Saint Bernard Breed description: Character & Co

Breed characteristics of the St. Bernard

The St. Bernard isclassified by the FCI as Group 2(Pinscher and Schnauzer, Molossoid, SwissMountain Dogs), Section 2.2 (Molossian, Mountain Dog type). No working test is required.

Size and weight

This dog breedprescribes a minimumheight for males of 70cm, for females of 65cm. At the same time, males should not exceed 90cm, bitches 80cm. However, the latter regulation is not too strict. Due to their size, they easily reach a weight of about 55-90kg; in some cases there are even numbers in the triple digits.

A specimen of this breed has aharmonious, reachingmovement with good good thrust from the hindquarters,while the back remains stable and remains stable and calm. The front-and hind feet are set straight forward.

The head

The head of the St. Bernard is massive, imposing and expressive. The strong, broad skull appearsslightly domed inprofileand whenviewedfrom thefront ; in affect (when excited), the base of the ears forms a straightlinewith the top of the head,whichgentlycurveslaterallyintothestrongly developed high cheek parts. The forehead, which has a distinctly developed furrow beginning at the base and running down the middle of the top of the head, seems to slopetoo steeply towardthe muzzle and is covered by skin that covers slight wrinkles converging toward the furrow above the eyes.Theoccipital protuberance isonlymoderately pronounced, but theupperocular archshould bestronglydeveloped and the stop distinct.

The muzzle

St. Bernards have a black,broad andangular nose with well opened nostrils. The muzzle itself is evenlybroad and has a straight nasal bridge with a slight groove. The edges of the lips are blackpigmented in a breed specimen, and thelips of the upper jawshould be strongly developed,tight and not toooverhanging,forming a wide curvetowards the nose .The corner of the mouth remains visible.

A complete scissoror pincer bite is typical of this breed , but a close fitting fore bite withoutloss of contact ofthe incisors is tolerated in breeding, as is the absence of PM1 (premolar 1) and M3.

The eyes & ears

The eyes of this breed are dark brown to hazel, moderatelydeep-set and with afriendlyexpression. Inbreeding, a natural,firmclosure of the eyelidsis desired. Nevertheless,averysmallkinkon the lower eyelid (withlittle visible conjunctiva) as well as on the upper ey elid is permissible. The eyelid margins should be completely pigmented .

Likewise medium sized ears areset high and wide.The auricles are strongly developed, the ear lobes supple, triangular with rounded tip. The posterior rim is slightly protruding, the anterior rim rests against the cheeks.

The rump

The strong neck ofsufficient length has a moderately developed throatlatchand dewlap. The upperprofile line gives animposing,harmonious, stately and well muscled overallappearance, leading over well defined withers into a broad, strong and firm back , the topline of which is straightand horizontal to the loin. The long croup is also only slightly sloping, but mergesharmoniouslyinto the tail set on.

The rib cage ismoderatelydeep with well sprung ribs, but not barrel shaped. Moreover, it does not reach lower than the elbows. The lower profile line is slightly tucked up towards the rear.

The tail

The tail of the Bernahrdinger is broad and strong at the base. It is long and heavy, the last tail vertebra shouldreach at least to the hock joint. At rest it is carried hanging straight down or slightly curved upward in the lower third, and higher when excited.

The limbs

The forelegs of this breed, seen from the front,are straight and parallel, butmoderatelybroad. The shoulder blades oblique, muscular and well fitting, are shorter than the upper arms and form to them a not too obtuse angle. The elbow is close-fitting and continues into a straight, strong-boned and dry-muscled forearm, the extension of which is the metacarpus. This is slightly angulated when viewed from the side.

The hindquarters should be moderatelyangulated and muscular in generaland parallel, but not tight, when viewedfrom behind. The strong thigh has a broad club, the stifle joint is well angulated and neither turned out nor in. The following lower leg is oblique and fairly long. The hock should be slightly angulated but firm and the hind pasternstraight and parallel when viewed from behind.

The paws are generally breite, with strong,closeeach otherlyingstrongly arched toes. Dewclawson the hind feet aretolerated,iftheythe movementdo not hinder the course of movement.

The coat

The St. Bernard comes in two varieties:

• Shorthaired (stockhaired): in which the outer coat is dense, smooth, close-lying as well as coarse, and the undercoat isabundant. Thehaunches are lightly fringed, and the tail is densely furnished with hair.
• Longhair: Longhair Bernhardines have medium length, straight topcoat with abundant undercoat. However, the face and ears are short haired and over the hips and croup the coat is usually somewhat wavy. The forelegs are feathered and typical are strongly hoofed haunchesand a bushy tail.

Basic color of this breed is alwayswhitewith smaller orlargerclear red plates (plate dogs) to continuousclear to dark red blanketsoverbackandflanks(coat dogs). A torn coat (blanket interspersed with white) is considered equivalent.Thereby brindle isReddish brownis permissible,brown-yellowbut onlytolerated.A dark dressingatheadisdesired, as well asApproachofsblack shades.

There are predefinedwhitemarkings on chest,paws,tip of tail, noseband, blaze and neck patch.Furthermore, the following markings are not mandatory but desirable: awhitecollarand a symmetricaldark mask.