The labernese and the Saint-Pierre, a beautiful Mira story

Some accidents turn out to be fabulous vectors of creation and discovery. For example: the "slinky" toy, the eraser, the purple color and the microwave. Things that perfectly fill our lives today but were hardly needed back then. Mira's accident is quite a different matter. "Necessity is the mother of invention” they say. Rather true when it comes to creating the labernese and the Saint-Pierre dogs. Here is the story of this breed that has become a staple in the training of guide dogs.

A legend is born

1991: a Labrador dog and a bernese mountain dog mate by accident. Oh well, the surprises of life! These puppies are then named BOULAB, from the contraction of the terms bouvier (bernese in French) and Labrador. They are absolutely adorable. The interest in seeing if this is a viable option for training then grows greatly.

"We started working with them and fell in love with them. These are 2 really good breeds so we were excited to see what we could do with this. I also had the very first one called Médor, a breeding male with whom we worked to try to produce other boulab” tells Nicolas Saint-Pierre, general manager of Mira Foundation and son of Eric Saint-Pierre, founder of Mira.

Creating a lineage

Eventually, the name boulab was changed to labernese. Several crosses between them were made, many of them being unsuccessful. The genetics of one dog took over another one and stood out far too strongly. The overly playful side of the Labrador stood out in one, the herdsman's look came out randomly or unevenly in another. The efforts were then concentrated on stabilizing the coat and obtaining a pattern that we know and recognize today, namely a black body with a white plastron and white on the face and on the paws. Today, this dog is what we call the "Saint-Pierre", a precise variation of the labernese.

These multiple mating efforts also served to stabilize the dog's behavior. The Saint-Pierre labernese is probably the closest thing to perfect for usage as a guide dog. Why?

• This dog is in love with people and is VERY loyal;
• He has average energy, which is ideal for a guide dog, the perfect balance between being able to spend long moments at rest and being dynamic enough to do its work of helping and guiding;
• He is very intelligent and learns very well;
• He is very pleasant to train, a good relationship with the coach is established quickly;
• It is aesthetically beautiful and has a very attractive look.

The future of the « breed »

The actual labernese Saint-Pierre is not an official breed. For a breed to be recognized as official, you must be able to have 5 generations of the dog coming from different independent roots, but all coming back to the same initial dog. It’s not easy and it’s not a priority at the moment. Above all, for the next few years, Mira wants to stabilize the Saint-Pierre. We want to confirm his behavior, his physique and his aesthetics as much as it is possible to do so, as well as know and control his potential health problems as much as possible. They also want to strengthen their roots in order to get, yet again and again, the most perfect dog as possible, the one we often call "THE Mira dog".

Other breeders around the world could want to reproduce the same roots (Labrador and bernese mountain dog) and labernese in order to obtain their version of the Saint-Pierre. There is always this risk but, it is unlikely. Mira's notoriety and its efforts towards the creation and continuation of this dog gives it a certain respect. It would be hard to see random people having fun copying Mira's pride. The Saint-Pierre is now the icon of the foundation and it is rather difficult to surpass what has been done so far.

Having our own labernese or Saint-Pierre

Obtaining a labernese as a personal dog is always possible if a breeder decides to mate the 2 root breeds (Labrador and bernese mountain dog) and make them available in their . However, the Saint-Pierre is exclusive to Mira and it is not possible to obtain one unless you are a beneficiary of the foundation or a foster family who gets temporary custody of a dog during its socialization period. But we understand that you would like to have one, they are so extraordinary!

We encourage you to give generously to our Mondou Mondon campaign for the Mira Foundation until November 13. All the details can be found HERE.