tibetan terrier breedstandard

General appearance:

Characteristics:

Temperament:

Head and skull:

Eyes:

Ears:

Mouth:

Neck:

Forequarters:

Body:

Hindquarters:

Feet:

Tail:

Gait/Movement:

Coat:

Colour:

Size:

Faults:

Note:

Sturdy,medium sized long haired,generally square outline,balanced without exaggeration.

Lively,good natured.Loyal compagnion dog with many engaging ways.

Outgoing,alert,intelligent and game,neither fierce nor pugnacious.Sparing of affection to strangers.

Skull of medium lenght,neither broad nor coarse,narrowing slightly from ear to eye,neither domed nor absolutely flat between the ears.Zygomatic arch curved,but not overdeveloped so as to bulge.Marked stop in front of eyes but not exaggerated.Muzzle strong:well developed lower jaw.Lenght from eye to tip of nose equal in length from eye to occiput.Nos black.Head well furnished with long hair,falling forward over eyes.Lower jaw carrying small but not exaggerated amount of beard.In all giving a resolute expression.

Large,round,dark brown,neither prominent nor sunken:set fairly wide apart.Eye rims black.

Pendant,carried not too close tothe head,V shaped,not too large,set fairly high on the side of the skull,heavily feathered.

Scissor or reverse scissor bite.Incisors set in a slight curve,evenly spaced and set perpendicular to jaw.Full dentition desirable.

Strong,muscular,medium lenght,allowing head to be carried above level of back and giving overall balanced appearance.

Heavily furnished.Shoulders well laid,with good lenght and slope of upperarm.Legs straight and parallel,pasterns slightly sloping.

Well muscled,compact and powerfull.Lenght from point of shoulder to root of tail equal to height at withers.Fiar spring of rib with depth of brisket to elbow.ribbed well back.Top line level,loin short and slightly arched, croup level.

Heavily furnished.Well muscled.Well bent stifles and low set hocks giving level topline and drive.

Large,round,heavily furnisched with hair between toes and pads.Standing well down on pads.No arch in feet.

Medium lenght,set on fairly high and carried in a gay gurl over back.Very well feathered.Kink near tip often occuring and permissable.

Smooth,effortless stride with good reach and powerfull drive.When walking or trotting hind legs should track neither inside or outside frontlegs.

Double coat.Undercoat finme and woolly.Top coat profuse.Fine but neither silky nor woolly.Long,either streight or wavy but not curly.

White,golden,cream,grey or smoke,black,parti-colour and tri-colours,in fact any colour except chocolat or liver permissable.

Height at shoulders:dogs 35.5-40.6 cm(14-16 inches)Bithches slightly smaller.

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.

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