KENAI
Bernese Mountain Dog

The breeds · working

AKC Working · UKC Guardian · FCI standard 45

Bernese Mountain Dog.

FCI utilization: originally a guard, draught and cattle dog on farms in the Canton of Bern, today also a family dog and versatile working dog. AKC standard: intelligent, strong and agile enough for the draft and droving work of its mountain origin. UKC: general farm worker, flock guardian and draft dog. RKC: Swiss draught dog that pulled carts for weavers and milk and cheese carts; general farm dog herding sheep and cattle. AKC history: droving cattle, guarding farmyards, pulling many times its own weight in a cart.

Breed sets the odds. The parents set the dog. Every number here shows its source, its spread and how sure we are. Nothing on this page is a prediction about one dog.

10.1YRMedian lifespan9.8 to 10.4, measured on real dogs.
0INHeightdogs null, bitches null. An ideal from the standard, not a range.
70–120LBWeight, all linesbreed dogs 80 to 120 lb; breed bitches 70 to 100 lb.
1HRSExercise, every dayRKC: up to 1 hour per day. AKC breed page: at least half an hour of moderate exercise every day; enjoys walks, hikes, carting and drafting. The constraint most homes get wrong.

The body

What the breed is built like. Registry standards give an ideal, not a range.

Height at the shoulder

dogs 25 to 27.6 in · bitches 22.8 to 26 in

Breed clubAKC breed standard, 1990

Center left blank: only FCI prints an ideal and it is a range (60 to 63 cm).

Weight

dogs 80 to 120 lb · bitches 70 to 100 lb

Breed clubAKC breed history

No standard sets a weight; low and high span the AKC breed page and Wikipedia.

Coat

AKC: thick, moderately long, slightly wavy or straight, bright natural sheen; extremely curly or dull coats undesirable; shown in natural coat. Color jet black with rich rust and clear white markings, tri-color only. UKC: thick single coat. FCI: long, shining, straight or slightly wavy; distinctly curly coat a fault. RKC: coat length medium

Breed clubAKC breed standard, 1990

Shedding

AKC breed page: sheds a fair amount, more in shedding season, which comes twice a year; AKC trait score for shedding 5 of 5. RKC: sheds yes

Breed clubAKC breed history

Heat tolerance

2 of 5 · FCI: coat long, shining, straight or slightly wavy; the standard disqualifies a short or double (Stockhaar) coat. AKC standard: thick, moderately long, slightly wavy or straight. AKC breed page calls it a double coat with a woolly undercoat; UKC calls it a thick single coat

DerivedFederation Cynologique Internationale

Derived from the coat descriptions (2 = heavy long coat). The registries disagree on whether the coat is single or double (UKC single, AKC breed page double, FCI disqualifies a Stockhaar double coat); every reading is a long thick coat.

How long they live, and what they cost

Measured on real dogs, with the sample and the spread. Never a guess.

Median lifespan

10.1 years (9.8 to 10.4)

MeasuredMcMillan KM, 2024

Dogs Trust figure is a median across UK dogs, mostly pets. The Swiss, Dutch and French figures were read only as Wikipedia's summary, are a different measure and population, and are shown in the text but not in low and high. The breed is short-lived against its size class in every source.

The dog at home

What the breed asks of a day. The first thing most homes get wrong.

Exercise need

RKC: up to 1 hour per day. AKC breed page: at least half an hour of moderate exercise every day; enjoys walks, hikes, carting and drafting

Breed clubThe Royal Kennel Club

RKC band mapped: up to 1 hour = 60. Low is the AKC page's half-hour minimum.

Exercise need

RKC: up to 1 hour per day (large house, large garden suggested). AKC breed page: at least a half-hour of moderate exercise daily, indoor family dog, good on long walks and hikes, pulls a child's cart; AKC page also lists agility, herding, obedience, rally and tracking

Breed clubThe Royal Kennel Club

Energy

AKC breed page trait scores (1 to 5): energy level 4, mental stimulation needs 3, playfulness 4, trainability 4, adaptability 4

Breed clubAKC breed history

AKC editorial scores on a 1 to 5 band, not C-BARQ means.

Grooming load

3 of 5 · RKC: grooming more than once a week; medium coat; sheds. AKC breed page: double coat, weekly brushing and daily during the twice-yearly shed

Breed clubThe Royal Kennel Club

RKC band mapped: more than once a week = 3.

Grooming

RKC: more than once a week. AKC breed page: weekly brushing, daily during shedding season; tangles worked out with a slicker brush or metal comb

Breed clubThe Royal Kennel Club

The work

What it was built to do in the field, and what a test or trial asks of it.

Role

FCI utilization: originally a guard, draught and cattle dog on farms in the Canton of Bern, today also a family dog and versatile working dog. AKC standard: intelligent, strong and agile enough for the draft and droving work of its mountain origin. UKC: general farm worker, flock guardian and draft dog. RKC: Swiss draught dog that pulled carts for weavers and milk and cheese carts; general farm dog herding sheep and cattle. AKC history: droving cattle, guarding farmyards, pulling many times its own weight in a cart

Breed clubFederation Cynologique Internationale

Not a gun dog; hunting traits are omitted. Four registries agree on the farm, draft and droving role.

Also used on

Carting and drafting (AKC history: the Bernese Mountain Dog Club of America sponsors drafting and carting events); AKC page also lists agility, herding, obedience, rally, tracking, camping and backpacking. Wikipedia: eligible for AKC herding events from July 1, 2010; police dogs in Switzerland; herd guardianship in the Swiss Alps

Breed clubAKC breed history

Wikipedia items are editorial and label the Swiss police and guardian uses.

Field trial standard

Wikipedia (editorial): the Bernese Mountain Dog Club of America offers drafting trials open to all breeds with four individual titles (Novice Draft Dog, Advanced Novice Draft Dog, Draft Dog, Master Draft Dog) and four brace titles, two dogs working one cart; regional clubs offer carting events. AKC page: the national club sponsors drafting and carting events that test working ability

EditorialWikipedia

The club's own rulebook was not reachable (bmdca.org refused this session), so the title names rest on Wikipedia.

How common the problems are

Evaluated dogs skew toward breeding stock; the numbers are still the best there are.

Hip dysplasia

16.3% · 16.3% dysplastic of 31,630 OFA hip evaluations on record (current all-data, accessed Oct 9 2026); 82.1% normal; mild 10.5%, moderate 5.1%, severe 0.7%; breed rank 77 on OFA's list

MeasuredOrthopedic Foundation for Animals

Voluntary registry: affected dogs are under-reported and evaluated dogs skew toward breeding stock, so true prevalence is probably higher. OFA's all-data table prints no start year.

Elbow dysplasia

26.6% · 26.6% abnormal of 26,039 OFA elbow evaluations on record (current all-data, accessed Oct 9 2026); 73.1% normal; grade 1 18.5%, grade 2 6.1%, grade 3 2.0%; breed rank 13 on OFA's list

MeasuredOrthopedic Foundation for Animals

Voluntary registry: affected dogs are under-reported and evaluated dogs skew toward breeding stock, so true prevalence is probably higher. OFA's all-data table prints no start year. Elbow abnormality is one of the highest figures in the library; mostly grade 1.

Most common disorders

AKC breed page: breeders should screen for hip and elbow dysplasia, blood disorders, some cancers and progressive retinal atrophy; bloat risk as in all large breeds. Wikipedia (editorial): malignant histiocytosis accounts for about a quarter of tumours in the breed (heritability 0.298); high-grade mastocytoma about three times the general population (Austrian study); immune-mediated glomerulonephritis and renal disease higher than any other breed in a Swiss study; degenerative myelopathy variants (SOD1:c.52T in 3.5%, a second variant in 38%); von Willebrand disease type I

EditorialAKC breed history

Registry and encyclopedia prose, not a counted prevalence table. A VetCompass or breed-club health survey would be better.

What the studies found

Population-level findings, shown as a spread. Breed sets the odds; the parents set the dog.

Aggression, as studied

C-BARQ online sample, 67 Bernese Mountain Dogs: 1.5% of owners reported a snap, bite or attempt to bite at a stranger, 3% at an owner, 4.5% at an unfamiliar dog and 1.6% in dog rivalry (Table 4). The authors list the Bernese among the breeds that scored low (below the median) for stranger-directed aggression and among those least aggressive toward both humans and dogs

StudiedDuffy D.L., 2008

The breed is in the online survey only, so Table 5 prints no breed mean and the stranger- and dog-directed subscale scores are not recorded. Population finding, never a prediction for one dog.

More

akc bands

AKC breed page trait scores (1-5): Energy Level 4; Mental Stimulation Needs 3; Trainability Level 4; Barking Level 3; Watchdog/Protective Nature 3; Good With Young Children 5; Openness To Strangers 4; Good With Other Dogs 5; Shedding Level 5; Coat Grooming Frequency 3; Drooling Level 3; Affectionate With Family 5; Playfulness Level 4; Adaptability Level 4.

Breed clubAKC breed history

Fourteen AKC bands in one row; the selector reads each by name. Breed-club ratings: a tendency, never a measurement.

What to ask a breeder for

The health clearances the breed’s own club and registry name. Reference only: what to ask for, never a statement about any dog’s health.

Side by side

Or let the selector rank the Bernese Mountain Dog against your own answers.

How to read this page

Every value carries a label. Measured means peer-reviewed data on many dogs. Studied means peer-reviewed, smaller or indirect. Breed club means a club or registry states it. Editorial means expert opinion with no measurement behind it. Where two good sources disagree, both are shown and neither is averaged.

Published when the entry rests on the best information available from no fewer than three independent sources, checked by a second pass that did not write it. 8 sources on this page. Found something wrong? Tell us and the correction is logged with its date.

Also called
Bouvier Bernois

Every breed, read the same way.

The breed index grows as entries clear the standard. Gun dogs first.

All published breeds

Your bernese mountain dog, on the record.

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