Breed Standard
General Appearance: Active, graceful and well balanced, with gentle
expression.
Characteristics: Sporting, affectionate, absolutely fearless.
Temperament: Gay, friendly, non-aggressive, no tendency towards
nervousness.
Head and Skull: Skull almost flat between ears. Stop shallow. Length
from base of
stop to tip of nose about l½ inches. Nostrils black and
well developedwithout flesh marks,
muzzle well tapered. Lips well
developed but notpendulous. Face well filled below eyes.
Any
tendency to snipiness undesirable.
Eyes: Large, dark, round but not prominent; spaced well apart.
Ears:
Long, sethigh, with plenty of
Mouth: Jaws strong, with a perfect, regular and complete scissor
bite, i.e.
the upper teeth closely overlapping the lower teeth and
set square to the jaws.
Neck: Moderate length, slightly arched.
Forequarters: Chest moderate, shoulders well laid back, straight
legs moderately boned.
Body: Short-coupled with good spring of rib. Level back.
Hindquarters: Legs with moderate bone; well turned stifle - no
tendency to cowhock
or sickle hocks.
Feet: Compact, cushioned and well feathered.
Tail: Length of tail in balance with body, well set on, carried
happily but never much
above the level of the back. Docking
previuosly optional when no more than one-third
was to be removed.
Gait: Free moving and elegant in action, plenty of drive from behind.
Fore and hind
legs move parallel when viewed from in front and behind.
Coat: Long. silky, free from curl. Slight wave permissible. Plenty
offeathering. Totally
free from trimming.
Colours: Recognised colours are:
Black and Tan: Raven black with tan markings above the eyes, on
cheeks, insideears,
on chest and legs and underside of tail. Tan
should be bright. Whitemarks undesirable.
Ruby: Whole coloured rich red. White markings undesirable.
Blenheim: Rich chestnut markings well broken up, on pearly white
ground.
Markings evenly divided on head, leaving room between ears
for much valued lozenge
mark or spot (a unique characteristic of the
breed).
Tricolour: Black and white well spaced, broken up, with tan markings
over eyes,
cheeks, inside ears, inside legs, and on underside of
tail.Any other colour or combination
of colours most undesirable.
Weight and Size: Weight - twelve to eighteen pounds. A small
well-balanced dogwell
within these weights desirable.
Faults: Any departure from the foregoing points should be considered
a fault andthe
seriousness with which the fault should be regarded
should be in exactproportion to its
degree and its effect upon the
health and welfare of the dog.
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