Comments on: Why Are St. Bernards Always Depicted With Barrels Around Their Necks?

By: Cambria Co.

Cambria Co. — Sun, 02 Aug 2009 03:44:52 +0000

Watch this sad video on youtube of dog cruelty with the owner being a friend of police and being assisted by police. This video is sick and I hope the Police in WEST HILLS Police Dept. Johnstown, PA are held accountable.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8eXvOeN9jlY

By: Matt Soniak

Matt Soniak — Thu, 19 Feb 2009 16:50:00 +0000

@Ryan

Picky readers are appreciated. You guys are often the best fact checkers a blogger can ask for. I fudged the date of Bernard’s canonization and wasn’t as clear as I could have been about the dogs’ arrival at the monastery. Thanks for bringing those points to our attention. The post has been updated and corrected.

By: Diana

Diana — Thu, 19 Feb 2009 04:11:00 +0000

I spent a few days in the lake district of the Andes mountains in Argentina a few years ago and was surprised to see a ton of St Bernards! For 2 pesos you could get your picture taken with one (!)

By: lindseyu

lindseyu — Wed, 18 Feb 2009 22:35:00 +0000

I just got a St. Bernard, Harley, he is great, very friendly and loves my yorkie, Peanut, but not the cat, Quillin
I feel very sorry for him, we live in Austin and its going to be very hot this summer (well like every summer) i think we are going to have to shave him, so sad

By: Ryan

Ryan — Wed, 18 Feb 2009 22:31:00 +0000

Not to be picky, but if Bernard wasn’t canonized until 1923, how did the dogs get the appellation “St. Bernard” in 1880? Or is this a case of the public popularly canonizing someone before the Pope officially does it?

Also, the article states, “the hospice was destroyed by a fire in the late 16th century and its archives were lost. Historians speculate that dogs may have lived with the monks as early as 1660, but the oldest surviving written reference to the dogs is from 1707″. But the “late 16th century” would be the late 1500s–so if the archives were destroyed in the late 1500s, what’s the basis for “Historians speculate that dogs may have lived with the monks as early as 1660″ and “the oldest surviving written reference to the dogs is from 1707″? If these aren’t based on the hospice archive, that needs to be clearer.