Small, powerful sturdily built working dog, with fairly long body.

(Ration of height at withers to length of body 2.3)

Appearance and expression denote a watchful, alert energetic dog.

Friendly, active, eager to please.

Rather long and clean cut blunt wedge with almost flat skull and well-defined stop. Viewed from above, shows an even wedge shape from skull to tip of nose. Muzzle, viewed from side, looks rather square, slightly shorter than skull. Lower jaw strong. Although a dark mask is acceptable, a well-defined mask is highly desirable with lighter hair around eyes, on muzzle and under the throat, giving a distinct contrast to the upper mask. Tightly closed lips. Nose black.

Medium size, oval, very dark brown.

Medium size, pointed, pricked, leather hard from base to tip, but fine, smooth haired and mobile.

Scissors bite. Jaws strong with a perfect, regular and complete scissors bite, i.e. Upper teeth closely overlapping the lower teeth and set square to the jaws.

Long, strongly muscled with good reach.

Shoulder blades long and well laid. Upper arm slightly shorter than shoulder blade and set at a distinct angle. Upper arm lies close to ribs, but is still very mobile. Forearm, when viewed from front, slightly bent, just enough to give free action to chest’s lower part, straight when viewed from side. Legs well boned.

Back level, well muscled, with short strong loin. Chest long with good depth. Well sprung ribs. Viewed from front, chest oval, from side elliptical. Reaching two-fifths of length of forearm. When viewed from side the lowest point of chest is immediately behind back part of foreleg. Sternum visible but not excessively pointed. Croup broad and slightly sloping. Belly slightly tucked up. Harness markings should be clearly defined.

Well-angulated, well-bent stifles and low hocks, thighs strongly muscled. Legs well boned.

Medium, short, oval pointed straightforward with strong pads. Well knuckled up.

If present, length not exceeding 4in. (10cm) When adult. Carried horizontally or slightly downwards, may be raised at attention but never higher than the level of back. Puppies born with tails may be docked.

Free active, elbows fitting closely to sides, forelegs moving well forward without too much lift, in unison with powerful thrusting hind action.

Medium length, harsh close and tight topcoat undercoat abundant, soft, woolly.

Steel grey, greyish/brown, greyish/yellow, reddish/yellow, reddish/brown with darker guard hair on back, neck, and sides of body, lighter hair same shade of colour as mentioned above is desirable on muzzle, throat, chest, belly, buttock feet and hocks. Instead of these lighter shades, white markings are acceptable, but never in excess of one-third of total colour.

Height at withers: Dogs 33 – 35cms. (13-13.75in.): Bitches 31 – 33cms (12-13in.). weight 23-35lbs. The relation between height at withers and length of body should be 2 – 3.

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.

Revised Version of Tail Status submitted to The Kennel Club for their approval:

TAIL*

Any type of tail, length or carriage. To include a natural stump, a naturally tailess and legally docked tail is acceptable.*

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