass region. The Alpine Spaniel was a large dog notable for its thick, curly coat. Barry, one of the most famous specimens, is an Alpine Spaniel whose taxidermied body was, however, altered several times to match earlier descriptions of this extinct breed. Due to the harsh Alpine climate and a series of accidents, the breed's extinction was considered by authors in the 1830s. Before 1847, the entire breed was reduced to a single individual due to disease. Specimens preserved at the Natural History Museum of Bern show that two distinct dog breeds were used in the region at that time. This breed is thought to be the ancestor of the modern Saint Bernard and Clumber Spaniel.