General Appearance
Sturdy, compact, solid, small dog with good bone, short, smooth
coat. No point exaggerated, balance essential.
Characteristics
Full of courage, yet with clown-like qualities. Bat ears and short
undocked tail essential features of the breed.
Temperament
Vivacious, deeply affectionate, intelligent.
Head and Skull
Head square, large and broad but in proportion to dog’s size. Skull
nearly flat between ears, domed forehead, loose skin forming
symmetrical wrinkles. Muzzle broad, deep and set well back, muscles
of cheeks well developed; nose and lips black. Stop well defined.
Lower jaw deep, square, broad, slightly undershot and well turned
up. Nose extremely short, black and wide, with open nostrils and
line between well defined. Lips thick, meeting each other in centre,
completely hiding teeth. Upper lip covers lower on each side with
plenty of cushion, never so exaggerated as to hang too much below
level of lower jaw.
Eyes
Preferably dark and matching. Moderate size, round, neither sunken
nor prominent, showing no white when looking straight forward; set
wide apart and low down in skull.
Ears
’Bat ears‘, of medium size, wide at base, rounded at top; set high,
carried upright and parallel, a sufficient width of skull preventing
them being too close together; skin soft and fine, orifice as seen
from the front, showing entirely.
Mouth
Slightly undershot. Teeth sound and regular, but not visible when
the mouth is closed. Tongue must not protrude.
Neck
Powerful, with loose skin at throat, but not exaggerated. Well
arched and thick, but not too short.
Forequarters
Legs set wide apart, straight boned, strong, muscular and short.
Body
Short, cobby, muscular and well rounded with deep wide brisket;
roach back; strong; wide at shoulders and narrowing at loins; good
‘cut up’, ribs well sprung.
Hindquarters
Legs strong, muscular and longer than forelegs thus raising loins
above shoulders. Hocks well let down.
Feet
Small, compact and placed in continuation of line of leg, with
absolutely sound pasterns. Hind feet rather longer than the
fore-feet. Toes compact; well knuckled; nails short, thick and
preferably black.
Tail
Undocked, very short, set low, thick at root, tapering quickly
towards tip, either straight or kinked, never curling over back nor
carried gaily.
Gait/Movement
Free and flowing.
Coat
Texture fine, smooth, lustrous, short and close.
Colour
Brindle, pied or fawn. Tan, mouse and grey/blue highly undesirable.
Brindle: a mixture of black and coloured hairs. May contain white
provided brindle predominates.
Pied: white predominates over brindle. Whites are classified with
pieds for show purposes; but their eyelashes and eye rims should be
black. In pieds the white should be clear with definite brindle
patches and no ticking or black spots.
Fawn: may contain brindle hairs but must have black eye lashes and
eye rims.
Size
Ideal weight: dogs: 12.5 kgs (28 lbs); bitches: 11 kgs (24 lbs).
Soundness not to be sacrificed to smallness.
Faults
Any departure from the foregoing points should be considered a fault
and the seriousness with which the fault should be regarded should
be in exact proportion to its degree and its effect upon the health
and welfare of the dog.
Note
Male animals should have two apparently normal testicles fully
descended into the scrotum. |
