Utility Group Breed Standard amendments
Any underlined text indicates a change or addition. Square bracketed text indicates a deletion.
Temperament Dignified, courageous, aloof, tends to show dominance over other dogs, though the trait is not encouraged.
Hindquarters Strong and muscular, with only moderate angulation and stifle. Well developed thighs, strong hocks, well let down, turning neither in nor out.
Feet delete reference to removal of dewclaws.
General Appearance Smooth-coated, relatively short-headed, compactly built, short-tailed, well balanced dog of medium size, brindle in colour, evenly marked with white. Body rather short and well knit; limbs strong and neatly turned; tail short and no feature so prominent that the dog appears badly proportioned. Dog must convey an impression of determination, strength and activity, with style of a high order; carriage easy and graceful.
Head and Skull Skull square in appearance, flat on top, free from wrinkles; cheeks flat; brow abrupt, stop well defined. Muzzle relatively short, square, wide and deep with no tendency to taper and in proportion to skull; free from wrinkles; shorter in length than in width and depth, approximately one-third of length of skull; width and depth carried out well to end; muzzle from stop to end of nose on a line parallel to top of skull; nose black, wide with well defined line between nostrils. Jaws broad and square. Flews of good depth, not pendulous, completely covering teeth when mouth closed. Head in proportion to size of dog.
Eyes Wide apart, round and not too large dark in colour; expression alert, kind and intelligent. Eyes set square in skull, outside corners on a line with cheeks when viewed from front.
Tail Set on low; short, fine, tapering, straight or curled [delete ‘screw’]; devoid of fringes or coarse hair, never carried above horizontal.
General Appearance Smooth-coated, fairly thick set, rather low in stature, broad, powerful and compact. Head, fairly large in proportion to size but no point so much in excess of others as to destroy the general symmetry, or make the dog appear deformed, or interfere with its powers of motion. Face relatively short, muzzle broad, blunt and inclined slightly upwards. Dogs showing respiratory distress highly undesirable. Body fairly short, well knit, limbs stout, well muscled and in hard condition with no tendency towards obesity. Hindquarters high and strong. [Delete ‘but somewhat lighter in comparison with heavy foreparts’]. Bitches not so grand or well developed as dogs.
Head and Skull Skull relatively large in circumference. Viewed from front appears [delete – very] high from corner of lower jaw to apex of skull; also [Delete ‘very’] broad and square. Cheeks well rounded and extended sideways beyond eyes. Viewed from side, head appears very high and moderately short from back to point of nose. Forehead flat with skin on and about head, slightly loose and may be finely wrinkled, neither prominent nor overhanging face. [Delete ‘Projections of frontal bones prominent, broad, square and high; deep, wide indentation between eyes’]. From defined stop, a furrow [Delete ‘both broad and deep’] extending to middle of skull being traceable to apex. Face from front of cheek bone to nose, relatively short, skin may be slightly wrinkled. Muzzle short, broad, turned upwards and [Delete ‘very’] deep from corner of eye to corner of mouth. Nose and nostrils large, broad and black, under no circumstances liver colour, red or brown; [Delete ‘top set back towards eyes’]. [Delete ‘Distance from inner corner of eye (or from centre of stop between eyes) to extreme tip of nose not exceeding length from tip of nose to edge of underlip’]. Nostrils large, wide and open, with well defined vertical straight line between. Flews (chops) thick, broad, [delete ‘pendant and very’] and deep, covering [delete ‘hanging completely over’] lower jaws at sides, [delete ‘not in front’] but joining underlip in front. [Delete ‘and quite covering’] Teeth not visible. Jaws broad, strong, [delete – massive] and square, lower jaw slightly projecting in front of upper, with moderate turn up. [delete - and turning up]. Over nose wrinkle, if present, whole or broken, must never adversely affect or obscure eyes or nose. Pinched nostrils and heavy over nose wrinkle are unacceptable and should be heavily penalised. [Delete ‘Nose roll must not interfere with the line of layback’]. Viewed from front, the various properties of the face must be equally balanced on either side of an imaginary line down centre.
Eyes Seen from front, situated low down in skull, well away from ears. Eyes and stop in same straight line, at right angles to furrow. Wide apart, but outer corners within the outline of cheeks. Round [delete ‘in shape’], of moderate size, neither sunken nor prominent, in colour very dark – almost black – showing no white when looking directly forward. Free from obvious eye problems.
Neck Moderate in length, [Delete ‘very’] thick, deep and strong. Well arched at back, with some loose [delete ‘thick and wrinkled’] skin about throat, forming slight dewlap on each side. [Delete ‘from lower jaw to chest’].
Forequarters Shoulders broad, sloping and deep, very powerful and muscular giving appearance of being ’tacked on‘ body. Brisket [delete ‘capacious’], round and [delete ‘very’] deep [delete ‘from top of shoulders to lowest part where it joins chest’]. Well let down between forelegs. [Delete ‘Large in diameter, round behind forelegs’]. Ribs not flat-sided but well rounded. Forelegs very stout and strong, well developed, set wide apart, thick, muscular and straight, [Delete ‘presenting rather bowed outline, but’] bones of legs large and straight, not bandy nor curved and short in proportion to hindlegs, but not so short as to make back appear long, or detract from dog’s activity. [Delete ‘and so cripple him’]. Elbows low and standing well away from ribs. Pasterns short, straight and strong.
Body Chest wide, [delete ‘laterally round’] prominent and deep. Back short, strong, broad at shoulders [delete ‘comparatively narrower at loins’]. Slight fall to back close behind shoulders (lowest part) whence spine should rise to loins (top higher than top of shoulder), curving again more suddenly to tail, forming slight arch [delete ‘(termed roach back)’] – a distinctive characteristic of breed. Body well ribbed up behind with belly tucked up and not pendulous.
Hindquarters Legs large and muscular, slightly longer in proportion than forelegs, [delete ‘so as to elevate loins’]. Hocks slightly bent, well let down; legs long and muscular from loins to hock. [delete ‘short, straight, strong lower part’] Stifles [delete ‘round and’] turned very slightly outwards away from body. [Delete ‘Hocks thereby made to approach each other and hind feet to turn outwards’]
Gait/Movement [Delete ‘Peculiarly heavy and constrained’] Appearing to walk with short, quick steps on tips of toes, hind feet not lifted high, appearing to skim ground, running with one or other shoulder rather advanced. Soundness of movement of the utmost importance.
[Characteristics, Temperament, Ears, Mouth, Feet, Tail, Coat Colour Size, Faults, Note - no change.]
General Appearance Active, compact, short-coupled and essentially well balanced, leonine in appearance, proud, dignified bearing; well knit frame; tail carried well over back. Should always be able to move freely and must not have so much coat as to impede activity or cause distress in hot weather.
Characteristics Quiet dog, good guard, bluish-black tongue; [Delete ‘unique in its stilted gait’].
Hindquarters Hindlegs muscular, hocks well let down, with moderate [delete ‘minimal’] angulation. [Delete ‘essential to produce characteristic stilted gait’]. From hocks downwards to appear straight, hocks never flexing forward.
Gait/Movement Relatively short stride. [Delete ‘short and stilted’.] Forelegs and hindlegs moving parallel to each other and straight forward. Dogs should always be able to move freely and soundly without any sign of distress.
Coat Either rough or smooth. Rough: profuse, abundant, dense, straight and stand-off. Outer coat rather coarse in texture, with soft woolly undercoat. Especially thick round neck forming mane or ruff and with good culottes or breechings on back of thighs.
Smooth: coat short, [delete - abundant,] dense, straight, upstanding, not flat, plush-like in texture. Any artificial shortening of the coat which alters the natural outline or expression should be penalised.
Must not have so much coat as to cause distress in hot weather.
Colour Ground colour pure white. Black spotted, dense black spots, and liver spotted, liver brown spots; not running together but round and well defined. In size one-penny to fifty-pence piece. Spots as well distributed as possible. Spots on extremities smaller than those on body. [Delete ’Patches’]. Tricolours and spotting colour other than black or liver undesirable [delete – unacceptable]. Bronzing on spots undesirable in adults.
Characteristics Full of courage, yet with clown-like qualities. Bat ears and short [Delete ‘undocked’] tail characteristic [delete ‘essential’] features of the breed.
Head Head square in appearance and in proportion to dog’s size. Skull nearly flat between ears, domed forehead. The skin covering the skull and forehead should be supple enough to allow the dog to show facial expression. Well defined muzzle, broad, deep and set back, muscles of cheeks well developed. Stop well defined. Lower jaw deep, square, broad, slightly undershot and [delete ‘well’] turned up. Nose black and wide, relatively short, with open nostrils and line between well defined. Lips black, 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 relatively wide apart and on the same level as the stop. [Delete ‘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. The opening to the ear canal should be wide and open.
Neck Powerful, [delete ‘with loose skin at throat, but not exaggerated’] well arched and thick , but not too short.
Body [Delete ‘Short’] Cobby, muscular and well rounded with deep, wide brisket and ribs well sprung. Strong, gently roached back. Good ‘cut up’. The body while broader at the shoulders should narrow slightly beyond the ribs to give definition to the relatively short, thick, strong, muscular loin.
Hindquarters Legs strong, muscular and relatively longer than forelegs, with moderate angulation. [Delete ‘thus raising loins above shoulders’]. Hocks well let down.
Tail Undocked, [delete ‘very’] short, set low, thick at root, tapering quickly towards tip, preferably [delete ‘either’] straight, [delete ‘or kinked’] and long enough to cover anus. Never curling over back nor carried gaily.
Coat Double coat consisting of a soft woolly undercoat and a long harsh-textured perfectly straight top coat covering the whole of the body. [Delete ‘Very’] Abundant around neck and forequarters with a frill of profuse, but not excessive, off-standing straight hair extending over the shoulders. Forelimbs well feathered tapering from elbows to pasterns. Hind limbs feathered to hocks. Ears covered with soft short hair. Hair on the face smooth and short. Tail profusely covered with long spreading hair. This is not a trimmed breed and evidence of trimming and shaping, other than tidying of the feet, anal area and legs below the hocks, unacceptable.
Feet Delete reference to dewclaw removal.
Gait/Movement Free flowing, vigorous and powerful with moderate length of stride. Stilted gait undesirable.
General Appearance Well balanced, sturdy, heavily coated, without excess.
Head and Skull [Delete ‘Heavy’] Head furnishings with [delete ‘good’] fall over eyes, but not affecting the dog’s ability to see, good whiskers and beard. Skull moderately narrow, falling away behind eyes, not quite flat, but not domed or apple headed. Straight foreface with medium stop. Nose black. Muzzle about 4 cms (1½ ins), but not square; length from tip of nose roughly one third total length from nose to back of skull.
Coat Top coat long, heavy, straight, hard neither woolly nor silky. Moderate undercoat. Coat never impeding action
Hindquarters Lighter compared with forequarters but with muscular and well developed thighs and well rounded rump. Legs strong, muscular, hocks well let down.
Characteristics Relatively loose skin, frowning expression, harsh bristly
Head & Skull Relatively large but not disproportionate to the body, skull flat, broad, moderate stop. Length from nose to stop approximately equal to length from stop to occiput. Moderate wrinkle on forehead and cheeks. [Delete ‘continuing to form dewlaps’].‘Muzzle [Delete ‘distinctive feature of breed’] moderately broad and full with no suggestion of tapering. The lips and top of muzzle may be slightly padded. [Delete ‘causing a slight bulge at the base of nose’]. When viewed from front, bottom jaw appears wider than top [delete ‘due to padding of lips’]. Nose large, wide, preferably black but any colour conforming to general coat colour permissible.
Neck Medium length, strong, full; set well on shoulders, with some loose skin under neck permitted, but this should not be excessive.
Forequarters Shoulders muscular, well laid and sloping. Elbows close to the body. Forelegs straight, moderate length, good bone; pasterns slightly sloping, strong and flexible. Forelegs completely free from wrinkle when mature.
Feet delete reference to removal of dewclaws.
General Appearance Sturdy, abundantly but not excessively coated dog with distinctly arrogant carriage and ‘chrysanthemum-like’ face. [insert inverted commas]
Head and Skull Head broad, round, wide between eyes. Shock-headed with hair falling well over eyes , not affecting the dog’s ability to see. Good beard and whiskers, hair growing upwards on the muzzle giving a distinctly 'chrysanthemum-like' effect. Muzzle of ample width, square, short, not wrinkled; flat and hairy. Nose black but dark liver in liver or liver marked dogs and about one inch from tip to definite stop. Nose level or slightly tip-tilted. Top of nose leather should be on a line with or slightly below lower eye rim. Wide-open nostrils. Down-pointed nose highly undesirable, as are pinched nostrils. Pigmentation of muzzle as unbroken as possible.
Hindquarters Legs short and muscular with ample bone. Straight when viewed from the rear. Thighs well rounded and muscular. [Delete ‘Legs looking massive on account of wealth of hair’].
Feet Rounded, firm and well covered with hair.[Delete ‘appearing big on account of wealth of hair’].
Coat Long, dense, not curly, with good undercoat. Slight wave permitted. Strongly recommended that hair on head tied up. Hair not affecting the dog’s ability to see.
Head and Skull Skull of medium length, neither broad nor coarse, narrowing slightly from ear to eye, neither domed nor absolutely flat between ears. Zygomatic arch curved, but not overdeveloped so as to bulge. Marked stop in front of eyes but not exaggerated. Muzzle strong; well developed lower jaw. Length from eye to tip of nose equal to length from eye to occiput. Nose black. Head well furnished with long hair, falling forward over eyes, but not affecting the dog’s ability to see. Lower jaw carrying small, but not exaggerated amount of beard. In all giving a resolute expression.
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