KC
Breed Standard ........
Published
with kind permission from the Kennel Club.
You can visit their site from our
Links pages. |
| General
Appearance | Solid,
squarely built, strong bone and well muscled. Kind and earnest expression. |
| Characteristics | Intrepid
and untiring, very hardy, adaptable to any terrain including water. All-purpose
gundog. |
| Temperament | Faithful,
intelligent, patient and affectionate. |
| Head
and Skull | Head
long, skull flat, lean; sides gently sloping and very slightly rounded, equal
in length from well developed occiput to stop as from gently sloping stop to tip
of nose. Median furrow pronounced. Nose large, spongy in appearance, protruding
over rather thin lips. |
| Eyes | Large,
fairly round and open, eyelids close fitting. Deep yellow in white, and white
and orange; ochre in brown roans. |
| Ears | Set
on level with corner of eye, long, but not more than 5 cms (2 ins) below jaw line,
pendulous, forward edge touching cheek. Triangular in shape, slightly rounded
at tip, covered with thick short hair, longer and denser at edges. |
| Mouth | Jaws
powerful with a perfect, regular and complete scissor bite, i.e. upper teeth closely
overlapping lower teeth and set square to the jaws. Lips rather thin. |
| Neck | Strong,
muscular, fairly short, merging into shoulder, slight, divided dewlap. |
| Forequarters | Shoulders
strong, well muscled and well laid back. Points of shoulder set well apart. Forelegs
straight, bone oval; strong, well defined tendons. Pasterns slightly sloping when
viewed from side, elbows turning neither in nor out. |
| Body | Length
equal to height at withers, chest broad, open, well let down. Brisket reaching
at least to level of elbows. Front of sternum comes well forward below points
of shoulders. Ribs open, well sprung. Topline, a very slight slope from raised
withers to well muscled loins, slight rise from loin to broad and muscular croup,
croup sloping. |
| Hindquarters | Thighs
long, broad, muscular and strong. Hocks well let down. Metatarsals vertical on
extension of buttock line. Tendons clearly visible. |
| Feet | Front
compact, round. Hindfeet slightly oval. Toes arched, covered with short thick
hair especially between toes. Nails strong, arched. Pads hard. Pigmented according
to coat colours. Never black. Dewclaws on all four feet. |
| Tail | Customarily
docked. Docked: Thick at base. Set on as a continuation of croup line. Carried
horizontally or down, customarily docked to half its length.
Undocked: Thick
at base. Set on as a continuation of croup line. Carried horizontally or down. |
| Gait/Movement | Free,
relaxed and capable of fast trot. |
| Coat | Tough,
thick, slightly wiry, close fitting, length 4-6 cms (1 ½ -2 ins) on body, shorter
on nasal bridge, ears and head, even shorter on front of legs and feet. Eyebrows
consist of longer stiffer hair; even longer but softer hair covers cheeks and
upper lips forming moustache and beard. Skin thick and leathery. |
| Colour | White,
white with orange markings; solid white peppered orange, white with brown markings,
white speckled with brown (brown roan), with or without large brown markings.
Pigment of skin, eyelids, nose, lips and pads fleshy red in white dogs, deeper
in white/orange and brown roan dogs. |
| Size | Height:
dogs: 60-70 cms (23 ½ -27 ½ ins); bitches: 59-65 cms (23-25 ½ ins). Weight: dogs:
34-39 kgs (75-86 lbs); bitches: 29-34 kgs (62-75 lbs). |
| 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. |
| Note | Male
animals should have two apparently normal testicles fully descended into the scrotum. |
| The
Kennel Club ©
July
2001 |