Breed Standard
It is the british standard who is in use for the FCI
General Appearance :
Strongly built, short coupled, very active; broad in skull; broad and deep through chest and ribs; broad and strong over loins and hindquarters.
Characteristics :
Good tempered, very agile. Excellent nose, soft mouth; keen love of water. Adaptable, devoted companion.
Temperament :
Intelligent, keen and biddable, with a strong will to please. Kindly nature, with no trace of aggression or indue shyness.
Head and skull :
Skull broad with defined stop; clean cut without fleshy cheeks. Jaws of medium length, powerful, not snipey. Nose wide, nostrills well developed.
Eyes :
Medium size, expressing intelligence and good temper; brown or hazel.
Ears :
not large or heavy, hanging close to head and set rather far back.
Mouth :
Jaws and teeth strong, with a perfect, regular and complete scissor bite, I.e. the upper teeth closely overlapping the lower teeth and set square to the jaws.
Neck :
Clean, strong, powerful, set into well-placed shoulders.
Forequarters :
Shoulders long and sloping. Forelegs well-boned and straight from elbow to ground when viewed from either front or side.
Body :
Chest of good width and depth,with well sprung barrel ribs. Level topline. Loins wide, short coupled and strong.
Hindquarters :
Well-developed not sloping to tail; well turned stifle. Hocks well let down, cow-hocks highly undesirable.
Feet :
Round, compact; well-arched toes and well-developed pads.
Tail :
Distinctive feature, very thick towards base, gradually tapering towards tip, medium length, free from feathering, but clothed thickly all around with short, thick, dense coat, thus giving « rounded » appearance described as « otter » tail. May be carried gaily, but should not curl over back.
Gait/Movement :
Free, covering adequate ground; straight and true in front and rear.
Coat :
Distinctive feature, short dense without wave or feathering, giving fairly hard feel to touch; weather resistant undercoat.
Colour :
Wholly black, yellow or chocolate, yellow range from light cream to red fox.Small white spot on chest permissible.
Size :
Ideal height at withers : Dogs 56-57 cms; Bitches 54-56 cms.
Faults :
any departure from the foregoing points should be considered a fault and the seriousness with which the fault should be regarded in exact proportion to its degree .
Note : Male animals should have two apparently normal testicles fully descended into the scrotum