Coat, Ears & Tail

AKC Working Group · No. 63 in 2025

How to identify a Saint Bernard

The Saint Bernard is a giant mountain dog, ranked No. 63 by the AKC in 2025. It’s always red and white, with a white chest, feet, tail tip, noseband and collar, often with a dark mask. The head is huge, with forehead wrinkles, and both short and long coats are allowed.

Photo of a Saint Bernard
Photo: Blanky · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons

Field marks

These four marks are the ones the game gives you as clues. They paraphrase or briefly quote the AKC Saint Bernard standard.

  1. White with red, red with white, or brindle patches with white; “never of one color or without white”
  2. White chest, feet, tail tip, noseband and collar, often with a dark mask and ears
  3. Huge head with forehead wrinkles that “converge toward the furrow”
  4. Short or long coat; long, heavy tail that often hangs “in the shape of an ’f’”; at least 27½ inches for males

Tell them apart

Saint Bernard or Newfoundland?

Check the color. A Saint Bernard always shows red and white, with a white chest, feet and tail tip. A Newfoundland is black, brown or gray, sometimes with a little white, or the white-and-black Landseer. The Newfie’s coat is flat and water-resistant.

Saint Bernard

Saint Bernard

  1. White with red, red with white, or brindle patches with white; “never of one color or without white”
  2. White chest, feet, tail tip, noseband and collar, often with a dark mask and ears
  3. Huge head with forehead wrinkles that “converge toward the furrow”
  4. Short or long coat; long, heavy tail that often hangs “in the shape of an ’f’”; at least 27½ inches for males
Newfoundland

Newfoundland

  1. Massive: about 28 inches for dogs and 26 for bitches, with a broad head
  2. Black, brown, gray, or the white-and-black “Landseer”
  3. “Flat, water-resistant, double coat” that is coarse and moderately long
  4. Small triangular ears with rounded tips; the tail hangs straight and “does not curl over the back”

Saint Bernard or Bernese Mountain Dog?

Check the base color. A Bernese is jet black with rust and white markings and an inverted white cross on the chest. A Saint Bernard is red and white with no black base, and it’s much larger, with a massive, wrinkled head.

Saint Bernard

Saint Bernard

  1. White with red, red with white, or brindle patches with white; “never of one color or without white”
  2. White chest, feet, tail tip, noseband and collar, often with a dark mask and ears
  3. Huge head with forehead wrinkles that “converge toward the furrow”
  4. Short or long coat; long, heavy tail that often hangs “in the shape of an ’f’”; at least 27½ inches for males
Bernese Mountain Dog

Bernese Mountain Dog

  1. Jet black ground color with “rich rust and clear white” markings
  2. White blaze and muzzle band; the chest marking “typically forms an inverted cross”
  3. Coat “thick, moderately long and slightly wavy or straight,” with a natural sheen
  4. Bushy tail carried low, never curled over the back

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