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General Appearance
The general appearance is that of a strong
compact, symmetrically built working dog,
with the ability and willingness to carry
out his allotted task however arduous. Its
combination of substance, power, balance and
hard muscular condition must convey the
impression of great agility, strength and
endurance. Any tendency to grossness or
weediness is a serious fault.
Characteristics
As the name implies the dog's prime function,
and one in which he has no peer, is the
control and movement of cattle in both wide
open and confined areas. Always alert,
extremely intelligent, watchful, courageous
and trustworthy, with an implicit devotion
to duty making it an ideal dog.
Temperament
The Cattle Dog's loyalty and protective
instincts make it a self-appointed guardian
to the Stockman, his herd and his property.
Whilst naturally suspicious of strangers,
must be amenable to handling, particularly
in the Show ring. Any feature of temperament
or structure foreign to a working dog must
be regarded as a serious fault.
Head and Skull
The head is strong and must be in balance
with other proportions of the dog and in
keeping with its general conformation. The
broad skull is slightly curved between the
ears, flattening to a slight but definite
stop. The cheeks muscular, neither coarse
nor prominent with the underjaw strong, deep
and well developed. The foreface is broad
and well filled in under the eyes, tapering
gradually to form a medium length, deep,
powerful muzzle with the skull and muzzle on
parallel planes. The lips are tight and
clean. Nose black.
Eyes-- The eyes should be of oval shape and
medium size, neither prominent nor sunken
and must express alertness and intelligence.
A warning or suspicious glint is
characteristic when approached by strangers.
Eye color, dark brown.
Ears-- The ears should be of moderate size,
preferably small rather than large, broad at
the base, muscular, pricked and moderately
pointed neither spoon nor bat eared. The
ears are set wide apart on the skull,
inclining outwards, sensitive in their use
and pricked when alert, the leather should
be thick in texture and the inside of the
ear fairly well furnished with hair.
Mouth-- The teeth, sound, strong and evenly
spaced, gripping with a scissor-bite, the
lower incisors close behind and just
touching the upper. As the dog is required
to move difficult cattle by heeling or
biting, teeth which are sound and strong are
very important.
Nec
The neck is extremely strong, muscular, and
of medium length broadening to blend into
the body and free from throatiness.
Forequarters
The shoulders are strong, sloping, muscular
and well angulated to the upper arm and
should not be too closely set at the point
of the withers. The forelegs have strong,
round bone, extending to the feet and should
be straight and parallel when viewed from
the front, but the pasterns should show
flexibility with a slight angle to the
forearm when viewed from the side. Although
the shoulders are muscular and the bone is
strong, loaded shoulders and heavy fronts
will hamper correct movement and limit
working ability.
Body
The length of the body from the point of the
breast bone, in a straight line to the
buttocks, is greater than the height at the
withers, as 10 is to 9. The topline is
level, back strong with ribs well sprung and
carried well back not barrel ribbed. The
chest is deep, muscular and moderately broad
with the loins broad, strong and muscular
and the flanks deep. The dog is strongly
coupled.
Hindquarters
The hindquarters are broad, strong and
muscular. The croup is rather long and
sloping, thighs long, broad and well
developed, the stifles well turned and the
hocks strong and well let down. When viewed
from behind, the hind legs, from the hocks
to the feet, are straight and placed
parallel, neither close nor too wide apart.
Feet
The feet should be round and the toes short,
strong, well arched and held close together.
The pads are hard and deep, and the nails
must be short and strong.
Tail
The set on of tail is moderately low,
following the contours of the sloping croup
and of length to reach approximately to the
hock. At rest it should hang in a very
slight curve. During movement or excitement
the tail may be raised, but under no
circumstances should any part of the tail be
carried past a vertical line drawn through
the root. The tail should carry a good
brush.
Gait/Movement
The action is true, free, supple and
tireless and the movement of the shoulders
and forelegs is in unison with the powerful
thrust of the hindquarters. The capability
of quick and sudden movement is essential.
Soundness is of paramount importance and
stiltiness, loaded or slack shoulders,
straight shoulder placement, weakness at
elbows, pasterns or feet, straight stifles,
cow or bow hocks, must be regarded as
serious faults. When trotting the feet tend
to come closer together at ground level as
speed increases, but when the dog comes to
rest he should stand four square.
Coat
The coat is smooth, a double coat with a
short dense undercoat. The outer-coat is
close, each hair straight, hard, and lying
flat, so that it is rain-resisting. Under
the body, to behind the legs, the coat is
longer and forms near the thigh a mild form
of breeching. On the head (including the
inside of the ears), to the front of the
legs and feet, the hair is short. Along the
neck it is longer and thicker. A coat either
too long or too short is a fault. As an
average, the hairs on the body should be
from 2.5 to 4 cms (approx. 1-1.5 ins) in
length.
Color (Blue)
The color should be blue, blue-mottled or
blue speckled with or without other
markings. The permissible markings are
black, blue or tan markings on the head,
evenly distributed for preference. The
forelegs tan midway up the legs and
extending up the front to breast and throat,
with tan on jaws; the hindquarters tan on
inside of hindlegs, and inside of thighs,
showing down the front of the stifles and
broadening out to the outside of the
hindlegs from hock to toes. Tan undercoat is
permissible on the body providing it does
not show through the blue outer coat. Black
markings on the body are not desirable.
Color (Red Speckle)
The color should be of good even red
speckle all over, including the undercoat,
(neither white nor cream), with or without
darker red markings on the head. Even head
markings are desirable. Red markings on the
body are permissible but not desirable.
Size
Height:
Dogs 46-51 cms (approx. 18-20 ins) at
withers
Bitches 43-48 cms (approx. 17-19 ins) at
withers
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. |
