Are St. Bernard’s a real helping hand?

St Bernard’s have been search and rescue dogs for a long
time.  Barry a St Bernard dog was
in a Disney movie and it’s about the life of Barry the dog. 
It’s a movie that’s an endearing movie of how the St Bernard became a
  search and rescue dogs. The movie was made in 1977.

Is it true that St Bernard can find a person under 12ft of
  snow.

ClIn 1816-1818 was series   of horrible avalanches.  That’s when the St Bernard’s were
helping on the mountins. Those years almost made the population of the St
  Bernard’s die. Some of them did pass away trying to save the people buried in
  the snow.

Do St Bernard’s carry barrels of whisky on their neck to keep it
warm.

Before Beethoven was out in theaters St. Bernard’s were known
for
saving lives. In the early 18th century monks lived in the snow,
dangers
St.Bernard’s pass a rout through alp between Italy and Switzerland. The

monks kept the St. Bernard’s so the dogs could help them search for people after

bad snow storms.

References

http://voices.yahoo.com/how-st-bernard-became-search-rescue-dog-5275745.html
http://www.smithsonianmag.com/history-archaeology/st-bernard-200801.html
http://www.smithsonianmag.com/history-archaeology/st-bernard-200801.html