- 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
- Reconhecida pela 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.
O que diz o padrão da raça
- Criado para
- Companion-, watch- and farm dog
- Comportamento e temperamento
“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.
Referência da raça de The Dog API.
Características
- Tamanho
- Large
- Necessidade de exercício
- —
- Facilidade de treino
- —
- Queda de pelo
- 4 of 5
- Cuidados com o pelo
- 4 of 5
- Convivência com crianças
- —
- Custo de manutenção
- —
- Tolera ficar sozinho
- —
- Inteligência
- —
- Saúde da raça
- 8 conditions documented
Pros & cons
Prós e contras da raça St. Bernard
O que ganha com a raça St. Bernard
- Função declarada no padrão: «Companion-, watch- and farm dog»
- O padrão descreve a raça assim: «Friendly by nature. Temperament calm to lively; watchful»
O que tem de assumir
- Estão documentadas 7 doenças hereditárias graves, sobretudo em ossos e articulações e cérebro e nervos. O separador do guia de saúde tem o exame a pedir para cada uma.
- Exige muitos cuidados com o pelo — a descrição do próprio padrão é «Thighs with slight breeches. Tail covered with dense hair.»
Retirado de fontes e não escrito como opinião — investigação de saúde citada, o padrão do próprio registo, e estudos de longevidade revistos por pares. Padrão da raça, FCI; Saint Bernard Club of America — Breeder Referral. Os animais de um criador podem diferir de tudo isto, e uma coluna vazia significa que não temos nada desse lado, não que não haja nada a dizer.
Characteristics
Padrão da FCI · St. Bernard
Pelo e cor
Tal como o padrão da FCI o estabelece. Cada linha abaixo está nas palavras do próprio padrão, etiquetada com preferred e 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
Cor
- Preferred
- Permissible
- Undesirable
- Disqualifying
«Preferred», «permissible», «undesirable» e «disqualifying» — preferida, admissível, indesejável e desqualificante — são as palavras da própria FCI sobre a raça, e ficam em inglês porque é assim que constam do padrão. Descrevem o que o padrão exige — não são uma avaliação de nenhum cão em concreto, nem nossa.
Resumido de FCI standard n°61 — cada etiqueta está nas palavras do próprio padrão, com o veredito passado para a etiqueta ao lado. Leia a cláusula completa na fonte.
O que diz o padrão da raça
- Tamanho
- “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”
- A FCI dá um limite só de um lado, por isso não há intervalo a indicar.
Quoted from FCI standard n°61. It describes the breed the registry recognises, not any individual animal.
O que o padrão penaliza
Aquilo que faz um juiz descontar pontos à raça St. Bernard, e o que a põe fora do ring, nas palavras do próprio registo. Isto descreve o padrão da raça — não é uma lista de verificação para o animal que tem à frente, e um animal de companhia com um defeito desqualificante é um cão que não pode ir a exposição, não um cão doente.
Defeitos graves
Contam fortemente contra um exemplar no 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
Defeitos desqualificantes
Põem o animal fora do ring por completo.
- 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
Informação ao nível da raça, de The Dog API. Descreve a raça St. Bernard em geral; qualquer animal em concreto pode ser diferente.
Health guide
Health & screening guide for the St. Bernard
Riscos hereditários conhecidos na raça St. Bernard, e a documentação específica a pedir a qualquer criador antes de pagar um sinal. Um criador responsável tem esta documentação à mão; desviar a conversa é um mau indício.
8 doenças documentadasIsto é literatura ao nível da raça, não aconselhamento veterinário sobre um animal em concreto — o seu veterinário conhece o 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.
O que pedir
Cardiac evaluation (congenital, advanced or basic) by a board-certified cardiologist, on both parents, from 24 months old
Eyes
Entropion
MonitorInerente à raça
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.
O que pedir
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.
O que pedir
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
SeriousInerente à raça
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.
O que pedir
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.
O que pedir
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.
O que pedir
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.
O que pedir
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.
O que pedir
No test exists. Ask about bone cancer in the line, particularly in dogs that died before ten years old.
Quanto tempo vive a raça St. Bernard, nos registos
Sobrevivência mediana de 9,3 anos
Intervalo de confiança a 95% de 9,0–9,8 anos, a partir de 509 mortes registadas entre 1112 cães
Risco de mortalidade de 1.66 (1.52, 1.81) em relação a cães de raça indeterminada, cuja mediana é de 12,0 anos.
Medido no Reino Unido a partir de 584 734 cães. A sobrevivência mediana não é uma previsão para um cão em concreto.
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
Ainda sem fotografias
É aqui que vão aparecer as fotografias dos próprios donos de St. Bernard, a partir dos perfis dos animais que mantêm aqui. Ninguém acrescentou ainda nenhuma a uma página pública.
Uma fotografia num perfil de animal fica privada do seu dono. Não colocamos nenhuma aqui sem que nos peçam.
Puppies
No puppies listed right now
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.