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Greater Swiss Mountain Dog

The breeds · working

AKC Working · UKC Guardian · FCI standard 58

Greater Swiss Mountain Dog.

AKC: a Draft and Drover breed that should structurally appear as such, agile enough for the all-purpose farm duties of the mountainous regions of its origin. FCI 58 utilization: originally watch and draught dog, now also companion, guard and family dog; history: guard, draught or droving cattle dogs. UKC: primarily a draft breed. RKC: herded cattle, guarded and carted; often worked in pairs pulling milk carts to the cheese factories and cheeses to market. GSMDCA: draft use declined with mechanised transport; the Swiss Army used the breed as a draft dog in WWII, when about 350 to 400 dogs remained by 1945. Wikipedia: nicknamed the poor man's horse..

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.

0INHeightdogs null, bitches null. An ideal from the standard, not a range.
80–140LBWeight, all linesbreed dogs 90 to 140 lb; breed bitches 80 to 110 lb.
1HRSExercise, every dayUp to 1 hour per day (RKC). 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 25.5 to 28.5 in · bitches 23.5 to 27 in

Breed clubAKC breed standard

Standard and UKC print 23 1/2 to 27 in; the AKC page prints 23.7 as the low end.

Weight

dogs 90 to 140 lb · bitches 80 to 110 lb

Breed clubAKC

Registry breed page band plus Wikipedia (editorial); no standard sets a weight.

Coat

AKC: topcoat dense, approximately 1 1/4 to 2 in long; undercoat must be present (preferred dark gray to tawny), total absence undesirable. UKC: double coat, medium-length outer and dense short undercoat; distinctly long coat and short coat without undercoat disqualify. FCI 58: double coat, thick medium-length outer coat, dense undercoat as dark grey or black as possible. Colour: black topcoat with rich rust and white markings; any other colour disqualifies.

Breed clubAKC breed standard

Shedding

Shedding 3 of 5 (AKC breed page trait score)

Breed clubAKC

AKC breed page trait score, 1 to 5: a breed-club tendency, never a measurement.

Heat tolerance

3 of 5 · Double coat: dense topcoat approximately 1 1/4 to 2 in long with an undercoat that must be present (AKC); medium-length outer coat and dense short undercoat (UKC, FCI 58)

DerivedAKC breed standard

Derived from the standard's coat description on the library scale: medium double coat = 3. A very large dark dog in heat is still a welfare concern.

The dog at home

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

Exercise need

Up to 1 hour per day (RKC)

Breed clubThe Royal Kennel Club

RKC band mapped: up to 1 hour = 60. AKC page rates energy 4 of 5.

Exercise need

Up to 1 hour per day (RKC). AKC breed page energy level 4 of 5, mental stimulation needs 4 of 5, playfulness 4 of 5.

Breed clubThe Royal Kennel Club

Energy

AKC breed page: energy level 4 of 5, mental stimulation needs 4 of 5, playfulness 4 of 5, trainability 4 of 5.

Breed clubAKC

Grooming load

2 of 5 · Once a week (RKC grooming band); coat length short; sheds. AKC breed page: coat grooming frequency 2 of 5, shedding 3 of 5.

Breed clubThe Royal Kennel Club

RKC band mapped: once a week = 2.

Grooming

Once a week (RKC).

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

AKC: a Draft and Drover breed that should structurally appear as such, agile enough for the all-purpose farm duties of the mountainous regions of its origin. FCI 58 utilization: originally watch and draught dog, now also companion, guard and family dog; history: guard, draught or droving cattle dogs. UKC: primarily a draft breed. RKC: herded cattle, guarded and carted; often worked in pairs pulling milk carts to the cheese factories and cheeses to market. GSMDCA: draft use declined with mechanised transport; the Swiss Army used the breed as a draft dog in WWII, when about 350 to 400 dogs remained by 1945. Wikipedia: nicknamed the poor man's horse.

Breed clubAKC breed standard

Not a gun dog; no game traits recorded.

Also used on

Cattle herding and droving, farm guarding, and cart work (RKC, FCI 58); today drafting, herding, hiking, weight pulling, agility and obedience (GSMDCA activities pages).

Breed clubThe Royal Kennel Club

How common the problems are

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

Hip dysplasia

16.4% · 16.4% dysplastic of 4,752 OFA hip evaluations (current all-data, accessed Oct 9 2026); normal 81.8%; mild 12.1%, moderate 3.9%, severe 0.3%; breed rank 74 among OFA breeds

MeasuredOrthopedic Foundation for Animals

OFA's database is voluntary and skews to breeding stock, and affected dogs are under-reported, so true prevalence is probably higher. Giant-breed figure shown plainly.

Elbow dysplasia

12.6% · 12.6% abnormal of 4,197 OFA elbow evaluations (current all-data, accessed Oct 9 2026); normal 87.2%; grade 1 10.9%, grade 2 1.6%, grade 3 0.1%; breed rank 42

MeasuredOrthopedic Foundation for Animals

OFA's database is voluntary and skews to breeding stock, and affected dogs are under-reported, so true prevalence is probably higher. Giant-breed figure shown plainly.

Most common disorders

GSMDCA health concerns page lists: idiopathic epilepsy ('commonly' affecting the breed), cataracts, distichiasis, entropion, gastric dilatation-volvulus (bloat), splenic torsion ('rare, except in GSMDs'), 'lick fit' anxious behavior, hip and elbow dysplasia, shoulder osteochondrosis dissecans (OCD), urinary incontinence. Wikipedia reports a US breed-club survey median lifespan of 6.75 years and lists other sources at 8 to 11 years.

Breed clubGreater Swiss Mountain Dog Club of America

Club list, not prevalence figures. The 6.75-year median is read through Wikipedia, not the club survey itself; do not treat it as measured.

More

akc bands

AKC breed page trait scores (1-5): Energy Level 4; Mental Stimulation Needs 4; Trainability Level 4; Barking Level 3; Watchdog/Protective Nature 4; Good With Young Children 5; Openness To Strangers 5; Good With Other Dogs 3; Shedding Level 3; Coat Grooming Frequency 2; Drooling Level 3; Affectionate With Family 5; Playfulness Level 4; Adaptability Level 3.

Breed clubAKC

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.

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. 6 sources on this page. Found something wrong? Tell us and the correction is logged with its date.

Also called
Swissy, Grosser Schweizer Sennenhund, Great Swiss Mountain Dog

Every breed, read the same way.

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

All published breeds

Your greater swiss mountain dog, on the record.

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