Breed Standard

Appearance
A well balanced, short legged, compact hound. Rough coated. With an alert outlook and a lively bearing.

Characteristics
A strong, active hound capable of a day's hunting with a good voice freely used.

Temperament
Happy, extrovert; independent, yet willing to please.

Head & Skull
Medium in length, not too wide, oval in shape when viewed from the front. Well cut away under the eyes; stop clearly defined; the occipital bone well developed. Muzzle slightly shorter than from stop to occipital point. Underjaw should be strong and well developed. The nose black, large with wide nostrils. Eyes surmounted by long eyebrows standing forward but not to obscure the eyes; lips covered with long hair forming beard and moustache.

Eyes
Large, dark, showing no white, with a friendly intelligent expression. The red of the lower eyelid should not show.

Ears
Supple, narrow and fine, covered with long hair, folding inwards, ending in an oval shape; reaching to the end of the nose; set on low, not above the line of the eye.

Mouth
Scissor bite preferred, level bite accepted.

Neck
Long and strong, set into well laid shoulders; without throatiness; carrying the head proudly.

Forequarters
Shoulders clean and sloping; elbows close to the body. The forelegs straight, a slight crook acceptable; thick and well boned. Pasterns strong and slightly sloping. Knuckling over is unacceptable.

Body
Chest deep with prominent sternum; ribs moderately rounded extending well aback. Back of medium length; level topline with slight arching over strong loins.

Hindquarters
Strong and muscular with good bend of stifle. Well defined second thigh. Hocks short and well angulated.

Feet
Hard, tight padded, not too long. Nails strong and short.

Tail (Stern)
Of medium length, set on high, strong at the base, tapering regularly, well furnished with hair; carried proudly like the blade of a sabre.

Gait
The movement should be free at all paces, with great drive. Front action straight and reaching well forward; hocks should turn neither in nor out.

Coat
Rough, long without exaggeration and harsh to the touch, with thick undercoat, never silky or woolly. Hounds should be shown untrimmed.

Colour
White with any combination of lemon, orange, tricolour or grizzle markings.

Height
34 to 38cms (13.4 to 15 ins); a tolerance of 1cm (0.4in) either way is allowed.

Faults
Any departure from the foregoing points should be considered a fault and the seriousness of the fault should be in exact proportion to its degree.

Note
Male animals should have two apparently normal testicles descended into the scrotum.