The following is an attempt to help you understand what are considered all the factors generally that contribute to the dog known as a Saint Bernard to be a good typical example of its breed. In explaining the various points of the dog, starting with the Head you are asked to appreciate that if you can absorb this information and remember it you will be more able to understand the Class placings at Shows , will help you when selecting any future Saints you wish to purchase, and allow you to offer informed opinions as you progress in the lovely’ Dog Talk’ discussions so enjoyed by the Saint fraternity.

The precise wording of the Kennel Club Breed Standard for the Saint Bernard can be obtained from the Kennel Club. The following account is a description of a good dog and is not a direct quote of the K.C. Standard .

Head and Skull

The general feeling is that the bigger the Head, the deeper the Head, the wider the Head the better. A point to ponder on is that the smallest head that stills fulfils the definition of the term large would be reasonable and functional if in balance with the body, as an overly large head however impressive, will hinder the dogs function and athletic abilities.

Working back from the skull to nose;-
The Skull should be broad, slightly rounded on top with sides gently sloping. The width of Skull at the widest point is approximately twice the length of the muzzle, with the occiput moderately developed. 

The development of the supra orbital arch ( eye brow ridges) is very crucial. They should be strongly developed creating the desired prominence of brow. Note; The prominence should be the result of correct boning above and around the eyes and not an illusion created by excess skin.

Deeply embedded between the eyes and starting at the root of the muzzle, a furrow runs over the whole Skull ( not often seen as it is covered by hair) strongly developed in the first half gradually disappearing to the back of the Head. The skin on the forehead above the eyes forms angular wrinkles which contribute at most to a single fold of skin down the side of the Head.

This fold of skin is only possible when all the essential eyebrow ridges are well developed. Lack of this development of boning above and around the eyes is the singular cause of excess wrinkle and ‘overhang’ over the eyes.

Stop
The Stop , which is the drop from Skull to Muzzle, should be sudden, sharp and distinct. A good Stop forms almost a right angle to the bridge of the nose. The enhancement of this breed defining characteristic is made possible by the all important correct development of the eyebrow ridges., the cheeks are flat the depth from eye to corner of lower jaw is approx. twice the length of the muzzle from Stop to nose.

The Muzzle is short, well filled in in front of the eyes and square at the nose end, as the saying goes ‘ it’s what’s up front that counts’ . The Muzzle should be short, broad and square when viewed Head on. Too short is just not functional and too long is just plain ugly, preferably should not be more than 1/3rd the total length of the Head ( that is from the Occiput to the end of the nose). The Muzzle is powerfully developed in length, breadth and depth and should not taper in any direction, and should be perfectly straight from Nose to Stop, appearing substantial like a square sided block attached to the Head. Ideally the width should be ALMOST equal to the length of the Muzzle.
The Lips / Flews are the finishing touch to the Muzzle, the fabric over the framework. The perfectly made Muzzle with incorrect Flews will give the wrong picture. Flews of upper jaw are strongly developed, never sharp cut, turning into a gentle , beautiful curve and only slightly overhanging. They should be of good thickness as this gives that extra width and plushness to the Muzzle, about 1 ½  inch overhang over lower jaw is ideal. The Nose is always Black, large and Blunt with well developed open Nostrils, the lips are edged with Black.

The Eyes are the focal part of the expression and it is most important that they are clean, healthy with lids that neither turn in or hang down showing too much Haw, making them pre disposed to sore and inflamed conditions.

The Eyes should be set in front of the Head ,never to the sides, level with the bridge of the Muzzle. The eyes should not be prominent and will form an angular wrinkle to inner corner giving a diamond shaped eye, always dark in colour. Bright Amber or very pale, milk chocolate coloured eyes make the pupils very noticeable and give a hard, staring expression, which is most undesirable. A really true dark eye is a deep brown to the point where it is hard to distinguish the pupil. When something does not look quite right about the Head it’s usually because something isn’t right about Eye shape, placement or bone structure around it, if the eye brow ridge and cheek bones are correctly developed and set usually the eye set is right, and if the eye is of the correct shape the expression is always correct. Big, round bulbous eyes spoil the expression completely. Uneven pigmentation of the inner lids is acceptable.

Ears are of medium size, v – shaped with rounded tips set moderately high on the Head. The Ears have an inner structure referred to as The ‘Burr’ . when the Saint is alert his ears lift up and forward causing the outside edge to stand away from the base of the Head and then drop with a sharp bend to side and close to the cheeks., when alert the top of the ears are almost in line with the Skull which visually extends the gentle curved appearance of the whole Head which in turn adds to the impression that the total circumference of the Head is double that of the length from Occiput to end of nose. If the Ears are too big or low set, the ‘Burr’ is not strong enough to raise the Ears and the overall impression is of a narrow Hound look and the Skull too pronounced, making it look like a Dome instead of slightly rounded, loosing the impression of alertness. The ‘Burr’ is the inner surface ridges, cartltheage and Earflap thickness that gives the base of the external Ear the strength to stand away from the Head.

The Teeth should form a complete Scissor Bite. Overshot teeth give the Saint a Parrot faced expression – not typical. Undershot teeth, - the lower teeth on the bottom are in front of the top teeth, are an ugly fault  and if they show when the mouth is closed spoils the benevolent, kind expression required. A scissor bite allows for healthy teeth not grinding on each other and reducing wear, and allows for proper alignment of the jaw which gives strength to the jaws and will not cause problems to the actual hinging of the jaws over time.

Summary of the Head
The  Saint Head shows its true beauty, the correct mould gives that indefinable expression which is kindly and benevolent with a hint of his hidden courage when he looks at you, but is full of intelligent concern when danger threatens. A true Head is defined by the large broad shape of the Skull, the finely chiselled junction between the Muzzle and the Head, the strong, square Muzzle, the deep furrow between the eyes and the strong development of the eyebrow ridges. The well turned upper Flews with no tendency to excess, all finished by the black nose and lips which are always black edged. The whole Head is made alive by the look in the Diamond shaped eyes set in front of the Skull never to the sides. This picture is never complete without the well placed Ears, set moderately high on the Skull, V shaped and rounded at the tips, medium sized, heavy in texture with good development at the base.

The expression ‘ Good reach of neck’ means the Head does not look if it is growing straight out of the shoulders with no neck at all, neither does it mean that the neck is so long as to resemble a Swan, it means it is long enough to balance the overall conformation of the dog, and allows your eye to flow over him from Head to Tail. The neck is strong and muscular to enable the carriage of the large Head and should flow into the shoulders., never rising vertically from the shoulders ‘ ewe necked’ like that of a Sheep with the Head looking as if it is sat on top of a spike. The folds of skin directly under the lower jaw are called ‘Dewlap’ and this adds to the appearance of strength in the forequarters.
The shoulders must be well muscled but never loaded. The blades should be flat, medium length and moderately sloping, if correctly placed they will show a noticeable prominence at the Withers. The upper arm is equal to the length of the shoulder blade and the elbows should lie close to the body. The Fore legs are powerful and muscular dead straight with good strong bone. Pasterns may be slightly sloping. The angulation of the fore quarters should mirror the angulations of the rear.

The brisket extends to the elbows when the dog stands freely and the chest must be wide enough for your open hand to rest comfortably between the front legs. The shape and size of the chest is important, it should be as large as possible but never so big as to interfere with the dogs front assembly or back when he is trotting or galloping. Ribs are long and well sprung but never barrel shaped otherwise they tend to induce a rolling action when the dog is gaiting . The Ribs spring well out from the spine and in order to allow space for the elbows to move close to the body flatten at the sides in the front section gradually widening to rear giving plenty of heart room. When there is little spring in rib the dog is defined as ‘slab sided’ making its whole framework shelly. The ribbing reaches well back to a strong Loin supporting a level topline from withers to pin bones ( hips). The Loin is the area between the ribs and Hips . The muscles building in this area carry the strength through to the Hind quarters and allow for the natural flexing of the spine when moving, if the Loin area was poorly developed the power and driving strength required in movement would be greatly reduced. The distance between the last rib and the Hip bone i.e. the Loin area should not be too great, a single span of a man’s hand is a good measure , if you can fit two spans in the dog is too long in back which could give way to weakness in the frame. As a general rule more than 2/3rds Ribbing and less than 1/3rd.  Loin area constitutes a fundamentally good body framework.

The width of the quarters (Bum) should be the same as over the shoulders. The back gently merging into Tail should appear straight (level) viewed from the side, it shouldn’t curve upwards from behind the shoulders (roached) or dip like a hammock (sway backed). The dog should look wide across the back contributing to the sense of large size. The Belly must be firm and narrow enough to allow for the Stifle and Femur to move straight forward, and there should be no tuck –up as this detracts from the sense of strength  power and size of the frame.

The hind limbs should push the dog along with powerful easy extension, the rear assembly should be neither straight nor over angulated, either construction pre-disposes to unsoundness. The hind quarters should be broad, thick and strong in every part ,firm muscle should be found in abundance.

The Croup ( distance between the Pin Bones and Tail set ) slopes slightly and the pelvis is wide and flows into powerful thighs below. Rear angulation should mirror the front angulation, when viewed from the side if the legs and hocks appear really straight this is highly undesirable. ( i.e. from hip to foot) Viewed from the side the Hocks should stand vertical  at right angles to the ground, viewed from the back the Hocks should be straight and parallel not too close together nor touching at the top and turning out wards by the feet (cow hocked).

The feet should look like a very big Cat’s paw. Splayed feet ( large gaps between the toes, with toes flat like the fingers of your hands) are objectionable, hinder sound movement and show a weakness in the frame, make the feet liable to injury by exposing the soft tissue between the pads if moving over rough terrain, which would in turn reduce mobility and endurance factors. The foot should be compact and strong with toes easily flexed, well up on the pads so that they absorb the percussion of movement and protect the foot from damage, turning neither in nor out. Feet like the rabbit or Hare foot, especially on the back, do not allow the foot to be placed down and follow through with the powerful action needed to propel the dog’s size and weight along.

The Tail should not look as if you are playing ‘Stick the Tail on the Donkey’ game it should not be set too high or too low, but should follow the slightly rounded line of the croup, hanging straight down to reach the hocks. A slight curl at the end of the Tail is acceptable, and when moving the Tail is carried lower or in line with the back, but never curled over the back. In roughs the tail hair is long and profuse, in smoothes there is a slight feathering on the underside of the Tail. The expression ‘Gay Tailed’ means the dog is carrying his Tail over his back which is incorrect  and undesirable.

Movement and fine control are essential to the Saint Bernard, he is a powerful animal with a sense of strength, size, substance and grace. One that takes a stride of moderate length, Ideally there should be no sign of weakness or malfunction, his gait is unhurried and economical . A lazy plodding shuffling action should not be mistaken for unhurried. A correctly made dog with the desired even and moderate angulation fore and aft will move fluently with good reach in front and easy extension behind, with a breakpoint bang down the middle of the body. The gait should look purposeful and powerful, he should move parallel coming and going with a clean front action and parallel hock action. The Coat in Roughs should be dense and flat ,slight waves over the croup area are acceptable with  feathering on Tail and front legs and thighs in Smoothes short and close, slight feathering on thighs and tail is acceptable. A good Judge would not sacrifice a very good Saint Bernard excelling in breed type because he may not have exactly the markings as listed in the K.C. Standard, but one should always endeavour to combine good breed type with excellent colour. Lack of the white collar as long as there is white on the nape, or a broken white collar should not be penalized. Head markings are essential as they contribute towards expression. White on the chest, legs and tip of Tail are also essential. Correct colours acceptable in the Saint Bernard can be found listed in the K.C. Breed Standard.

Type does not only lie in the Head alone, but also in the make and shape of the St. Bernard. Imagine a dog stood in the distance high on a mountain where all you can see is the silhouette of an animal. What makes this animal a St. Bernard? Does it look a large mountain dog with size, strength and outline or is it a short legged long bodied creature? It is important for the Saint to be upstanding and have bearings. The height of the dog is usually measured from the Withers to the ground. Symmetry comes from correct proportions and balance, all contributing towards a harmonious outline. The distance from withers to elbow and elbow to foot should be 50/50 basically the depth of body and length to leg should be equal with plenty of daylight underneath. It is preferred that a Saint is slightly longer than it is high. The concept is of ‘short in back with length to body’ The distance between the withers and the pin bones should be short but the overall length of the dog measured from the Breast bone to the Buttock bones should be noticeably greater than the height to the withers, this creates the shortness of back suggesting a compact body ( forming a square box of space underneath the dog between the fore and rear legs) with good length to overall frame, this length of body is achieved when there is a good lay of shoulder in front and good width of thigh behind. Shortness of back, length to body and good length to leg are the three ingredients which contribute towards outline, and if these are correct you have an extremely well balanced dog of correct proportions to look at as long as the angles all round are good and the head type correct. The length to height ratio to keep in mind is 5;6 but for the newcomer better appreciation might be to visualise the dog being approx. 21/2 to 3 inches longer than high.

Quality and soundness are key to the foundation of the good Saint Bernard.

It is important for you to learn what a good typical Saint Bernard should look like, never concentrate on what is wrong with a dog, when you know thoroughly what a good dog should look like standing and moving, then knowing what the faults in a dog are will come easily, if you never develop your eye to appreciate quality and an appreciation of a dog’s attributes then you will never be able to evaluate several dogs and grade them in order of merit fairly.If you know what a good Saint looks like you can do your sums and come out with the best one, a person who only looks for faults can often miss overall quality. Appreciate that all dogs have faults to a higher or lesser degree but remember that a eye or coat colour is never as serious as a constructional fault. Finally there is great wisdom in the thought of moderation being the key to perfection, taking care as there is a fine line between moderation and mediocrity, but on the same note  the need for establishing key factors can lead to exaggeration which is not desired.

Written and compiled for information purposes by Rosalie Cobley  (Eleeta) and Tan Nagrecha (Chandlimore)