Saint Bernard Size and Growth

The Saint Bernard is a giant breed, and the size surprises even people who expect a big dog. Here is what the breed standard and the Saint Bernard Club of America say about Saint Bernard size and growth: how big Saints get and how they grow.

How Big Does a Saint Bernard Get?

The AKC standard sets a minimum height at the shoulder of 27½ inches for males and 25½ inches for females, and it describes females as finer and more delicate in build. The standard calls for a powerful, proportionately tall dog, massive and heavy boned, strong and muscular throughout.

According to the SBCA, adult males may stand 28 to 30 inches at the shoulder and normally weigh between 140 and 180 pounds. Females are somewhat smaller, at about 26 to 28 inches and typically 120 to 140 pounds.

How Fast Do Saint Bernard Puppies Grow?

The SBCA notes that a Saint puppy weighs about one and one half pounds at birth and grows rapidly through the first year. Full maturity can take as long as three years. In other words, the puppy you bring home keeps changing long after he looks grown.

Living with a Dog as Big as You Are

The SBCA says the most common reason people give for rehoming a Saint is that they did not know the dog would get so big. Its advice is simple: meet the dam, and the sire if he lives with the breeder, walk them on a leash, picture a grown Saint in the back seat of your car, and if you can, help groom one. The club also urges new owners to choose a veterinarian experienced with giant breeds.

A Bigger Saint Bernard Is Not Always Better

The heights in the standard are minimums, not targets. The SBCA’s An Illustrated Commentary on the Saint Bernard Standard (SBCA, 1999) explains that the ideal Saint stands well above those minimums, yet it also reminds judges that the most correct dog matters more than the biggest one. Size has to come with strength, balance, and athletic condition. A heavy, out of shape dog could never have done the breed’s Alpine rescue work, and the club does not consider it a good example of the breed.

The same commentary describes the proportions the breed is after. A Saint should be a little longer than tall, roughly ten percent by the consensus of today’s fancy. Height should come from length of leg rather than depth of body, with the front leg from ground to elbow at least as long as the distance from elbow to withers, and the bottom of the chest level with the elbow. Short legs work against the breed’s original job.

The SBCA’s 1992 Saint Bernard Standard gives the minimum heights in metric as well: 70 centimeters for males and 65 centimeters for females.

The FzyBr Saints

Bolt

Bolt was a smooth coat male with the powerful, balanced build the standard describes.

Caesar

Caesar is our rough coat male and a good picture of an adult Saint at full size.

Remi

Remi is a young smooth coat female, still growing toward maturity.

Yolo

Yolo is a rough coat female and the foundation dam of FzyBr Saints.

More Saint Bernard Guides

• Raising a Saint Bernard puppy
• Saint Bernard care and grooming
• Smooth vs rough coat Saint Bernards
• Buying a Saint Bernard puppy in New England
• The complete Saint Bernard Guide
• Saint Bernard puppies in Massachusetts from FzyBr Saints

Sources

Breed facts on this page come from the Saint Bernard Club of America (SBCA), the AKC parent club for the breed, and the official AKC breed standard, written here in our own words.

• SBCA: AKC Saint Bernard Standard
• SBCA: About the Breed
• SBCA: An Illustrated Commentary on the Saint Bernard Standard (1999, member publication)
• SBCA: Saint Bernard Standard, illustrated edition (1992, member publication)

Keep reading in our Saint Bernard Guide, or learn about future FzyBr Saints puppies. Questions? Call us at 908-577-0923.