GENERAL APPEARANCE

Active, graceful and well balanced, with gentle expression.

CHARACTERISTICS

Sporting, affectionate, absolutely fearless.

TEMPERAMENT

Gay, friendly, non-aggressive, no tendency towards nervousness.

HEAD AND SKULL

Skull almost flat between the ears.  Stop shallow.  Length from base of stop to tip of nose about 1.5 inches.  Nostrils black and well developed without flesh marks, muzzle well tapered.  lips well developed but not pendulous.  Face well filled below eyes.  Any tendency towards snipiness undesirable.

EYES

Large, dark, round but not prominent; spaced well apart.

EARS

Long, set high, with plenty of feathering.

MOUTH

Jaws strong with a perfect, regular and complete scissor bite, i.e. the upper teeth closely overlapping the lower teeth and square to the jaws.

NECK

Moderate length, slightly arched.

FOREQUARTERS

Chest moderate, shoulders well laid back, straight legs, moderately boned.

BODY

Short coupled with good spring of rib.  level back.

HINDQUARTERS

Legs with moderate bone; well turned stifle - no tendency to cow or sickle hocks.

FEET

Compact, cushioned, well feathered.

TAIL

Length of tail in balance with body, well set on, carried happily but never much above the level of the back.  Docking optional.  If docked, no more than one-third to be removed.

GAIT/MOVEMENT

Free moving and elegant in action, plenty of drive from behind.  Fore and hind legs move parallel when viewed from in front and behind.

COAT  Recognised colours are:

Black and Tan

Raven black with tan markings above the eyes, on cheeks, inside ears, on chest, legs and underside of tail.  Tan should be bright.  White marks undesirable.

Ruby

Whole coloured rich red.  White markings undesirable.

Blenheim

Rich chestnut markings, well broken up, on pearly white ground.  Markings evenly divided on head, leaving room between ears for much valued lozenge mark or spot (a unique characteristic of the breed).

Tri Colour

Black and white well spaced, broken up, with tan markings over eyes, on cheeks, inside ears, inside legs and on underside of tail.

Any other colour or combination of colours most undesirable.

SIZE

Weight - twelve to eighteen pounds.  A small, well balanced dog well within these weights desirable.

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.