General Appearance:
Smooth coated, well balanced, of great strength for his size. Muscular, active and agile.

Characteristics:
Traditionally of indomitable courage and tenacity. Highly intelligent and  affectionate,  especially with children.

Temperament:
Bold, fearless and totally reliable.

Head and Skull:
Short , deep through with broad skull. Very pronounced cheek muscles, distinct stop, short foreface, nose black.

Eyes:
Dark preferred but may bear some relation to coat colour. Round, of medium size, and set to look straight ahead. Eye rims dark.

Ears:
Rose or half pricked, not large or heavy. Full, drop or pricked ears highly  undesirable.

Mouth:
Lips tight and clean. Jaws strong, teeth large, with a perfect regular and complete scissor bite, i.e upper teeth closely overlapping the lower teeth and set square to the jaws.

Neck:
Muscular, rather short, clean in outline gradually widening towards shoulders.

 

Forequarters:
Legs straight and well boned, set rather wide apart, showing no weakness at the pasterns from which point the feet turn out a little. Shoulders well laid back with no looseness at elbow.

Body:
Close coupled, with level topline, wide front, deep brisket, well sprung ribs,  muscular and well defined.

Hindquarters:
Well muscled, hocks well let down with stifles well bent. Legs parallel when viewed from  behind.

Feet:
Well padded, strong and of medium size. Nails black in solid coloured dogs.

Tail:
Medium length, low set, tapering to a point and carried rather low. Should not curl much and may be likened to an old fashioned pump handle.

Gait/Movement:
Free, powerful and agile with economy of effort. Legs moving parallel when viewed from front or rear. Discernible drive from hindlegs.

Coat:
Smooth, short and close.

Colour:
Red, fawn, white, black or blue, or any of these colours with white. Any shade of brindle or any shade of brindle with white. Black and tan or liver colour highly  undesirable.

Size:
Weight: Dogs 12.7 - 17 kgs (28-38lbs), Bitches 11 - 15.4 kgs (24-34lbs). Desirable height at withers 14 - 16 inches, these heights being relative to weights.

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.

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