<P> Eyes are usually brown, but sometimes can be icy blue, and should have naturally tight lids, with haws only slightly visible . </P> <P> The ancestors of the St. Bernard share a history with the Sennenhunds . The St. Bernard, also called Alpine Mountain Dogs or Alpine Cattle Dogs, are the large farm dogs of the farmers and dairymen of most notably the French Alps, livestock guardians, herding dogs, and draft dogs as well as hunting dogs, search and rescue dogs, and watchdogs . These dogs are thought to be descendants of molosser type dogs brought into the Alps by the ancient Romans, and the St. Bernard is recognized internationally today as one of the Molossoid breeds . </P> <P> The earliest written records of the St. Bernard breed are from monks at the Great St Bernard Hospice at the Great St. Bernard Pass in 1707, with paintings and drawings of the dog dating even earlier . The most famous St. Bernard to save people at the pass was Barry (sometimes spelled Berry), who reportedly saved somewhere between 40 and 100 lives . There is a monument to Barry in the Cimetière des Chiens, and his body was preserved in the Natural History Museum in Berne . Another famous dog was Rutor, the faithful companion of the priest Pierre Chanoux, who was named after the peak Tête du Rutor located above the Little St Bernard pass . The classic St. Bernard looked very different from the St. Bernard of today because of cross-breeding . Severe winters from 1816 to 1818 led to increased numbers of avalanches, killing many of the dogs used for breeding while they were performing rescues . In an attempt to preserve the breed, the remaining St. Bernards were crossed with Newfoundlands brought from the Colony of Newfoundland in the 1850s, and so lost much of their use as rescue dogs in the snowy climate of the alps because the long fur they inherited would freeze and weigh them down . </P> <P> The dogs never received any special training from the monks . Instead, younger dogs would learn how to perform search and rescue operations from older dogs . </P>

How did st bernard dog get its name