Greater Swiss Mountain Dog

Calm and watchful; barks at strangers without aggression.
A Greater Swiss Mountain Dog
Photo: Canarian
Adult male
52–64 kg
115–140 lb
Adult female
39–50 kg
85–110 lb
Lifespan
8–11 yrs
Class · Family
also Working, Watchdog

What it's like

In temperament the breed is calm, confident and watchful, attached to its household and inclined to bark at strangers without being aggressive. It matures slowly. Owners commonly call it the Swissy.

Day to day
Activity
A good daily walk and play
Intelligence
Learns readily, likes games
Handler demand
Needs steady training
With people
Affection
A lap or leaning dog
Loyalty
Bonded to its family
Independence
Cooperative, with its own ideas
Around the home
Sensitivity
Hardy, takes a busy home in its stride
Voice
Barks to alert, then settles
Prey drive
Usually fine with small pets
Breed explains only about 9% of how individual dogs differ in behaviour1. Meet the dog. A good breeder breeds for temperament as well as health, and matches each puppy's personality to the right home2,3.
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Living with one

It has a coat of medium length. Most of the shedding comes when the seasons change. Plan on brushing a few times a week, plus daily brushing through the seasonal moult. It needs a moderate amount of exercise compared with other breeds.

Size and growth

A Greater Swiss Mountain Dog is a giant dog, heavier than a Rottweiler and lighter than a Great Dane. Males end up clearly heavier than females.

It is a large, heavily boned and muscular dog, slightly longer than tall, with a broad, flat skull and a strong muzzle. The short, dense double coat is tricoloured: a glossy black ground with rich rust markings over the eyes, on the cheeks, chest and legs, and white on the blaze, muzzle, chest, feet and tail tip. The thick undercoat is preferably dark grey or black but may be lighter.

Puppy growth

Reference curve · community data appears as owners log
By about 5 months, a male Greater Swiss Mountain Dog puppy is already as heavy as a grown Labrador. They grow fastest between 4 and 5 months old. They keep growing past their first birthday, longer than a Beagle does. Most males grow into the size large-breed puppy foods are made for.
Fully grown
13 mo
Both sexes, at 99% of adult weight6
Male
Female
Shaded: expected range
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Age
Male
Female
2 months
9.1–11.1 kg 20.1–24.5 lb
6.7–8.7 kg 14.8–19.2 lb
3 months
14.6–17.8 kg 32.2–39.2 lb
10.8–14.0 kg 23.8–30.9 lb
4 months
21.7–26.4 kg 47.8–58.2 lb
16.0–20.7 kg 35.3–45.6 lb
5 months
29.4–35.8 kg 64.8–78.9 lb
21.7–28.1 kg 47.8–61.9 lb
6 months
36.4–44.3 kg 80.2–97.7 lb
26.9–34.8 kg 59.3–76.7 lb
7 months
42.0–51.1 kg 92.6–112.7 lb
31.0–40.1 kg 68.3–88.4 lb
8 months
45.8–55.8 kg 101.0–123.0 lb
33.9–43.8 kg 74.7–96.6 lb
9 months
48.3–58.8 kg 106.5–129.6 lb
35.7–46.2 kg 78.7–101.9 lb
10 months
49.9–60.7 kg 110.0–133.8 lb
36.9–47.7 kg 81.4–105.2 lb
11 months
50.8–61.8 kg 112.0–136.2 lb
37.6–48.6 kg 82.9–107.1 lb
12 months
51.4–62.5 kg 113.3–137.8 lb
38.0–49.2 kg 83.8–108.5 lb
15 months
52.0–63.3 kg 114.6–139.6 lb
38.5–49.7 kg 84.9–109.6 lb
18 months
52.1–63.4 kg 114.9–139.8 lb
39–50 kg 85–110 lb

Lifespan

No vet study has measured how long Greater Swiss Mountain Dogs live yet. The 8–11 years shown is a general figure without a published source.

Where it comes from

The Greater Swiss Mountain Dog began as a Swiss watch and draught dog. At the Swiss Kennel Club's 1908 jubilee show in Langenthal, two short-haired dogs entered as Bernese Mountain Dogs were shown to Albert Heim, who took them for survivors of a vanishing type, the big mountain or butcher's dog, descended from dogs once kept all over Europe. The club recognised them as a separate breed in 19094.

The Greater Swiss Mountain Dog, called the Grosser Schweizer Sennenhund in its homeland, was long kept by farmers, dairymen and butchers in Switzerland. It pulled carts of milk, cheese and meat to market, moved cattle and guarded farmyards. It had grown rare by the late nineteenth century until Albert Heim championed it in the early twentieth. It stayed scarce for decades, though the Swiss army used it as a draught dog around the time of the Second World War. Dogs reached the United States in the late nineteen-sixties, and the American Kennel Club recognised the breed in the nineteen-nineties.

Breed standard

The Greater Swiss Mountain Dog is judged against standard no. 58, in group 2, Pinscher and Schnauzer, Molossoid and Swiss Mountain Dogs4.

Questions people ask

General guidance for dogs rather than a measured Greater Swiss Mountain Dog figure: most females have a first season somewhere between six and fifteen months, and cycles then settle to roughly every 180 days. Smaller breeds tend to start earlier and larger ones later, so a giant breed is most likely at the late end.

Compare with related

Bernese Mountain Dog
Pinschers & molossoids · Large
Labrador Retriever
Retrievers & water dogs · Large
Black Russian Terrier
Pinschers & molossoids · Large
Fila Brasileiro
Pinschers & molossoids · Giant
Or compare the Greater Swiss Mountain Dog with any breed you choose
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Sources

Uncited on this page: Lifespan — no reviewed source yet, so it is a general reference figure rather than a published one.
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