Bernese Mountain Dog: temperament, training and care

At a glance

Temperament

• Gentle, calm family dog
• Loves the cold
• Short life for a big heart

Training tips

Keep puppies off stairs and long runs while the joints grow.

Bernese Mountain Dogs usually pick things up quickly, which also means they learn bad habits quickly. Keep sessions short and varied, and reward the calm behavior you want to see more of.

Start with a marker word, sit, come and leave it. For a puppy, see the puppy training guides.

Exercise and energy

A healthy adult Bernese Mountain Dog typically needs around 45 to 60 minutes of activity a day. Mix walks with sniffing and short training games: mental work tires dogs as much as running does. Puppies need much shorter sessions while they grow.

See how much exercise a dog needs and our games and enrichment ideas.

Health to watch

Things the breed is known to be prone to. Ask your vet what to check for your dog.

• Hips and elbows. Prone to joint problems: keep them lean and ask the vet to check the joints each year.
• Bloat. A deep chest raises the risk of a twisted stomach: no hard play for an hour either side of a big meal. See: Bloat (Twisted Stomach).
• Hot weather. A thick coat holds heat: keep walks early and late in summer. See: Heatstroke.