Miniature Saint Bernard Dog Breed

Below are the details and specs for the Mini Saint Bernard breed.

Miniature Saint Bernards are not nearly as big as what you may expect: There are two varieties — the Nehi and the Micro — and the Nehi is usually 40 to 60 pounds standing 16 to 20 inches high whereas the smaller Micro weighs in at 15 to 35 pounds and stands 12 to 16 inches.

Miniature Saint Bernards are much easier to handle than at least one of their parent breeds! (They also tend to drool and snore much less.) They love playing with kids and make great family pets and watchdogs, and they will get along nicely with other dogs and most other pets.

If you are not prepared to set aside a few hours a day to walk, brush and play with your Miniature Saint Bernard, this may not be the dog for you; they do not like to be left alone long, if at all. They are moderate- to high-maintenance dogs and they also may have a few health concerns that require daily and weekly care.

The Miniature Saint Bernard is a very new designer dog that has very little history but has parent breeds — the Saint Bernard and the Cocker Spaniel — with very significant and rich histories.

The Saint Bernard gets its name from the 12th century monk St. Bernard de Montjoux who was the Archdeacon in the City of Aosta. The mountain pass that links Italy and Switzerland was where St. Bernard's hospice was situated. It was during the sixteenth century that the pass and the monastery were given the name of Saint Bernard; in the following century, around the 1670s, the first dogs were said to have been kept at the well-known respite. The pass was very dangerous due to the extreme weather and proliferation of highway robbers, and the hospice required protection from the latter by guard dogs that could withstand the former. During the subsequent 200 years, some 2,000 people were said to have been rescued. The final rescue on record by a Saint Bernard was in 1897: in a mountain crevice, the dog awakened a young boy who was nearly frozen to death.

In 1888, the Saint Bernard was established in the United States when the Saint Bernard Club of America was formed; by then, the breed had already been recognized by the AKC three years earlier, in 1885.

For many centuries, the Spaniel was a well-known hunting dog whose prowess, fearlessness and ease of training was recognized by many countries and cultures, and it continues to be utilized similarly. The breed is believed to have been introduced to England by the Romans in the 1st century A.D. During the several subsequent centuries, various tasks were found to be better undertaken dependent on the Spaniel's mature size, and different names were assigned for those sizes: the larger dogs became springer spaniels (that would flush or "spring" fowl from the high grass so that other dogs — almost always Greyhounds — could hunt them down).Like its rich history, the Cocker Spaniel's recognition with the AKC literally preceded the Club's founding by six years! According to the AKC's Web site, the dog was recognized in 1878 and the AKC was founded in 1884.

There are two Miniature Saint Bernard varieties: the Nehi and the much smaller Micro. The Nehi tends to be big-boned and stocky and when mature, approximately knee-high; the Micro is much smaller.

Both varieties will most likely have a medium-length coat as they come from dogs with similar coats of that length, but it may be straight or wavy as well as either rough, smooth or even silky. As both parent breeds have long, floppy ears, so too will your Miniature Saint Bernard. They may have a shorter snout than the proportion of a Saint Bernard, however, due to the Cocker Spaniel influence.

The Miniature Saint Bernard is a great family pet who will love to play with kids, meet new friends and always desire attention. He is very intelligent, and can be trained to be a show dog as well. As he will certainly be smaller than a regular Saint Bernard, he will not present the problems of accidentally knocking over small children or being able to easily steal food from the table — but if he gets those Cocker Spaniel eyes, he may steal your heart just as quickly!

Training may be a bit difficult due to the stubbornness he may acquire from his Saint Bernard side and/or the insatiable curiosity he may get from his Cocker Spaniel parent. Be sure to train him early so he will be easy to control later.

Miniature Saint Bernards pick up a fair amount of health problems despite being cross-bred; as they are produced to be smaller rather than healthier, this is not unusual. Bloat, epilepsy, eye problems, heart ailments, skin rashes, allergies and skin infections are among the problems that can be encountered. If he is kept healthy and happy, expect him to live about 8 to 11 years.