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Standard FCI No 61 ST BERNARD Origine: Switzerland Date OF PUBLICATION OF THE
VALID ORIGINAL STANDARD: 21.01.2004
TRANSLATION
: Mrs.C.Seidler and Mrs. Pepper. UTILIZATION
: Companion-, watch- and farmdog. CLASSIFICATION
F.C.I.:
BRIEF HISTORICAL SURVEY :
At the height of the Great St. Bernard Pass, 2469 metres above sea level,
a hospice was founded by monks in the 11th century
as a place of refuge for
travellers and
pilgrims. There, large
mountain dogs have been kept
since the middle of the 17th century for guarding and protection.
The existence of such dogs has
been documented pictorially since 1695 and
in a written document at the hospice in the year 1707.
The dogs were soon in use as companion dogs and specially as rescue dogs
for travellers lost in snow and fog.
The chronicles about the numerous human lives saved by these dogs from
the « white death », published in many languages, and the verbal
reports of the soldiers who crossed
the pass with Bonaparte’s army in 1800, spread the fame of the St. Bernard,
called Barry-dog at that time, throughout Europe during the 19th century.
The legendary dog « Barry » became the epitome of the rescue
dog. The direct ancestors of
the St. Bernard were the large farm dogs common in that region.
Within a few generations and
aiming to a defined ideal type, these dogs were developed to the present day
type of breed. Heinrich Schumacher
from Holligen near Bern was the
first who began to issue genealogical documents for his dogs in 1867. In
February 1884 the "Schweizerisches Hundestammbuch"(SHSB), the Swiss
Dog Stud Book, was
started. The
very first entry was
the St.Bernard "Leon", and
the following 28
registrations also concerned St.Bernards. On
the 15th March 1884, the Swiss St.Bernards-Club was founded in Basle. On the occasion of an international Canine Congress on June
2nd 1887, the St. Bernard dog was officially recognized as a Swiss breed and
the breed standard
was declared
as binding.
Since then , the St.Bernard
has been regarded as the Swiss national dog.
GENERAL APPEARANCE
: There
are two varieties of the St.Bernard : ·
Short-haired variety (double coat,
“Stockhaar”): ·
Long-haired variety. Both
varieties are of considerable
size and of impressive general apperance. They
have a balanced, powerful, sturdy, muscular body with impressive head and an
alert facial expression. IMPORTANT PROPORTIONS
: ·
Ideal relation of height at withers to length of
body (measured from the point of the shoulder to the point of buttocks) = 9 :
10. ·
Ideal relation of height at withers to depth of
chest see sketch below. ·
The total length of the head is slightly more
than one third of the height at withers. ·
The relation of depth of muzzle (measured at its
root) to length of muzzle is almost 2:1. ·
Length of muzzle slightly longer than one third
of the total length of the head. BEHAVIOUR/TEMPERAMENT: Friendly
by nature.
Temperament calm to lively; watchful. HEAD : General : Powerful, imposing and very expressive. CRANIAL
REGION
: Skull : Strong, broad, seen
in profile and from the front slightly
rounded. When the dog is
alert, the set-on of the ears and the top of the skull form a straight line
which slopes at the sides in a gentle curve to the strongly developed high cheek
bones. Forehead falling away
steeply towards the muzzle. Occipital
bone only moderately developed, superciliary ridges strongly developed.
The frontal furrow, which starts at the base of the forehead, is
distinctly developed and runs up right in the middle of the skull. The
skin of the forehead forms slight wrinkles above the eyes that converge
towards the frontal furrow. When
the dog is at attention, they are moderately visible; otherwise they are rather
inconspicuous. Stop : Dinstinctly pronounced. FACIAL
REGION : Nose : Black, broad and square.
Nostrils well opened. Muzzle : Of even width.
Nasal bridge straight, with slight groove. Lips :
Edge of lips black
pigmented. Flews
of upper jaw strongly developed,
firm and not too pendulous, forming a wide curve towards the
nose. Corners of
mouth remain visible. Jaws/Teeth : Upper and lower jaw strong, broad, equal
in length. Well developed, regular
and complete scissor or pincer bite. Close fitting undershot mouth without any
space between the lower and the upper incisors acceptable.
Absence of PM 1 (premolar 1) and
M3 tolerated. Eyes : Of medium size.
Colour dark brown to nut-brown. Moderately
deep set with a friendly expression. Natural tightness of lids desired.
A
small angular fold on the lower lids with the haws only slightly visible as well
as a small fold on the upper lids are permitted. Eyerims completely pigmented. Ears : Of medium size, set on high and wide. Strongly developed burrs.
Flaps pliable, triangular with rounded tips. The rear edges slightly
standing off, the front edges lying closely to the cheeks. NECK
: Strong and of sufficient length. Dewlap and loose skin on the neck moderately developed. BODY
: General : General appearance imposing, balanced,
impressive and well muscled. Withers : Well
defined. Back : Broad, strong, firm.
Topline straight and horizontal up
to the loins. Croup : Long, hardly sloping, merging gently with
the root of the tail. Chest
:
Brisket moderately deep with
well sprung ribs,
but not barrel-shaped. Not projecting below elbow level. Belly
and underline : Slight tuck up
towards rear. TAIL
: Set-on
broad and strong.
Tail long and
heavy. The last
vertebra reaching at least
to the hock joint. When in repose, the
tail hangs
straight down or slightly upturned
in the lower third. When animated, it is carried higher. LIMBS
FOREQUARTERS
: General : Forelegs straight and parallel seen
from the front. Standing
moderately broad. Shoulders : Shoulder
blades oblique, muscular and well
attached to the chest wall. Upper
arm
:
Longer than the shoulder blade. Angle
between shoulder blade and upper arm not too blunt. Elbow : Close fitting. Forearm
: Straight, strong in
bone, with lean musculature. Pasterns : Seen
from the front vertical in
prolongation of the forearms; slightly oblique seen from the side. Forefeet
: Broad,
with strong, tight, well arched toes. HINDQUARTERS : General : Muscular with moderate angulation.
Seen from the back, hind legs are parallel, not standing closely
together. Upper
thigh : Strong,
muscular, broad. Stifle : Well angulated, turning neither in nor
out. Lower
thigh : Slanting and
rather long. Hock
joints : Slightly
angulated, firm. Metatarsus : Straight and parallel when seen from
behind. Hind
feet :
Broad, with strong, tight, well arched toes. Dewclaws tolerated if they do not hinder the movement. GAIT / MOVEMENT
: Harmonious far reaching movement with good drive from the hindquarters,
the back remaining stable and firm.
Front and hind feet move forward in a straight line. COAT HAIR
: ·
Short-haired variety (Stockhaar, double coat) : Topcoat dense, smooth; close-lying
and coarse.
Plenty of undercoat. Thighs with slight breeches.
Tail covered with dense hair. ·
Long-haired variety
: Topcoat plain, 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. COLOUR : Primary colour white with smaller or
larger reddish-brown patches (splash-coated dogs) up to an unbroken
reddish-brown mantle covering back and flanks (mantle dogs). A
broken reddish-brown mantle is of equal value.
A brindle reddish-brown colour permissible. Brownish-yellow tolerated.
Dark shadings on head desirable. Slight
touch of black on body tolerated. Required
white markings : Chest, feet, tip of tail, muzzle band,
blaze and patch on neck. Desirable
markings : White collar. Symmetrical dark mask. SIZE : Height at withers : For dogs
minimum 70 cm,
for bitches minimum
65 cm. For
dogs maximum
90 cm,
for bitches
maximum 80 cm. Dogs
which exceed the maximum height will not be penalised, provided their general
appearance is balanced and their movement is correct. FAULTS : Any
departure from
the foregoing
points should
be considered a fault and the seriousness, with which the fault should be
regarded, should be in exact proportion to its degree. ·
Lack of sexual characteristics. ·
Unbalanced general appearance. ·
Too short legs in relation to size
(short-legged). ·
Heavy folds on head and neck. ·
Muzzle too short or too long. ·
Flews of the lower jaw turning outwards. ·
Missing teeth other than PM 1 (premolar 1) and
M3. Small teeth (especially
incisors). ·
Slightly undershot mouth. ·
Light eyes. ·
Eyelids too loose. ·
Sway back or roach back. ·
Croup higher than withers or falling away. ·
Tail carried curled on the back. ·
Absence of required markings. ·
Crooked or severely turned out front legs. ·
Poorly angulated, open-hocked or cow-hocked
hindquarters. ·
Faulty movement. ·
Curly coat. ·
Incomplete or totally absent pigmentation on
nose leather, around the nose, on the lips or the eyelids. ·
Faulty primary colour e.g. reddish-brown dots or
ticks in the white. ELIMINATING FAULTS
·
Weak temperament, aggressiveness. ·
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. ·
Height at withers below minimum size. Any
dog clearly showing physical or behavioural abnormalities shall be disqualified. N.B.
: Male
animals should have two
apparently normal testicles fully descended into the scrotum. This amended breed standard will
become effective from April 2004.
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