Malamute or Saint Bernard: Both Built for Snow, Only One Keeps Going

It is rare to compare two dogs whose climates match this closely, and it makes the exercise gap unusually informative — the difference is not weather, it is job description.

The Saint Bernard's work was searching. Monks at the Great St Bernard Pass used the dogs to find travellers buried in drifts, and that meant covering a defined route at a walking pace, breaking trail through deep snow with sheer mass, locating a person and then getting help. Enormous power over short distances, then a long rest indoors. Selection rewarded bulk, scenting ability, tolerance of cold and a calm temperament. It did not reward endurance.

The Malamute's work was freighting. A team pulled a loaded sledge for hours, day after day, across distances that only make sense if the dogs can keep going. Selection rewarded stamina, drive and the willingness to work without being asked twice.

That is the whole of the 2/5 against 5/5. An adult Saint Bernard is content with forty-five minutes to an hour of walking split across the day, and spends the remainder lying somewhere inconvenient. A Malamute needs two hours minimum with physical resistance in it — a loaded pack, a harness, a rig, steep ground — and no indoor substitute exists.

There is one important caveat on the Saint's side. Puppies grow from a few pounds to well over a hundred in eighteen months, and that window is fragile. Forced exercise, long walks, stairs and repeated jumping before growth plates close are linked to the hip and elbow dysplasia on the breed's own list. A Saint Bernard puppy needs deliberately less exercise than its owner expects, and the instinct to build muscle early is the wrong one.

Both breeds are also limited in heat, and the Saint is worse — giant mass sheds heat poorly and the coat compounds it. Summer walks belong at the cool ends of the day for either dog.

Unlike the Malamute, the Saint Bernard offers a real choice within the breed, and it changes the maintenance meaningfully.

The smooth-coated or short-haired Saint has a dense, close-lying double coat. It sheds heavily on a seasonal cycle but the hair is short, there is no matting risk to speak of, and a deshedding tool once or twice a week handles it. This was the original type; the long coat came later and was found to be a liability in Alpine work because snow and ice balled up in the feathering.

The rough-coated or long-haired Saint carries the same undercoat under a longer outer coat with feathering on the legs, tail and ruff. It needs proper brushing two or three times a week with attention to the feathering, behind the ears and around the ruff, because those are where it mats. It also carries more mud, water and snow into the house.

Both versions shed at 4/5, described as heavy seasonal, and both need raking during the spring and autumn peaks. Neither should be shaved — a double coat insulates in both directions and protects skin from sun.

At 3/5 the Saint's grooming rating is a point below the Malamute's 4/5, which reflects the seasonal rather than year-round shedding pattern. The Malamute's coat is a steadier, heavier job: an undercoat rake to the skin two or three times a week all year, with two dramatic blows during which the wool leaves in sheets.

The other coat-adjacent reality is drool. Saints are loose-lipped and produce a great deal of it, particularly after drinking, and they distribute it by shaking. Malamutes are dry-mouthed. Households that have kept both usually mention this before they mention the hair.

The Saint Bernard's list is brief — hip dysplasia, elbow dysplasia, dilated cardiomyopathy, entropion and bloat — and four of those five follow directly from being very large.

Dilated cardiomyopathy is the one that most often shortens a giant-breed life. The heart muscle weakens and the chambers enlarge, and because dogs compensate for a long time the first visible sign can be sudden: exercise intolerance, a cough, fainting, or collapse. It is detectable earlier by cardiac examination and echocardiography, which is why a breeder who has their stock screened by a cardiologist is worth paying more for.

Bloat is the acute emergency. A deep-chested giant that becomes restless, tries repeatedly to vomit without producing anything and develops a tight, swelling abdomen needs a surgery within hours. Split meals, quiet time around eating, a slow-feeder bowl for a fast eater, and knowing the out-of-hours route in advance are the practical measures, and prophylactic gastropexy is a legitimate conversation with a vet for any giant breed.

Hip and elbow dysplasia are the orthopaedic pair, screenable in both parents and strongly influenced by growth-stage feeding and exercise.

Entropion is the odd one out and is a conformation issue rather than a size one: the eyelid rolls inward so lashes contact the cornea, producing squinting, weeping and eventual corneal damage. It usually shows in the first year or two, it is surgically corrected, and it is a fair question to ask a breeder about because it recurs in lines with loose facial skin.

The Malamute's list is longer but lighter at the top: hip and elbow dysplasia, bloat, hypothyroidism, epilepsy, progressive retinal atrophy, hereditary cataracts, zinc-responsive dermatosis and inherited polyneuropathy — and no dominant cardiac or cancer burden, which is why it lives 10 to 14 years against 8 to 10.

Both breeds rate 5/5 with children and 4/5 with strangers, and both are genuinely warm dogs. Neither is a guard dog, though the Saint's temperament keywords include watchful — it will notice and register a visitor without doing anything about it, and at 2/5 barking it is the quieter of the two.

The Saint Bernard is described as gentle, patient, friendly and calm-natured, and patient is the operative word. It is famously tolerant of children, slow to react and physically careful for its size once mature. The caution is straightforward physics: a 160 pound dog turning around in a kitchen displaces a small child without noticing.

The Malamute is friendly, loyal, playful and devoted — equally warm and considerably busier. It is the more boisterous of the two and stays that way for longer.

Trainability ties at 3/5 for different reasons. The Saint is willing but slow to mature, sensitive to harsh handling and easily bored by repetition; it takes two to three years to grow up mentally. The Malamute is independent by selection and evaluates instructions rather than following them.

Where the Saint has a clear edge is solitude and beginners: 3/5 against 2/5 on both. A normal working day with company either side is within range for many Saints, and a committed first-time owner can succeed with one provided they understand the cost and the growth-stage care. A Malamute left the same way starts on the garden.

With other dogs the Saint leads 4/5 to 3/5; the Malamute's tolerance narrows with same-sex adults. Around cats the Saint is generally safe while the Malamute keeps a live hunting drive.

One shared practical point: loose-lead training matters enormously in both. A dog that outweighs its handler and has never learned to walk politely is a dog that stops being walked.

The Saint Bernard sits at cost level 5/5 against the Malamute's 4/5, with $150–310 a month against $150–300 and a first year of $2,200–4,200 against $2,000–4,000. The published ranges look close and the lived experience is not, because a Saint reliably sits near the top of its range while a Malamute does not.

Food is the obvious component — a 160 pound dog eats a great deal, and a giant-breed puppy needs a formulation with controlled calcium and calorie density for the first eighteen months, which limits the options and raises the price.

The less visible costs are weight-based. Anaesthesia, sedation, antibiotics, pain relief and parasite prevention are all dosed by kilogram, and a Saint can be nearly twice a Malamute. A routine dental or a lump removal is a bigger, costlier, riskier procedure. Insurance for giant breeds is priced accordingly, reflecting the cardiac and orthopaedic entries on the list.

Equipment steps up a tier as well: beds, crates, a car ramp, a harness, and boarding fees where kennels take giants at all. A sling and non-slip flooring belong on the list too, because a Saint that cannot get up unaided is a two-person job.

The last piece of arithmetic is time. Eight to ten years against ten to fourteen means the higher annual cost is compressed into fewer of them, and giant-breed veterinary spending concentrates heavily in the final two.

None of that is an argument against the breed. It is an argument for going in with the figures visible, because the most common reason a Saint Bernard is rehomed is not temperament — it is a household discovering the running costs after the puppy has already doubled in size.