| FCI-Standard
N° 141 /
15. 04. 2005 /GB
PYRENEAN
SHEEPDOG LONG-HAIRED
(Chien de
berger des Pyrénées à poil long)
TRANSLATION
: Mrs Pamela Jeans-Brown
revised
by Alain Pécoult and Raymond Triquet.
ORIGIN
: France.
DATE
OF PUBLICATION OF THE ORIGINAL VALID STANDARD
: 13/03/2001.
UTILIZATION
: Sheepdog
used in the farms and pastures of the Pyrenees.
CLASSIFICATION
F.C.I.
:
Group 1
: Sheep
and cattle-dogs (excluding
mountain dogs and
Swiss cattle-dogs).
Section
1 Sheepdogs.
With
working trial.
BRIEF
HISTORICAL SUMMARY
:
Coming from humble beginnings, it was practically unknown to the
official dog
scene until the early 20th century. Its type varies
considerably from one valley to the
next, its shape, its
coat can be very different, but its character and behaviour never vary. The first standard was
drawn up between 1921
and 1925 and has hardly been amended since.
GENERAL
APPEARANCE
: Dog
displaying a maximum of nervous
energy in a minimum of size and weight.
An ever alert physiognomy, a knowing air combined
with great liveliness
of movement give this dog a characteristic appearance unlike any other.
IMPORTANT
PROPORTIONS
:
Skull
is about
as long as wide.
Muzzle
is
shorter than skull in 1/3 to 2/3 ratio.
Length
of body
is greater than height at withers.>
Distance
from elbow to ground is greater than half height at withers.
BEHAVIOUR
/ TEMPERAMENT
: It is a
courageous, resourceful little dog, showing initiative ant totally
devoted
to its master. It is headstrong by nature and firm
control is usually needed to channel its energy and bring out the best
of its
intelligence liveliness. It is often wary of strangers.
HEAD
: Triangular in shape.
CRANIAL
REGION
:
Skull : Moderately
developed, almost flat,
with a scarcely noticeable central furrow, harmoniously rounded on the
sides,
showing a very slight occipital protuberance. Approximately as long as
it is
wide. Front section
slopes gently to the
muzzle.
Stop
: Scarcely discernible.
FACIAL
REGION
:
Nose
: Black.
Muzzle
: Straight, a little shorter than
the skull, tapering like a wedge but without a pointed tip.
Lips
: Not very thick, covering the
lower jaw completely and showing no apparent corners.
Edges and palate are black or heavily marked
with black.
Jaws/Teeth
: Complete dentition. Strong
canines. Scissor
bite (upper incisors covering lower
incisors without loss of contact).
Pincer bite (edge to edge) is tolerated.
Eyes : Expressive,
slightly almond-shaped
and dark brown. Neither
protruding nor
sunken. Wall eyes are accepted in dogs with
“harlequin” (blue-merle) or slate
grey coats which they are almost always a characteristic. Eye rims are black
whatever the coat colour.
Ears : They must
be rather
short, moderately broad at the base and not set too close to each other
at the
top of the skull, but not set too far apart either. They are usually
cropped.
When not
cropped, the lower part
must be pricked and mobile. Ideally the top third or half of the ear
should
fall forward to the front or the side, symmetrically for both ears.
NECK
: Rather long and muscled, springing
well up from shoulders.
BODY : The bone
structure is strong without heaviness, muscle is lean.
Topline
: Well-supported.
Withers
: Prominent.
Back
: Rather long and strong.
Loins
: Short,
slightly arched, but seems more so because coat is often thicker on
hindquarters and croup.
Croup : Fairly short and
rather oblique.
Chest
:
Moderately
developed, reaching to elbow. The
ribs
are slightly rounded
Flank
: Scarcely descending.
TAIL : Well
fringed, not very long, set rather low
and with a hooked tip. When the dog is
alert, the tail should hardly rise above the line of the back. A lot of
dogs
are docked. Some
have a rudimentary
tail without ever having been
docked.
LIMBS
FOREQUARTERS
:
Upright, lean,
sinewy, well-fringed.
Shoulder : Rather long,
moderately oblique.
Upper
arm
: Oblique and
moderately long.
Forearm
: Straight.
Carpus
(carpal joint)
: Noticeable
wrist joint.
Metacarpus
(pasterns)
: Slightly
oblique.
Forefeet : Lean,
fairly flat, of a definite
oval shape.
Dark pads. Small hard nails covered by hair which is also found under
the foot,
between the pads.
HINDQUARTERS
: Rather closed
angulation. Semi-long
coated dogs have no fringing on
limbs.
Upper
thigh
: Not very long, moderately oblique, strong,
well-defined
muscle.
Stifle
(knee)
: Well-angulated and parallel to the body.
Lower
thigh
: Rather long
and oblique.
Hock : Lean, set
low, well angulated, hocks
are sometimes a little close.
Metatarsus
(Rear pastern)
: Perpendicular
to the ground or very
slightly
oblique from back to front.
Hind
feet
: Lean, fairly flat, of a definite oval shape. Dark pads.
Small hard nails covered by hair which is also found
under the foot,
between the pads.
Dewclaws
: Single or double dewclaws are acceptable on hind
legs as is their absence.
GAIT
/ MOVEMENT
: Walking, the Pyrenean
Sheepdog has a rather short stride. The trot, preferred pace of the
Pyrenean
Sheepdog should be free and vigorous.
At
a gentle trot, the head is carried fairly high, when the speed
increases, the
head is in line with the back. The
feet
are never raised high, the movement is flowing, the dog skims over the
ground.
SKIN : Thin, often
rnarbled
with dark patches, irrespective of coat-colour.
COAT
HAIR : Long, or semi-long,
but always dense, almost
flat or slightly wavy, thicker and woollier on the croup and thighs,
texture
somewhere between goat’s hair and sheep’s wool. In some dogs the mixture
of coarse and woolly hair
can produce sorts of
strands or cords called “cadenettes" and sometimes matted or
felted hair
called “matelotes” which overlap like tiles on the
croup. “Cadenettes”
can be found on the chest and
the forelegs at elbow level. The
muzzle has
shorter, less dense hair.
On the end of the muzzle, and
sometimes along the
whole muzzle, it is laid flat and set from front to back. On the sides
as well
as on the cheeks, the hair is longer and brushed up in a windswept way
from
front to back. Eyes
must be clearly
visible and not covered by hair.
COLOUR : Fawn,
lighter or darker, with or
without a
mixture of black hairs and sometimes with a little white on the chest
and on
the limbs; grey, lighter or darker, often with some white on the head,
chest
and limbs; harlequin (blue flecked with black, blue-merle). There are also brindle,
black coats and black
with white markings. Solid
colours
are preferred.
SIZE
:
Height
at
withers
:
Males
from 40 cm to 48 cm.
Females from
38
cm to 46 cm.
A
tolerance of
+ 2
cm is
allowed for perfectly typed specimens.
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.
General
appearance
:
·
Heavy
dog,
lacking liveliness; thick muscle; lacklustre
expression.
Head
:
·
Ogival
skull,
rounded forehead, stop too much pronounced or non existent.
Muzzle
:
·
Square
or
rectangular, lack of pigmentation on nose or lips.
Eyes
:
·
Light
or of
wild expression. Lack of pigmentation on the eyerims.
Ears
:
·
Thick,
heavy,
falling flat against the side of the head, carried asymmetrically.
Neck
:
·
Thick
or weak,
head sunk in shoulders.
Body
:
·
Sway
or
roach-backed, dipping, whippety or drooping belly.
·
Heavy
overall;
dog which would fit into a square; horizontal topline; roach-backed;
horizontal
croup.
Tail
:
·
Lack
of hook.
Forequarters
:
·
Double
dewclaws, not upright.
Shoulders
:
·
Too
straight or
too short.
Hindquarters
:
·
Angle
too open
at the hocks; not upright.
Feet
:
·
Thick;
cat
feet; long nails; white nails.
Hair
:
·
Too
abundant on
the head, especially when it covers the eyes and on the muzzle when it
looks
like a griffon's moustache. Poor
texture, soft, wiry, curly or frizzy.
Coat lacking density or thickness.
Colour
:
·
White
covering
more than one third of the coat. Harlequin coat lacking contrast
between grey
and black or having fawn lights. Very
diluted coat colour. Black
coat with tan
on head and on limbs (black marked with fawn).
Gait/Movement
:
·
Too
short or
choppy. Lifting the
feet too high.
SERIOUS
FAULTS
:
Ears
:
·
Uncropped
ears
carried upright.
Tail
:
·
Tail
carried
curling over topline or tightly curled.
ELIMINATING FAULTS
:
Behaviour
/ Temperament
·
Aggressive
or overly shy.
Colour
:
·
White
coat or
any colour not specified in the standard.
Nose
:
·
Not
completely
black.
Jaws
:
·
Over
or
under-shot, or any malformation of the jaws.
Eyes
:
Wall-eyes
for
any dogs other than “harlequin” (blue-merle) and
slate-grey. Flesh
colour on the eye-rims. Light
yellow eyes.
·
Size
: Outside
the
limits.
Any
dog clearly showing physical or behavioural
abnormalities shall be disqualified.
N.B.
: Male animals should have two apparently normal testicles fully
descended into the scrotum.
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