ORIGIN: | Great Britain |
DATE OF PUBLICATION OF THE OFFICAL VALID STANDARD: | 24.06.1987. |
UTILIZATION: | Sheepdog. |
FCI-CLASSIFICATION: | Group 1 Sheepdogs and Cattle Dogs (except Swiss Cattle Dogs). Section 1 Sheepdogs. With working trial. |
GENERAL APPEARANCE: | Well proportioned, smooth outline showing quality, gracefulness and perfect balance, combined with sufficient substance to give impression of endurance. Any tendency to coarseness or weediness undesirable. |
IMPORTANT PROPORTIONS: | Skull and foreface approximately equal in length. Body slightly longer than height at shoulder. |
BEHAVIOUR / TEMPERAMENT: | Tenacious, hard-working, of great tractability. Keen, alert, responsive and intelligent. Neither nervous nor aggressive. |
HEAD | CRANIAL REGION: Skull : Fairly broad, occiput not pronounced. Stop : Very distinct. FACIAL REGION: |
NECK: | Of good length, strong and muscular, slightly arched and broadening to shoulders. |
BODY: | Athletic in appearance. Slightly longer than height at withers. Loins : Deep and muscular but not tucked up. Chest : Deep and rather broad, ribs well sprung. |
TAIL: | Moderately long, the bone reaching at least to hock, set on low, well furnished and with an upward swirl towards the end, completing graceful contour and balance of dog. Tail may be raised in excitement, never carried over back. |
LIMBS: | FOREQUARTERS: Front legs parallel when viewed from front. Bone strong but not heavy. Shoulder : Well laid back. Elbow : Close to body. Metacarpus (Pastern) : Slightly sloping when viewed from side. Forefeet : Oval, pads deep, strong and sound, toes arched and close together. Nails short and strong. HINDQUARTERS: Broad, muscular, in profile sloping gracefully to set on of tail. |
GAIT/MOVEMENT: | Free, smooth and tireless, with minimum lift of feet, conveying impression of ability to move with great stealth and speed. |
COAT: | HAIR: Two varieties : Moderately long or Smooth. In both, topcoat dense and medium textured, undercoat soft and dense giving good weather resistance. In the moderately long-coated variety, abundant coat forms mane, breeching and brush. On face, ears, forelegs (except for feather), hindlegs from hock to ground, hair should be short and smooth. COLOUR: Variety of colours permissible. White should never predominate. |
SIZE AND WEIGHT: | Ideal height at withers: Males: 53 cm (21 ins), Females: slightly less. |
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 and on its ability to perform its traditional work. |
DISQUALIFYING FAULTS: | Aggressive or overly shy. Any dog clearly showing physical or behavioural abnormalities shall be disqualified. |
N.B: | Male animals should have two apparently normal testicles fully descended into the scrotum. Only functionally and clinically healthy dogs, with breed typical conformation, should be used for breeding. |