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St. Bernard breeders

The St.

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Advertise your St. Bernard puppies, litters and stud dogs

Do you breed St. Bernards? List your kennel on caninebreeder.co.uk so buyers searching for the breed can find you. You can advertise St. Bernard puppies for sale when a litter is planned or on the ground, and promote a St. Bernard stud dog to other breeders. People looking at this breed check hip, elbow and eye results closely, so a listing that sets out your dogs' health testing, your licence details where they apply and the coat types you breed gives them what they need to get in touch.

No breeders are listed here yet, so the first profiles get the page to themselves.

  • Free basic profile: your breeder or company name, website, social media, location, breeds and industries.
  • Litters and stud dogs advertised in their own sections, never mixed with puppies for sale.
  • Premium showcase for your services and prices, previous customers, awards, video, gallery and health certificates, with your phone and email shown to buyers.
  • Sponsored articles about your breed or industry, written and published by our team.
  • Featured placement at the top of this page, labelled as sponsored.

Create your free breeder profile Advertise a litter Advertise a stud dog

Is it free to advertise here?

Yes. A breeder profile and your litter and stud dog adverts are free. Premium profiles, featured placement and sponsored articles are optional paid extras; see pricing.

Do I need a licence to advertise puppies?

In England you need a dog breeding licence from your council if you breed three or more litters in 12 months or breed and sell dogs as a business, and Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland have their own schemes. Licensed breeders show their licence number and issuing council on every advert. Puppies must be at least eight weeks old before they go to new homes.

Is my listing already here?

We add licensed breeders from councils' public registers. Search for your kennel name; if it is listed you can claim it and edit everything.

About the St. Bernard

The St. Bernard is the national dog of Switzerland and a member of The Royal Kennel Club's Working group. It takes its name from a monk who, in the 10th century, set up a hospice for travellers crossing the Swiss Alps. According to the RKC, the first dogs kept there were Alpine Mastiffs used to guard the property. By the 18th century their main job had become finding travellers who were lost or stranded in the mountains. The monks brought in outside blood to breed bigger dogs, possibly including the Newfoundland and the Bloodhound, and the dogs also grew longer coats. Some monks worried that long hair would ice up, so dogs close to the original short-coated type were kept as well, which is why the breed still has two coat types. The name Alpine Mastiff stayed in use until well into the 1800s, and the St. Bernard name was only adopted in 1888. The popular picture of a rescue dog with a brandy cask on its collar came from the Victorian painter Edwin Landseer.

The RKC classes the St. Bernard as an extra-large breed. The breed standard gives minimum heights rather than maximums: 75 cm (30 in) at the shoulder for dogs and 70 cm (28 in) for bitches, and it values size only when it comes with quality, balance and soundness. The rough coat is dense and flat, fuller round the neck, with well-feathered thighs and tail, while the smooth coat lies close like a hound's with light feathering on the thighs and tail. Colours are orange, mahogany-brindle, red-brindle, or white with patches of those colours, with white markings on the muzzle, face, collar, chest, forelegs, feet and tail tip and black shading on the face and ears. The RKC recommends grooming more than once a week, and the breed sheds.

For exercise, the RKC suggests up to an hour a day, and it lists the breed as suited to a large house with a large garden, in town or country. The standard describes a steady, kindly, intelligent and courageous dog that should be trustworthy and benevolent. The RKC puts the typical lifespan at under 10 years. Plan for the space a dog this size needs indoors, in the garden and in the car. Breed clubs registered with the RKC include The English St Bernard Club and the United St Bernard Club.

St. Bernard health tests

The RKC places the St. Bernard in Breed Watch Category 3, for breeds whose exaggerated conformation causes visible health concerns needing extra support. Show judges are asked to look out for eyelids that turn inwards or outwards instead of sitting against the eye, bites and teeth that depart from the standard, unsound movement, and faulty hindquarter construction or poor rear movement. In Category 3 breeds, a Best of Breed winner at a general or group championship show must pass a veterinary check before competing in the group, and a check is also needed to confirm a Champion title. The breed standard itself asks for reasonably tight eyelids and treats excessive haw as unacceptable.

Hip, elbow and eye screening are the RKC's Good Practice tests for the breed, the minimum it strongly recommends before breeding. Dogs must be at least a year old for BVA hip and elbow X-rays, and the BVA advises choosing breeding dogs whose hip scores are under or near the breed median and whose elbow grade is 0. The RKC does not currently offer a breed-specific DNA test package. The standard asks for a wide, deep chest, and the RKC notes that bloat (gastric dilatation-volvulus) mainly occurs in deep-chested breeds; a swollen belly, drooling and retching without producing anything need a vet at once.

Tests and schemes the RKC lists for the St. Bernard (Good Practice):

  • Hip testing under the BVA/KC Hip Dysplasia Scheme
  • Elbow testing under the BVA/KC Elbow Dysplasia Scheme
  • Eye testing under the BVA/KC/ISDS Eye Scheme
  • Breed Watch: Category 3

Choosing a St. Bernard breeder

A careful St. Bernard breeder will have hip scores, elbow grades and eye examination results for both parents, because these are the RKC's Good Practice tests for the breed. You can check registered dogs yourself on the RKC Health Test Results Finder. With the breed in Breed Watch Category 3, a good breeder should also talk openly about the parents' eyelids, bite and movement. Expect to meet the mother with her litter and to be asked about your space, your car, your garden and who is at home during the day, since the puppy will grow into an extra-large adult with a typical lifespan of under 10 years. You should go home with written advice on feeding, exercise and care as the puppy grows. Puppies must be microchipped and registered on a database by eight weeks old. In England, a breeder who has three or more litters in any 12-month period and sells puppies, or who runs a business breeding and advertising dogs, needs a licence from the local council.

  • Can I see both parents' hip scores, elbow grades and eye results?
  • How do the parents' hip scores compare with the breed median?
  • Has either parent had eyelid or other eye problems?
  • What is the litter's coefficient of inbreeding compared with the breed average?
  • Can I meet the mother and see where the puppies are being raised?

St. Bernard questions

How big does a St. Bernard get?

The RKC classes the St. Bernard as extra large. Its breed standard sets minimum heights of 75 cm (30 in) for dogs and 70 cm (28 in) for bitches and gives no maximum, although it values size only alongside quality and soundness. The RKC points out that the standard describes an ideal, so an individual dog may be larger or smaller.

How long do St. Bernards live?

The RKC gives a typical lifespan of under 10 years for the breed.

What health tests should a St. Bernard puppy's parents have?

The RKC's Good Practice tests for the breed are hip testing under the BVA/KC Hip Dysplasia Scheme, elbow testing under the BVA/KC Elbow Dysplasia Scheme and eye testing under the BVA/KC/ISDS Eye Scheme. You can check the results of registered dogs on the RKC Health Test Results Finder.

How much exercise and space does a St. Bernard need?

The RKC suggests up to an hour of exercise a day and lists the breed as suited to a large house with a large garden. It can live in town or country as long as there is room.

More for St. Bernard owners and breeders

Official sources