- Primary colour white with smaller or larger clear red patches (splash-coated dogs) up to an unbroken clear to dark red mantle covering back and flanks (mantle dogs).
- A broken reddish- brown mantle is of equal value.
- Permissible: A brindle reddish-brown colour
- Permissible: Brownish-yellow
- Preferred: Dark shadings on head
- Permissible: Slight touch of black shading on body
- Required white markings: Chest, feet, tip of tail, muzzle band, blaze and patch on neck.
- Preferred: Desirable markings: White collar.
- Symmetrical dark mask
About the St. Bernard
Origin: Switzerland
- Typical life span
- 8-10 years
- Size
- Large — from its typical weight
- Weight
- Male
- 64-82 kg
- Female
- 54-64 kg
- Height
- Male
- 71-76 cm
- Female
- 66-71 cm
- FCI status
- Recognised by FCI
- FCI groupFCI divides this breed into varieties, and our sources don’t record which one a breeder works. Ask them which variety their line is.
- Pinscher and Schnauzer - Molossoid and Swiss Mountain and Cattledogs
- Origin
- Switzerland
- Also called
- San Bernardo
- Known hereditary risks
- 8 documented conditions, with the test for each
About
What is a St. Bernard?
A powerful, giant-sized working breed from the Swiss Alps with distinctive markings and massive head, originally bred for mountain rescue. Known for its gentle, patient nature and calm temperament.
St. Bernard history and origins
Developed by monks at the Great St. Bernard Hospice on the border of Switzerland and Italy for rescue work in treacherous Alpine conditions. Used to locate and rescue travelers lost in snow and fog of dangerous Alpine passes
St. Bernard appearance and size
Males typically weigh 64-82 kg and stand 71-76 cm at the shoulder; females 54-64 kg and 66-71 cm.
What the breed standard says
- Bred for
- Companion-, watch- and farm dog
- Behaviour and temperament
“Friendly by nature. Temperament calm to lively; watchful”
Quoted from FCI standard n°61. It describes the breed the registry recognises, not any individual animal.
Breed reference from The Dog API.
Characteristics
- Size
- Large
- Exercise needs
- —
- Easy to train
- —
- Amount of shedding
- 4 of 5
- Grooming needs
- 4 of 5
- Good with children
- —
- Cost to keep
- —
- Tolerates being alone
- —
- Intelligence
- —
- Health of breed
- 8 conditions documented
Pros & cons
Pros & cons for the St. Bernard
What you get with the St. Bernard
- Purpose stated in the standard: “Companion-, watch- and farm dog”
- The standard describes the breed as: “Friendly by nature. Temperament calm to lively; watchful”
What you are taking on
- 7 serious inherited conditions are documented, mainly in bones & joints and brain & nerves. The health guide tab has the test to ask for on each.
- High grooming needs — the standard’s own description is “Thighs with slight breeches. Tail covered with dense hair.”
Drawn from sources rather than written as an opinion — cited health research, the registry’s own standard, and peer-reviewed longevity. FCI breed standard; Saint Bernard Club of America — Breeder Referral. One breeder’s animals can differ from any of it, and an empty column means we hold nothing for that side rather than that there is nothing to say.
Characteristics
FCI standard · St. Bernard
Coat and colour
As the FCI standard sets it out. Every line below is the standard’s own wording, tagged preferred and permissible.
Coat
• Shorthaired variety (Stockhaar, double coat): Topcoat dense, smooth
close lying and coarse.
Plenty of undercoat.
Thighs with slight breeches.
Tail covered with dense hair. • Longhaired variety: Topcoat straight, of medium length with plenty of undercoat.
Short hair on face and ear
hair over the haunches and the croup usually somewhat wavy.
Front legs feathered.
Thighs with good breeches.
Bushy tail
Colour
- Preferred
- Permissible
- Undesirable
- Disqualifying
Preferred, permissible, undesirable and disqualifying are FCI’s own words about the breed. They describe what the standard asks for — not an assessment of any individual dog, and not ours.
Shortened from FCI standard n°61 — each label is the standard’s own wording with the verdict lifted into the tag beside it. Read the full clause at source.
What the breed standard says
- Size
- “Height at the withers: For males minimum 70 cm, For females minimum 65 cm. For males maximum 90 cm, For females maximum 80 cm. Dogs which exceed the maximum height will not be penalised, provided their general appearance is balanced and their movement is sound”
- FCI gives a bound on one side only, so there is no range to state.
Quoted from FCI standard n°61. It describes the breed the registry recognises, not any individual animal.
What the standard penalises
What a judge marks the St. Bernard down for, and what puts one out of the ring, in the registry’s own words. This describes the breed standard — it is not a checklist for the animal in front of you, and a pet with a disqualifying fault is an unshowable dog rather than an unhealthy one.
Severe faults
Marked heavily against a specimen in the ring.
- Too short legs in relation to size (short-legged).
- Heavy folds on head and neck.
- Crooked or severely turned out front legs.
- Poorly angulated, open-hocked or cow-hocked hindquarters
Disqualifying faults
Puts an animal out of the ring altogether.
- Weak temperament
- Overshot mouth, distinctly undershot mouth.
- Wall eye.
- Ectropion, entropion.
- Solid white or solid reddish-brown coat (absence of the primary colour).
- Coat of any other colour as well as flesh coloured nostrils (nostrils without pigmentation)
- Height at withers below minimum size
FCI varieties
FCI divides the St. Bernard into these varieties, listed in the registry's own words. Depending on the breed they separate colour, coat, size or line — they are not a full list of colours, which no registry we hold publishes. Ask a breeder which variety their line is.
- Short-haired
- Long-haired
Breed-level information from The Dog API. It describes the St. Bernard in general; any individual animal can differ.
Health guide
Health & screening guide for the St. Bernard
Known hereditary risks for the St. Bernard breed, and the specific documentation to request from any breeder before paying a deposit. A responsible breeder will have these readily available; deflection is a red flag.
8 conditions documentedThis is breed-level literature, not veterinary advice about an individual animal — your vet knows the animal.
Health checklist (PDF)Heart & circulation
Cardiac disease
Serious
Structural or muscle disease of the heart, including dilated cardiomyopathy, is one of the hereditary defects the breed's own club asks breeders to screen for; early disease usually shows no outward signs.
What to ask for
Cardiac evaluation (congenital, advanced or basic) by a board-certified cardiologist, on both parents, from 24 months old
Eyes
Entropion
MonitorInherent to the breed
The heavy, loose facial skin the breed standard calls for predisposes some dogs to eyelids that roll inward and rub the cornea, which is painful and sometimes needs surgical correction.
What to ask for
No DNA test. Ask whether a vet has examined both parents' eyelids — AKC show rules already bar a St. Bernard that has had corrective entropion surgery from competing, a partial but not complete proxy.
Bones & joints
Hip and elbow dysplasia
Serious
Malformation of the hip and/or elbow joints causing pain, lameness and early arthritis; common in giant breeds and can appear anywhere from puppyhood to middle age.
What to ask for
OFA hip evaluation (or PennHIP) and OFA elbow evaluation, on both parents, from 24 months old, under the Saint Bernard Club of America's CHIC programme
Shortened lifespan and orthopaedic strain tied to giant body size
SeriousInherent to the breed
A 2026 study of UK veterinary records found Saint Bernards among the heaviest of 29 giant breeds studied, and giant breeds as a group had a median age at death under nine years, alongside elevated joint and heart disease — a pattern tied to the size the standard itself calls for, not to a single fault a breeder can screen out.
What to ask for
No document changes this. Ask how the breeder manages growth rate in puppyhood and what age dogs in their own lines have actually lived to.
Brain & nerves
Degenerative myelopathy
Serious
A progressive, incurable disease of the spinal cord that causes hind-limb weakness and eventual paralysis, usually from around eight years old onward.
What to ask for
Degenerative myelopathy (SOD1) DNA test from an approved laboratory, on both parents — required for the breed's own CHIC certification
Epilepsy
Serious
Recurring seizures with no other identifiable cause are common enough in the breed that its own club lists epilepsy among the hereditary defects to watch for.
What to ask for
No test exists. Ask for documented seizure history across the line, not only the two parents.
Digestion & liver
Gastric dilatation-volvulus (bloat)
Serious
A gas-filled, twisted stomach that is fatal within hours without emergency surgery. A large prospective study found Saint Bernards over four times more likely to develop it than the average breed studied; the risk tracks deep chest and body size rather than a single gene.
What to ask for
No test exists. Ask whether the breeder discusses prophylactic gastropexy and feeding management (several small meals, rest around meals) rather than expecting a document.
Cancer
Osteosarcoma
Serious
An aggressive bone cancer typically treated with amputation and chemotherapy, with a guarded prognosis even then. Saint Bernard is named among the giant breeds at consistently elevated risk.
What to ask for
No test exists. Ask about bone cancer in the line, particularly in dogs that died before ten years old.
How long the St. Bernard lives, in the records
Median survival 9.3 years
95% confidence interval 9.0–9.8 years, from 509 recorded deaths among 1,112 dogs
Mortality hazard 1.66 (1.52, 1.81) relative to crossbred dogs, whose median is 12.0 years.
Measured in the United Kingdom from 584,734 dogs. Median survival is not a prediction for an individual dog.
McMillan, K.M., Bielby, J., Williams, C.L., Upjohn, M.M., Casey, R.A. & Christley, R.M. (2024) Longevity of companion dog breeds: those at risk from early death. Scientific Reports 14, 531.
Gallery
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Puppies
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No St. Bernard breeder has a record on this platform yet, so there is nothing to list. That is a gap in our coverage, not a fact about the breed.