Chris (Kris), the St. Bernard

Beethoven in Beethoven (1992) and Beethoven's 2nd (1993) The family-wrecking St. Bernard of the first two films was a real dog called Chris, a name also spelled Kris, credited in the role as a two-year-old purebred. He never carried the part alone: the first film also used several canine doubles and stand-ins, plus a run of puppies for the young Beethoven, and the later sequels cast other St. Bernards. Even that was not the whole cast. The first production used a full mechanical dog and, for the violent snare scene, a man in a dog costume. Accounts of who trained Chris and of his later years differ, so treat any confident life story with care.