This breed was originally kept as a general farm dog and large Sennenhunde in the past were also used as draft animals pulling carts.

[3] Historically, in some locales at least, the breed was called a Dürrbachhund[4] or Dürrbächler, for a small town (Dürrbach) where the large dogs were especially frequent.

"[8] In the early 1900s, fanciers exhibited the few examples of the large dogs at shows in Bern, and in 1907 a few breeders from the Burgdorf region founded the first breed club, the Schweizerischer Dürrbach-Klub, and wrote the first Standard which defined the dogs as a separate breed.

There is a photo of a working Bernese Mountain Dog, dated 1905 at the Fumee Fall rest area in Quinnesec, Michigan.

[10] In the US the Bernese Mountain Dog is growing in popularity, ranking in 21st place by the American Kennel Club in 2023.

The German Association of Dog Breeders listed the Bernese at the 11th rank per live births in 2014.

[12] Like the other Sennenhunde, the Bernese mountain dog is a large, heavy dog with a distinctive tri-coloured coat, black with white chest and rust-coloured markings above eyes, sides of the mouth, front of legs, and out around the white chest.

[10] The ideal of a perfectly marked individual gives the impression of a white horseshoe shape around the nose, which is always black.

[17] Considered a dry-mouthed breed,[13] the Bernese mountain dog is slightly longer than it is tall, highly muscular, with a strong, wide back.

If they are sound (no problems with their hips, elbows, or other joints), they enjoy hiking and generally stick close to their people.

[28] The breed has a high risk of developing high-grade mastocytoma,[29] with an Austrian study finding Bernese Mountain Dogs being three times as likely to have the condition than the general population.

[31] Malignant histiocytosis is a rapidly progressive multisystem cancerous disease that affects the Bernese Mountain Dog.

[33] The Bernese Mountain Dog is one of the more commonly affected breeds for type I von Willebrand's disease.

[35] The Bernese's calm temperament makes them a natural for pulling small carts or wagons, a task they originally performed in Switzerland.

[A] On July 1, 2010, the Bernese Mountain Dog became eligible to compete in AKC Herding Events.