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50 free Saint Bernard trivia questions with answers — nature quiz, new questions added Aug 2026.
The Saint Bernard began as a watchdog at a monks' hostel 2,469 metres up the Great St Bernard Pass and became the most famous rescue dog in the world, mostly thanks to one animal: Barry, credited with 40 saves and still on display in Bern. The giant, slobbery show dog of today is a 19th-century rebuild, crossed with Newfoundlands and mastiffs after avalanches wiped out the original stock. These 50 questions cover the hospice and the pass, Bernard of Menthon, the legend and the truth of Barry's death, the brandy cask the monks insist no dog ever carried, the first entry in the Swiss Stud Book, Red Cross work in World War I, the last rescue in 1955 and the breed's health record. Then the famous dogs: Beethoven and the Fifth Symphony, Cujo and his Ford Pinto, Buck in The Call of the Wild, Nana, Bamse and the Colorado Avalanche's Bernie. Easy questions stick to rescue work and Stephen King; the expert tier asks about Salvator Rosa, Pius XI and the Fondation Barry. Every answer is cited to a page we checked.
30 of 50 questions with answers and explanations. Play the quiz
Q 01For what work was the breed originally developed at the Great St Bernard Pass?
Mountain rescue
The hospice monks first kept the dogs as watchdogs before they became rescuers.
Q 02Which country does the FCI recognise as the breed's country of origin?
Switzerland
The pass straddles the Swiss-Italian border, but the hospice sits on the Swiss side.
Q 03The hospice acquired its first dogs in which decade?
1660s
The earliest written record from the monks dates to 1707.
Q 04Which Italian artist's 1690 paintings are the first evidence of dogs at the monastery?
Salvator Rosa
Written records from the monks themselves begin in 1707.
Q 05What did early British accounts call the breed?
Alpine Spaniel
Before the mid-19th century the dogs were also called Saint Dogs, Noble Steeds or Barry Dogs.
Q 06Who is the most famous rescue dog of the pass, credited with 40 or more saves?
Barry
His preserved body is in the Natural History Museum in Bern and a monument stands in the Cimetière des Chiens.
Q 07What does Barry's German byname 'Menschenretter' mean?
People rescuer
He worked at the hospice from about 1800 and retired to Bern.
Q 08According to legend, how did Barry die?
A soldier mistook him for a wolf and stabbed him
In truth he retired to Bern and died at 14.
Q 09In which city's Natural History Museum is Barry's preserved body displayed?
Bern
His skull was reshaped in 1923 to match the St. Bernards of that era.
Q 10What was done to Barry's mounted skull in 1923?
It was reshaped to match the modern breed
The original head was flatter with a moderate stop.
Q 11Roughly how much did Barry weigh, compared with 54–81 kg for a modern dog?
40–45 kg
The original hospice dogs were about the size of a German Shepherd.
Q 12What naming tradition does the hospice maintain in honour of its most famous rescuer?
One dog always carries his name
A special exhibition marked his 200th birthday in 2000.
Q 13Harsh winters in which years killed many breeding dogs in avalanches?
1816–1818
Survivors were crossed with Newfoundlands, which gave some dogs impractical long coats.
Q 21Which 1820 painting do the monks blame for the neck-cask myth?
Alpine Mastiffs Reanimating a Distressed Traveller
Edwin Landseer painted it; the monks kept casks only for tourist photos.
Q 22What do the hospice monks say about dogs carrying neck casks?
No dog ever carried one
They did keep casks around for photographs with tourists.
Q 23A 1949 Punch cartoon has a breeder say he keeps the dogs only for what?
The brandy
Old MGM and Warner cartoons often showed the dogs nipping from their own casks.
Q 14With which breed were the surviving dogs crossed in the 1850s?
Newfoundland
The long fur they inherited froze in the snow and hampered rescue work.
Q 15How did the hospice animals learn search and rescue?
Younger ones copied older ones
The monks never gave them special training.
Q 16What distinction does the St. Bernard hold in the Swiss Stud Book?
First entry, in 1884
The breed standard was approved in 1888.
Q 17During World War I the dogs carried supplies for which organisation in the Italian mountains?
The Red Cross
They reached positions mules and horses could not.
Q 18In which year was the last recorded Alpine rescue by one of the dogs?
1955
As late as 2004 the hospice still kept 18 dogs for tradition.
Q 19Which foundation took over breeding the hospice dogs in 2004?
Fondation Barry
Its kennels are in Martigny, further down the pass.
Q 20About what size were the original hospice rescue animals?
A German Shepherd
Show breeding and a closed stud book pushed the breed to today's giant size.
Q 24Which Russian breed was created by crossing St. Bernards with Caucasian Shepherd Dogs?
Moscow Watchdog
Army kennels developed it, and it still serves as a military dog.
Q 25How does the American Kennel Club classify the St. Bernard?
Working Group
The United Kennel Club uses its Guardian Dog Group instead.
Q 26How do the four Sennenhund breeds differ in colour from the St. Bernard?
They are tricolour
The Bernese, Greater Swiss, Appenzeller and Entlebucher are black, tan and white.
Q 27What life expectancy did a 2024 UK study give the breed?
9.3 years
The purebred average in the same study was 12.7.
Q 28Which bone cancer has been shown to be hereditary in the breed?
Osteosarcoma
The breed is also the second most predisposed to hip dysplasia in a large American study.
Q 29After whom is the breed, the pass and the hospice named?
Bernard of Menthon
The 11th-century archdeacon of Aosta founded the hospice to protect travellers from brigands.
Q 30Which pope confirmed the hospice's founder as patron saint of the Alps in 1923?
Pius XI
He is also patron of skiing, snowboarding, hiking and mountaineering.