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This Breed Standard was adopted by
the Kennel Club in July 1994.
General
Appearance
Strong, compact, symmetrical, with substance, power and balance. Hard muscular
condition conveys agility, strength and endurance. Grossness or weediness
undesirable.
Characteristics
Ability to control and move cattle in all environments. Loyal, protective.
Guardian of stockman, herd and property. Naturally suspicious of strangers, but
amenable to handling. Biddable.
Temperament
Alert, intelligent, watchful, courageous, trustworthy, devoted to its work.
Head
and Skull
Strong, in balance with body and general conformation. Skull broad and slightly
curved between ears, flattening to slight but definite stop. Cheeks muscular but
not coarse or prominent. Strong under-jaw, deep and well developed. Broad
foreface, well filled in under eyes, tapers gradually down medium length muzzle
which is parallel to skull. Nose always black.
Eyes
Medium, oval, alert and intelligent, dark brown. Neither prominent nor sunken.
Warning suspicious glint is characteristic.
Ears
Moderate, small rather than large. Broad at base, muscular, pricked and
moderately pointed. Oval or bat-eared undesirable. Set wide apart inclining
outwards. Sensitive, pricked when alert. Leather thick in texture and inside ear
well furnished with hair.
Mouth
Lips tight and clean. Jaws strong with a perfect, regular and complete scissor
bite, i.e. upper teeth closely overlapping lower teeth and set square to the
jaws.
Neck
Exceptionally strong, muscular, of medium length blending into body. Free from
throatiness.
Forequarters
Strong, sloping shoulders well laid back, not too closely set at withers.
Strong, round bone, legs straight when viewed from front, pasterns flexible and
slightly sloping when viewed from side. Loaded shoulder and heavy front
undesirable.
Body
Slightly longer from point of shoulder to buttocks than height at withers, as 10
is to 9. Level topline, strong back and couplings. Well sprung ribs, carried
well back, but not barrel ribbed. Chest deep, muscular and moderately broad.
Hindquarters
Broad, strong and muscular. Croup rather long and sloping. Well turned stifle,
hocks strong and well let down. When viewed from behind, hocks to feet straight
and set parallel, neither too close nor too wide apart.
Feet
Round, short toes, strong, well arched and held tight, pads hard and deep. Nails
short and strong.
Tail
Set on low, following slope of croup/rump. Reaching to hock, hanging in slight
curve at rear. When working or excited, may be raised but never carried over
back. Good brush.
Gait/Movement
True, free, supple, tireless, with powerful thrust of hindquarters. Capable of
quick and sudden action. Soundness of paramount importance. Stands four square,
but when moving at speed, legs tend to converge. Any weaknesses highly
undesirable.
Coat
Smooth, double with short dense undercoat. Close top coat, hard, straight and
weather resistant. Under body and behind legs, coat is longer to form mild
breeching near thighs. Short on head (including inside of ear) front of legs and
feet. Thicker and longer on neck. Average hair length 2.5-4 cms (1-11/2 ins).
Colour
Blue: Blue, blue-mottled or blue speckled with or without other markings.
Permissible markings are black, blue or tan markings on head, evenly distributed
for preference. Forelegs tan midway up legs and extending up the front to breast
and throat, with tan on jaws. Hindquarters tan on inside of hindlegs, and inside
of thighs, showing down front of stifles and broadening out to outside of
hindlegs from hock to toes. Tan undercoat permissible on body providing it does
not show through blue outer coat. Black markings on body undesirable.
Red Speckle: Good even red speckle all over, including undercoat, (neither white
nor cream), with or without darker red markings on head. Even head markings
desirable. Red markings on body permissible but undesirable.
Size
Height at withers: dogs: 46-51 cms (approx. 18-20 ins); bitches: 43-48 cms
(approx. 17-19 ins).
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 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.
Contact Norma Digby on 01948 841302 (Shropshire,
England, UK) |
