Bernese Mountain Dog and Greater Swiss Mountain Dog
What both sides can say, then where they part, then what only one side can say, then what nobody has measured yet. A number without its sample does not appear.
Breed explains about 8.9% of the Morrill behavior factors in the paper. A bar here is a breed lean, never a prediction about a dog.
What they share
What does carrier rate mean?
The share of tested dogs of a breed that carry at least one copy of a specific disease variant.
How to read it: Higher = more common in the breed. 'Carrier' means carrying the variant, not having the disease.
Carrier is NOT the same as affected, especially for recessive variants. Figures come from tested (direct-to-consumer) dogs, which can skew the rate. Worth asking your vet.
What does carrier rate mean?
The share of tested dogs of a breed that carry at least one copy of a specific disease variant.
How to read it: Higher = more common in the breed. 'Carrier' means carrying the variant, not having the disease.
Carrier is NOT the same as affected, especially for recessive variants. Figures come from tested (direct-to-consumer) dogs, which can skew the rate. Worth asking your vet.
What does carrier rate mean?
The share of tested dogs of a breed that carry at least one copy of a specific disease variant.
How to read it: Higher = more common in the breed. 'Carrier' means carrying the variant, not having the disease.
Carrier is NOT the same as affected, especially for recessive variants. Figures come from tested (direct-to-consumer) dogs, which can skew the rate. Worth asking your vet.
Where they differ
What does carrier rate mean?
The share of tested dogs of a breed that carry at least one copy of a specific disease variant.
How to read it: Higher = more common in the breed. 'Carrier' means carrying the variant, not having the disease.
Carrier is NOT the same as affected, especially for recessive variants. Figures come from tested (direct-to-consumer) dogs, which can skew the rate. Worth asking your vet.
What does carrier rate mean?
The share of tested dogs of a breed that carry at least one copy of a specific disease variant.
How to read it: Higher = more common in the breed. 'Carrier' means carrying the variant, not having the disease.
Carrier is NOT the same as affected, especially for recessive variants. Figures come from tested (direct-to-consumer) dogs, which can skew the rate. Worth asking your vet.
What does carrier rate mean?
The share of tested dogs of a breed that carry at least one copy of a specific disease variant.
How to read it: Higher = more common in the breed. 'Carrier' means carrying the variant, not having the disease.
Carrier is NOT the same as affected, especially for recessive variants. Figures come from tested (direct-to-consumer) dogs, which can skew the rate. Worth asking your vet.
What does carrier rate mean?
The share of tested dogs of a breed that carry at least one copy of a specific disease variant.
How to read it: Higher = more common in the breed. 'Carrier' means carrying the variant, not having the disease.
Carrier is NOT the same as affected, especially for recessive variants. Figures come from tested (direct-to-consumer) dogs, which can skew the rate. Worth asking your vet.
What does carrier rate mean?
The share of tested dogs of a breed that carry at least one copy of a specific disease variant.
How to read it: Higher = more common in the breed. 'Carrier' means carrying the variant, not having the disease.
Carrier is NOT the same as affected, especially for recessive variants. Figures come from tested (direct-to-consumer) dogs, which can skew the rate. Worth asking your vet.
What does carrier rate mean?
The share of tested dogs of a breed that carry at least one copy of a specific disease variant.
How to read it: Higher = more common in the breed. 'Carrier' means carrying the variant, not having the disease.
Carrier is NOT the same as affected, especially for recessive variants. Figures come from tested (direct-to-consumer) dogs, which can skew the rate. Worth asking your vet.
What does carrier rate mean?
The share of tested dogs of a breed that carry at least one copy of a specific disease variant.
How to read it: Higher = more common in the breed. 'Carrier' means carrying the variant, not having the disease.
Carrier is NOT the same as affected, especially for recessive variants. Figures come from tested (direct-to-consumer) dogs, which can skew the rate. Worth asking your vet.
One side known
Bernese Mountain Dog: 10.1 years (n=1116) · Greater Swiss Mountain Dog: not on this side
What cited lifespan means
How long dogs of this breed tend to live, from McMillan 2024 (VetCompass). A population median.
Bernese Mountain Dog: 94 lb (n=532) · Greater Swiss Mountain Dog: 16 atlas dogs, no breed weight logged yet.
What typical adult weight means
Typical adult weight, in pounds.
Bernese Mountain Dog: -2.3 years for size (n=532) · Greater Swiss Mountain Dog: 16 atlas dogs, no lifespan-for-size logged yet.
What does longevity for its size mean?
How much longer or shorter a breed tends to live than its body size predicts (bigger dogs live shorter on average — this measures the gap from that expectation).
How to read it: Positive = lives longer than its size predicts; negative = shorter. At the extremes, roughly +3 years (longest-lived for its size) down to about -4 years.
A population pattern, not a guarantee for an individual dog.
Bernese Mountain Dog: Saint Bernard (n=532) · Greater Swiss Mountain Dog: Not enough yet (n=16)
What genetic neighbors means
Where this breed sits among others in the atlas. Placement, not pedigree.
Bernese Mountain Dog: 26% (n=532) · Greater Swiss Mountain Dog: 25%
What does genetic diversity mean?
How varied a breed's gene pool is — the share of gene spots where a typical dog of the breed carries two different versions rather than two identical ones.
How to read it: Higher = more diverse. Among well-sampled breeds it ranges roughly 0.22 (least diverse) to 0.33 (most diverse).
Diversity is a strength, not a verdict on any individual dog. Lower diversity means it's worth paying attention to recessive-risk testing — not that a dog is doomed.
Bernese Mountain Dog: 0.18 (n=27) · Greater Swiss Mountain Dog: Not in the Morrill set.
What toy-directed motor patterns means
A breed lean on this factor in the Darwin's Ark paper. Not a prediction about a dog.
Bernese Mountain Dog: 0.41 (n=29) · Greater Swiss Mountain Dog: Not in the Morrill set.
What dog sociability means
A breed lean on this factor in the Darwin's Ark paper. Not a prediction about a dog.
Bernese Mountain Dog: -0.73 (n=28) · Greater Swiss Mountain Dog: Not in the Morrill set.
What proximity seeking means
A breed lean on this factor in the Darwin's Ark paper. Not a prediction about a dog.
Bernese Mountain Dog: -0.25 (n=26) · Greater Swiss Mountain Dog: Not in the Morrill set.
What biddability means
A breed lean on this factor in the Darwin's Ark paper. Not a prediction about a dog.
Bernese Mountain Dog: 0.43 (n=25) · Greater Swiss Mountain Dog: Not in the Morrill set.
What agonistic threshold means
A breed lean on this factor in the Darwin's Ark paper. Not a prediction about a dog.
Bernese Mountain Dog: 0.37 (n=25) · Greater Swiss Mountain Dog: Not in the Morrill set.
What environmental engagement means
A breed lean on this factor in the Darwin's Ark paper. Not a prediction about a dog.
Bernese Mountain Dog: Afghan Hound (n=532) · Greater Swiss Mountain Dog: not on this side
What health and build profile neighbor means
Breeds that share a health and build profile. Not family.
What nobody has measured yet
No row is dark on both sides.
Pick a different pairing · Bernese Mountain Dog · Greater Swiss Mountain Dog