General Appearance

A small, active and graceful dog; medium to fine boned, smooth hairless body, with hair on feet, head and tail only; or covered with a soft veil of hair.

Characteristics

Two distinct types of this breed; Deer type, racy fine bones and Cobby type, heavier in body and bone.

Temperament

Happy, never vicious.

Head and Skull

Slightly rounded and elongated skull. Cheeks cleanly chiselled, lean and flat, tapering into muzzle. Stop slightly pronounced but not extreme.

Eyes

So dark as to appear black. Little or no white showing. Medium size, almond in shape. Set wide apart.

Ears

Set low; highest point of base of ear level with outside corner of eye. Large and erect, with or without fringe, except in Powder Puffs where drop ears are permissible.

Mouth

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

Neck

Lean, free from throatiness, long and sloping graceful into strong shoulders. When moving, carried high and slightly arched.

Body

Body medium to long. Supple. Chest rather broad and deep. Not barrel ribbed, breast bone not prominent. Brisket extending to elbows; moderate tuck up.

Forequarters

Shoulders clean, narrow and well laid back. Legs long and slender, set well under body. Elbows held close to body. Pasterns fine, strong, nearly vertical. Toes neither turned in or out.

Hindquarters

Rump well rounded and muscular, loins taut, stifles firm and long, sweeping smoothly into the well let down hocks.  Angulation of the rear limbs must be as such to produce a level back. Hind legs set well apart.

Feet

Extreme hare-foot, narrow and very long, with unique elongation of small bones between joints, especially in forefeet, which almost appear to possess an extra joint. Nails any colour, moderately long. Socks ideally confined to toes, but not extending above top of pastern. Feet turning neither in nor out.

Tail

Set high, carried up or out when in motion. Long and tapering, fairly straight, not curled or twisted to either side, falling naturally when at rest. Plume long and flowing, confined to lower two thirds of tail. Sparse plume acceptable.

Gait/Movemnet

Long, flowing and elegant with good reach and plenty of drive.

Coat

No large patches of hair anywhere on body. Skin fine-grained, smooth, warm to touch. In powder puffs coat consists of an undercoat with a soft veil of long hair, veil coat a feature.

Colour

Any colour or combination of colour.

Size

Ideal height in dogs 28-33cms (11-13ins) at withers; bitches 23-30cms (9-12ins) at withers. Weight varies considerably, but should not be over 5.5kgs (12lbs).

Faults

Any departure from the foregoing points should be considered as 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.

Note

Male animals should have two apparently normal testicles fully descended into the scrotum.

Please note the above is Copyrighted to the Kennel Club (UK).