The name Berger de Brie first appeared in 1809 at Abbé Rozier’s comprehensive agricultural competition. A little over a century later, the French army used these dogs to find wounded soldiers on battlefields in both World Wars.
| FCI | Group 1 (Sheepdogs and Cattle Dogs), Section 1 Sheepdogs, Standard No. 113 Berger de Brie (Briard), with working trial |
|---|---|
| Country of origin | France |
| Height at the withers | Males 62 to 68 cm, females 56 to 64 cm (tolerance plus 2 cm, minus 1 cm) |
| Weight | Not specified in the FCI standard |
| Life expectancy | Median 12,6 years in a British analysis of 584.734 dogs, including only 201 Briards (McMillan et al. 2024) |
| Coat | Goat-like hair, dry, supple and long (at least 7 cm), little undercoat; beard, moustache and eyebrows on the head |
| Colours according to the standard | Black, fawn, fawn with slight or moderate black overlay (often masked), grey, blue; all colours may grey; white, brown and mahogany disqualify |
From plains sheepdog to Briard
For a long time, the name was simply Chien de Berger français de Plaine, French plains sheepdog. Selection aimed at leading and guarding flocks. The FCI definitively recognised the breed on 14.12.1954. The short-haired compatriot is the Beauceron (Berger de Beauce), sharing the double hind dewclaws; a Briard lacking them is disqualified.
Calm, fearless and with independent judgement
The standard requires a balanced temperament, neither aggressive nor fearful, calm and fearless yet lively and alert. At home, this is a dog closely attached to family while guarding what is entrusted to them. Kind, consistent training builds a composed companion.
Herding, tracking, agility: together is what matters
The standard expects work with minimum effort and fatigue, fitting a ground-covering trot. Plan substantial daily outings and a job: herding training, tracking, obedience or agility at a pace suited to the dog’s size. A Briard merely tagging along readily finds projects of their own.
Goat-like hair needs brushing
The long coat must be neither soft nor woolly, and undercoat is sparse. Thoroughly brush to the skin once or twice weekly to prevent mats behind the ears and on the breeches. Beard and eyebrows collect food and need a quick daily check.
An eye disease with a research history
In Sweden in 1989, a Briard litter drew attention when five of nine puppies were night-blind (Narfström et al. 1989). In a closely related group of Swedish Briards and Briard-Beagle crosses, researchers later found the cause of a recessively inherited, early-onset progressive retinal disease: a four-base deletion in RPE65 (Veske et al. 1999). Ask for the parents’ eye examinations and genetic tests. In McMillan and colleagues’ British analysis, Briards lived a median 12,6 years, compared with 12,0 for crossbreeds. The sample of 201 Briards is small, with a confidence interval from 11,3 to 13,4 years.
Who the breed does and does not suit
A Briard thrives with active people and families who treat grooming as a regular appointment, take the dog everywhere and train consistently without harshness. Unhappy in homes where people are rarely present, cannot tolerate hair in the car and on the sofa, or expect indifference to home and property.
To see whether this breed or the equally bearded Bearded Collie suits you, try the breed quiz, with a detailed look in the book “Welcher Hund passt WIRKLICH zu dir?” (book in German). For starting life with a puppy, there is the free Puppy Starter Pack. Capture your Briard in a portrait from your own photo or as an instant-download digital artwork.
Further reading
- Border Collie: when the cleverest dog has no job
- Autumn shedding in dogs and cats: what is normal and what is not
- Older dog, new rules: giving your senior their best years
Sources, accessed on 20.10.2026: FCI-Standard Nr. 113 Berger de Brie (Briard) (fci.be, German version dated 11.12.2012, English version dated 23.01.2009); FCI breed page No. 113 (fci.be); McMillan KM et al., Longevity of companion dog breeds: those at risk from early death, Scientific Reports 2024; Narfström K et al., The Briard dog: a new animal model of congenital stationary night blindness, British Journal of Ophthalmology 1989; Veske A et al., Retinal dystrophy of Swedish briard/briard-beagle dogs is due to a 4-bp deletion in RPE65, Genomics 1999.
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