STANDARD OF THE SHETLAND SHEEPDOG




General appearance.
Small, long haired working dog of great beauty, free from cloddiness and coarseness. Outline symmetrical, so that no part appears out of proportion to the whole. Abundant coat, mane and frill, shapeliness of head and sweetness of expression combine to present the ideal.

Characteristics.
Alert, gentle,intelligent,strong and active.

Temperament.
Affectionate and responsive to his owner, reserved towards strangers, never nervous.

Head and skull.
Head refined; when viewed from the top or side is a long, blunt wedge, tapering from ear to nose. Width of skull in proportion to lenght of skull and muzzle. Whole to be considered in connection with the size of dog. Skull flat, moderately wide between the ears, with no prominence of the occipital bone. Cheeks flat, merging smoothly into well rounded muzzle. Skull and muzzle of equal length, dividing point inner corner of eye. Top-line of the skull parallel to top-line of the muzzle, with slight but definite stop. Nose, lips and eye-rims black. The characteristic expression is obtained by the perfect balance and combination of skull and foreface, shape, colour and placement of eyes, correct position and carriage of ears.

Mouth.
Jaws level, clean, strong with a well-developed underjaw. Lips tight. Teeth - sound with a perfect, regular and complete scissor bite, i.e. upper teeth closely overlapping the lower teeth and set square to the jaws. A full complement of 42 properly placed teeth highly desired. Eyes.
Medium size, obliquely set, almond shape. Dark brown, except in case of merles, where one or both may be blue or blue flecked.

Ears.
Small, moderately wide at the base, placed fairly close together on the top of the skull. In repose, thrown back; when alert brought forward and carried semi-erect with the tips falling forward.

Neck.
Muscular, well-arched, of sufficient length to carry the head proudly.

Forequarters.
Shoulders very well laid back. At the withers separated only by vertebrae, but bldes sloping outwards to accommodate desired spring of ribs. Shoulder joint well angled. Upper arm and shoulder blade approximately equal in lenght. Elbow equidistant from the ground and withers. Forelegs straight when viewed from front, muscular and clean, with strong bone. Pasterns strong and flexible.

Body.
Body slightly longer from point of shoulder to bottom of croup than height at withers. Chest deep, reaching to point of elbow. Ribs well sprung, tapering at lower half to allow free play of the forelegs and shoulders. Back level, with graceful sweep over loins; croup slopes gradually to the rear.

Hindquarters.
Thigh broad and muscular, thigh bones set into pelvis at right angles. Stifle joint has distinct angle, hock joint clean cut, angular, whell let down with strong bone. Hock straight when viewed from behind.

Tail.
Set low, tapering bone reaches to at least hocks, with abundant hair and slight upward sweep. May be slightly raised when moving but never over level of back.

Feet.
Oval, soles well-padded, toes arched and close together.

Gait/movement.
Lith, smooth and grceful with drive from hindquarters, covering the maximum amount of ground with the minimum of effort. Pacing, plaiting, rolling or stiff, stilted up and down movement highly undesirable.

Coat.
Double, outer coat of long hair, harsh texture and straight. Undercoat soft, short and close. Mane and frill very abundant, forelegs-well feathered. Hindlegs above hocks profusely covered with hair, below hocks fairly smooth. Face smooth. Smooth-coated specimens highly undesirable.

Colour.
Tricolours intense black on body, rich tan markings preferred.
Sables clear or shaded, any colour from pale gold to deep mahogany, in its shade, rich in tone. Wolf sable and grey undesirable.
Blue Merles: clear, silvery blue, splashed and marbled with black. Rich tan markings preferred, but absence not penalised. Heavy black markings, slate coloured or rusty tinge in either top or undercoat highly undesirable; general effect must be blue.
Black and White and Black and Tan are also recognised colours. White markings may appear (except on black and tan) in the blaze, collar and chest frill, legs, and tip of tail. All or some of the white markings are preferred (except on black and tan) but absence of these markings not be penalised. Patches of white on the body highly undesirable.

Size.
Ideal height measured at withers 14 inches for bitches, 14 1/2 inches for dogs. More than 1 inch above or below these heights highly undesirable.

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 propotion to its degree.

Note
Male animals should have two apparently normal resticles fully descended into scrotum.



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