47 Fun Facts About Bernese Mountain Dog

What do fanciers usually call the Bernese Mountain Dog for short?

Berner is simply the German word for 'Bernese', lifted from the breed's home name, Berner Sennenhund, and used by owners from Switzerland to America.

Swiss farmers once called the Bernese Mountain Dog's ancestors Vieräugler, 'four eyes', after which feature?

The spots above the eyes look like a second pair, and the name was one of several farmyard nicknames the dogs carried before fanciers gave them a formal one in the 1900s.

A Swiss saying gives the Bernese three years young, three years good and three years old, and calls any more what?

A gift from God, the saying ends; a breed-club survey in 2000 found the average Bernese died at about seven, though many books still promised ten to twelve years.

By tradition, the Bernese Mountain Dog descends from mastiffs that crossed the Alps with which ancient army?

Roman dogs are the usual account, but it is tradition, not record: the breed's early history is undocumented.

The Bernese was once called the Dürrbächler, a name taken from what?

A hamlet near Bern: Dürrbach and its inn, by Riggisberg, were where the long-haired farm dogs were thickest on the ground, and the name was widened in 1908 to cover the whole canton.

Which nickname did Swiss locals give the Bernese Mountain Dog?

Cheese Dogs took the name from the valley cheese dairies that spread through the Bernese lowlands in the mid-1800s, where the dogs became a daily sight on the roads that led to them.

The first Bernese breed club, founded in 1907, was made up of breeders from which region?

Burgdorf hosted the 1910 show where farmers from the district turned up with 107 of their dogs, and from that day the breed won admirers all over Switzerland.

Why did the AKC refuse to register America's first known Bernese litter in 1926?

It did not recognise the breed for another eleven years, so Kansas farmer Isaac Schiess registered his pups with the Swiss Kennel Club instead, under the kennel name The Clover Leaf.

In 1948 a reportedly accidental mating brought which other breed's blood into the Bernese line?

Newfoundland blood came in when a dog named Pluto mated the Bernese bitch Christine; the even temper of that litter's descendants spread through almost every line alive today.

Bród and Síoda, Bernese Mountain Dogs known for greeting visiting dignitaries, belonged to the president of which country?

Ireland's Michael D. Higgins let the pair roam his garden parties, where they wove between the tables and sauntered up to him for a belly rub while guests queued for photographs.

What sets the Bernese apart from its three Sennenhund cousins?

It is the only one with a long coat: its three sister breeds are all short-haired, and a short coat disqualifies a Bernese under the international standard.

The white marking on a Bernese Mountain Dog's chest is known as what?

The Swiss cross echoes the white cross of the national flag; the American standard describes the same chest marking more plainly, as an inverted cross.

On a Bernese, what is a 'Swiss kiss'?

A white mark on the back of the neck is only tolerated by the international standard, and then no wider than six centimetres; any larger counts as a fault.

The AKC standard disqualifies a Bernese Mountain Dog for which eye colour?

Blue eyes put a Bernese out of the ring on both sides of the Atlantic: the American standard disqualifies them, and the international one bars even a single blue 'wall eye'.

What colour must a Bernese Mountain Dog's nose always be?

Black is the only nose colour either standard allows, and black must be the coat's ground colour too: any other disqualifies a Bernese outright in the American ring.

How do the breed standards describe a Bernese Mountain Dog's proportions?

Slightly longer than tall, though the eye reads it as square: the international standard fixes the ratio at nine to ten and calls the build compact, not elongated.

Which description fits the ears called for in the Bernese Mountain Dog standards?

Triangular with rounded tips and set high, they hang close to the head at rest; when the dog is alert they lift at the base and swing forward.

Which dewclaws do both the American and international standards say should be removed from a Bernese?

The rear ones 'should be removed' in the American standard, while the front ones merely may be; the international standard agrees, but exempts countries where the operation is banned.

A Swiss study traced more than half of all Bernese Mountain Dog deaths to what?

Cancer took 58% of the 381 dogs that died, more than ten times the share of the next cause, and dogs with tumours had shorter lives than dogs with other disorders.

Which trait do breed clubs say a trainer must respect in a Bernese Mountain Dog?

A sensitive nature lies under all that bulk: the clubs warn that hard hands and harsh methods can easily break a Bernese's spirit, and ask for patience and kindness instead.

Which sudden stomach emergency threatens large, deep-chested dogs like the Bernese?

Bloat lets gas build until the stomach twists shut, and it can kill without quick treatment; owners are told to feed two smaller meals a day instead of one large one.

Swiss studies have found the Bernese Mountain Dog unusually prone to fatal disease of which organ?

The kidneys: the breed is prone to an immune-driven inflammation of their filters, and in a later Swiss study dogs with kidney damage died youngest of all, at under seven years.

Besides the hips, which joints do Bernese breeders X-ray for dysplasia before mating a dog?

The elbows: the breed club warns that a Bernese with 'clear hips' can still be unsound there, and a bad elbow can progress to lameness and arthritis.

Breed clubs warn that a Bernese Mountain Dog does worst when it is kept how?

Alone in a kennel it pines: the clubs call the Bernese a dog that needs human company, and one left unattended for long hours can turn destructive.

Why do breed clubs tell owners to keep Bernese puppies off long flights of stairs?

To protect growing joints: the pups put on weight fast, so the clubs also warn against forced jogging and letting a young dog grow fat, which loads bones that are still forming.

The calm Bernese Mountain Dog is a natural at which activity it originally performed in Switzerland?

Pulling small carts was the breed's farm job, taking weavers' baskets and farmers' milk to market; clubs still test the skill in draft trials, with no loaded cart before the age of two.

The Bernese Mountain Dog is eligible to compete in which of these AKC disciplines?

Herding was half the old farm job: the dogs drove dairy cattle between the valley and the summer pastures, and the AKC lists the breed among those eligible for its herding tests.

Which pair of words do both the American and international standards use for the Bernese temperament?

Self-confident and good-natured appear in both; the American standard adds that a Bernese may stay aloof with strangers, which breeders insist is not the same as shyness.

In Switzerland and Germany, the Bernese Mountain Dog has been trained for which line of work?

Search and rescue suits this easily trained breed: dogs find people buried by avalanches, then stay on the spot and bark until the handler arrives.

In the name Sennenhund, who were the Senn that the dogs worked beside?

Alpine herdsmen, the Senn, tended other farmers' cattle on the high summer meadows; a literal translation of the breed's German name is 'Bernese Alpine herdsman's dog'.

Which giant breed became so fashionable in the late 1800s that the Bernese was almost forgotten at home?

St Bernard fever left so few farm dogs of the old type that some red-and-white ones were sold abroad under that name, until a handful of fanciers went looking for the rest.

Which Alpine geologist championed the Swiss mountain dogs and helped sort them into four breeds?

Albert Heim, a Zurich geology professor, is called the father of the breed: he judged the dogs at shows, urged fanciers to revive them and steered the change of name in 1908.

Which country first used the name 'Bernese Mountain Dog', before America adopted it too?

England set the precedent, and the name is no translation: the breed's German name has no mountain in it at all.

Which German 'butcher's dog' is said to share the Swiss mountain dogs' mastiff-type ancestors?

Rottweiler and Bernese are both traced, by tradition, to mastiff-type drovers' dogs; the Rottweiler lost its trade when railways replaced cattle drives in the 1800s.

Which is the smallest of the four Sennenhund breeds?

The Entlebucher was long lumped in with the Appenzeller; only after four bob-tailed dogs were shown in 1913 was it entered in the Swiss stud book as the fourth mountain-dog breed.

What is the Bernese Mountain Dog called in French-speaking Switzerland?

Bouvier bernois means 'Bernese cattle dog', the same word as in Bouvier des Flandres; the international federation likewise files the breed under Swiss cattle dogs.

Soon after the first American litters, what stopped Bernese Mountain Dogs arriving from Switzerland for several years?

The Second World War halted all imports, and no Bernese were registered in America until the one established pair began breeding again once it was over.

Bern, whose canton gave the Bernese Mountain Dog its name, has what status in Switzerland?

De facto capital, the 'federal city': the Swiss constitution names no capital, so Bern, chosen in 1848 over Zurich and Lucerne as the seat of government, holds the rank in practice only.

By legend, the founder of Bern named it after the first animal he met on a hunt, which was what?

A bear was the first catch of Duke Berthold V's hunt in 1191, the story goes; the animal stands on the city's arms, and live bears are still kept in a park beside the old bear pit.

Bernese owners nickname the breed a 'leaner' because the dogs like to do what?

Press against people's legs: a Bernese sizes up a visitor quietly, then walks over and leans its weight in, a greeting the clubs say males are especially fond of.

How is the ideal Bernese Mountain Dog's tail carried?

Bushy and low is the rule at rest; the tail may swirl upward when the dog is alert, but it must never curl over the back, and a kink in it is a fault.

The tricolour Sennenhund coat combines black, white and which third colour?

Rust completes the only pattern the standards now accept; a century ago the same farm dogs also came in red or yellow with white, colours the breeders chose to leave behind.

Owners of a Bernese Mountain Dog are warned to expect heavy what around the house?

Shedding goes on all year and peaks when the thick coat is cast, when the clubs advise brushing every day and running the vacuum almost as often.

How does the American Kennel Club classify the Bernese Mountain Dog?

Working has been the breed's AKC group from the start, because the Bernese was a farm hand first: its standard still asks for a dog strong and agile enough for the jobs it was bred to do.

Apart from the face, chest and feet, where do the standards want white on a Bernese?

The tip of the tail should be white, the American standard says outright, while the international one lists it as desirable; white higher up the legs than the feet is penalised by both.

How do the AKC standard and the breed club say a Bernese Mountain Dog's coat should be shown?

Natural and untrimmed: the standard discourages 'undue trimming' and the club says the coat needs no trimming or stripping, so upkeep comes down to a comb and brush.

Breed clubs say the Bernese Mountain Dog shows a real aptitude for which dog sport?

Tracking plays to a good nose and a steady, methodical temper; the breed is less suited to sports that demand sharp turns and bursts of speed.