Picardy sheepdog is a medium sized dog of rustic yet elegant appearance in its shapes, vigorous, well muscled, well structured, intelligent face, lively wide awake, characterised by his appearance resembling the griffon.
FCI-Standard N° 176
PICARDY SHEEPDOG (Berger Picard)
TRANSLATION : Mrs. Peggy Davis.
ORIGIN : France.
DATE OF PUBLICATION OF THE VALID ORIGINAL STANDARD : 31.10.1964.
CLASSIFICATION F.C.I. :
Group 1 Sheepdogs and Cattle Dogs (except Swiss Mountain and Cattle Dogs).
Section 1 Sheepdogs.
With working trial.
GENERAL APPEARANCE : Medium sized dog of rustic yet elegant appearance in its shapes, vigorous, well muscled, well structured, intelligent face, lively wide awake, characterised by his appearance resembling the Griffon.
SIZE : 60 to 65 cm for the male and 55 to 60 cm for the female.
Penalisation : Up to 2 cm above the maximum.
Disqualification : Below the minimum, even in the young classes. More than 2 cm over the maximum limit.
HEAD : Without being massive, must be in proportion with the size. Very slight stop, at equal distance from the tip of the nose and the summit of the skull; skull quite broad, without exaggeration. Hair about 4 cm, eyebrows well marked without ever veiling the eyes.
Penalisation : Stop too pronounced, or insufficient. Hair too short or too long, eyebrows absent or too marked.
Disqualification : Lacking in type, disproportionate, without furnishings or too hairy.
FOREHEAD : Seen from the front, must look flat but slightly vaulted with a light furrow between the frontal sinuses.
Penalisation : Insufficiently or too vaulted, furrow too accentuated.
Disqualification : Skull flat or domed, forehead too flat or too steep.
CHEEKS : Must not be too strong but without being flat, must have a certain roundness. Behind the cheeks the hair has the same length as that on the body.
Penalisation : Cheeks too full, flabby or lacking muscles.
MUZZLE : Strong and not too long, must not end in a point. Nose always black, lips lean and well closed, the bridge of the nose is straight. Slight moustache and small beard.
Penalisation : Too long, weak or too strong, snipey or too square; nose small, spotted with pink; corner of the lips thick, lippy; convex nasal bridge lack of moustaches and small beard (it must be remembered that the hair on the head must be of about 4 cm and that the moustache and small beard must stand out clearly).
Disqualification : Disproportionate at the skull, pendulous lips, nose of any other colour than black, depigmentation of the mucous membranes.
JAWS : Powerful, closing perfectly without being over- or undershot.
Penalisation : Very slightly under- or overshot; absence of two premolars does not allow any CAC nor reserve. Absence of four premolars : no "excellent"; decayed (caries) teeth depending on importance; broken or cut canines.
Disqualification : Absence of more than four teeth, distinctly over- or undershot.
EARS : Of moderate size, broad at their base, set rather high, the base resembling the ear of a sheep, always carried naturally erect, the tips slightly rounded; the slightly divergent carriage is tolerated. Length 10 cm. Never more than 12 cm for a male of maximum size.
Penalisation : Ear too big or similar to that of the Belgian Shepherd, set too low or too close together.
Disqualification : Ear not carried correctly.
EYES : Of medium size, not prominent, dark in colour, neither light nor wall eye; colour more or less dark according to the coat colour (in every cases never lighter than hazel).
Penalisation : Everything which does not correspond to the description.
Disqualification : Wall eyes, slanting, dissimilar, colour too light.
EXPRESSION : Must not be vicious, nor suspicious.
Disqualification : Haggard expression, shifty look.
NECK : Strong and muscular, of great length, carried erect in action and set well free of the shoulders, with proud head carriage.
Penalisation : Neck long and weak, short and thick, rising too abruptly from the shoulders, loose skin.
BODY : Chest deep without exaggeration, must not be deeper than the elbow level; the thoracic perimeter taken immediately behind the elbows must be superior by 1/5 of the height at the withers, the length of the body slightly superior to the height at the withers; back straight; solid loin; the ribs well sprung at their upper third, then gradually flattening up to the sternum; belly slightly tucked up; the rump merges progressively with the thigh; bone structure visible without exaggeration.
Penalisation : Depending on the importance of the fault; body too heavy or too light, too long, high on the legs or too close to the ground; ribs too flat or too sprung (barrel shape); built like a Bouvier (herder); rump too straight or falling away.
Disqualification : The above mentioned faults too accentuated.
TAIL : Hairy, the hair is of the same length as that of the body. At rest the tail must reach the point of the hock and hang straight with a slight curve at the tip; in action the tail may be carried higher without ever being carried over the back.
Penalisation : Rat tail or too hairy, too short, deviated, carried badly.
Disqualification : Continuously carried over the back; carried low as a result of a correcting operation (niquetage); rudimentary or tailless.
FOREQUARTERS : Shoulders long and oblique giving great freedom of movement, muscular without being heavy; the legs straight and vertical; lean bone structure; joints are evident without giving the impression of malformation; pasterns slightly inclined from back to front giving suppleness in the leg and thereby facilitating the sudden halts.
Penalisation : Shoulders too long (like a Greyhound) or too steep (like a Bouvier), weak or heavy, loose or impeding movements; bone structure weak or too strong; weak joints or giving the impression of being distended; pastern too straight or too inclined carrying foot too forward.
Disqualification : The above mentioned faults too accentuated.
HINDQUARTERS : Thighs long and well muscled. The upper part rather long, the articulation of the stifle strong; the dog must not be straight behind nor stand too far back; standing neither close nor wide. There must not be any lack of harmony between the thigh and the rump, the whole must dissolve into a pleasant curve. Legs solid supporting the hindquarters without weakness, but with suppleness; bone structure pronounced without exaggeration.
Hockjoints moderately angulated, neither spread nor too close, not set to high; a good angulation of the hock is absolutely essential in our Sheepdog. Hocks robust and lean, perpendicular to the ground when the dog is standing true; the legs seen from all sides are vertical and parallel.
Penalisation : Depending on the importance of the faults.
Disqualification : Hindquarters generally faulty.
FEET : Rounded and short, close-cupped, arched; nails strong and dark in colour. No dewclaws or extra toes; a dog with dewclaws is not disqualified but penalised. Firm pads, with a certain suppleness, the pad being a plantar cushion must absorb part of the jolts.
Penalisation : In accordance with the fault.
Disqualification : Double dewclaws on the four legs.
COAT
HAIR : Hard, semi-long, not curly, not flat, must be harsh and crisp to the touch. The length is 5 to 6 cm on the whole of the body including the tail. Undercoat fine and dense.
Penalisation : Hair less than 4 1/2 cm, not sufficiently harsh, tendency to be curly or flat.
Disqualification : Hair less than 4 cm, more than 6 cm, curly or very flat, soft or woolly.
COLOUR : Grey, grey-black, grey with black highlights, grey-blue, grey-red, light fawn or dark, or a mixture of these shades. No big white patches permitted, a slight white marking is tolerated on the chest and on the tip of the feet.
Penalisation : White patch on the chest forming a "shirtfront", white all over the toes.
Disqualification : Black, white, harlequin, pied, too much white on the chest, feet completely white; white in the coat elsewhere than on the parts indicated.
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.
N.B. : Male animals should have two apparently normal testicles fully descended into the scrotum
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