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Anatomy of Racial
Anatomy - FCI - Standard Nr. 153 / 14. 04. 1999 / D
DALMATIAN
Origin
Dalmatia, Croatian Republic
Patronage
FCI
Utilization
Companion dog, family dog, suitable to be trained for various purposes.
Classification FCI
Group 6 Scent hounds and related breeds
Section 3
Related breeds
Without working trial
General appearance
The Dalmatian is a well balanced, distinctively spotted, strong, muscular and active dog. Symmetrical in outline, free from coarseness and lumber, and as a former "coach dog" capable of great endurance at a fair turn of speed.
Important proportions
Length of the body: height at the withers = 10:9
Length of skull: length of muzzle = 1:1
Behavior / temperament
Outgoing and friendly, not shy or hesitant, free from nervousness and aggression.
Head
Of fair length
Cranial Region
Skull: Flat, fairly broad between the ears, temporal part well defined. Slight frontal furrow. Entirely free from wrinkle.
Stop: Moderately accentuated
Facial region
Nose: Nose leather in the black spotted variety always black, in the liver spotted variety always brown.
Muzzle: Long, powerful, never snippy. Nasal bridge straight and parallel to the upper outline of the skull.
Lips: Clean, fitting the jaw closely, not pendulous. A complete pigmentation is desired.
Jaws / Teeth: Jaws strong with a perfect and regular scissor bite, i.e. upper teeth closely overlapping lower teeth and set square to the jaws. Desirable is a complete set of 42 teeth (in accordance with the teeth formula). The teeth are well proportioned and white.
Eyes: Set moderately well apart, medium size, round, bright and sparkling with an intelligent and alert expression. Color dark brown in black spotted, light brown to amber in liver spotted dogs. Eye rims completely black in the black spotted, and completely liver brown in the liver spotted dogs. Eyelid close to the eyeball.
Ears: Set on rather high, moderate size, rather wide at base. Carried close to the head, gradually tapering to rounded point. Fine in texture, marking well broken up, preferably spotted.
Neck
Moderately long, nicely arched, tapering to the head, free from throatiness
Body
Withers: Well defined
Back: Powerful, level
Loins: Clean, muscular and slightly arched
Croup: Very slightly sloping
Chest: Not too broad, but deep and capacious. Brisket should reach to elbows. Fore chest well visible in profile. Ribs well proportioned, long, nicely sprung, never flat, barrel-shaped or malformed.
Flanks: Narrow
Lower line: Belly tucked up towards the loin
Tail
Reaching approximately to the hock. Strong at the base, tapering evenly towards the tip; free from coarseness. Inserted neither too low nor too high. At rest carried pendent with a slightly upward curve in the last third of the tail. When moving carried higher slightly above the topline, but never upright (gay) or curled. Preferably spotted.
Limbs
Forequarters
Forelegs: perfectly straight, with strong round bone down to feet
Shoulders: Moderately oblique, clean and muscular
Elbows: Close to the body, neither turned in nor out
Pastern joint: Strong, with slight spring
Hindquarters
Rounded, muscular, clean. Viewed from the rear hind legs vertical and parallel.
Stifle: Well bent
Lower thigh: Strong
Hock joint: Strong, well bent
Feet: Round, compact with well arched toes (cat feet). Pads round, tough and elastic. Nails black or white in black spotted variety; in liver spotted brown or white.
Gait / Movement
Great freedom of movement. Smooth, powerful rhythmic action with long stride and good drive from hindquarters, viewed from the rear legs moving parallel, hind legs tracking the fore. A short stride and paddling action are incorrect.
Coat
Hair
Short, hard, dense, sleek and glossy
Color
Ground color pure white. Black spotted variety with black spots, liver spotted variety with brown spots, not running together but round, well defined and as well distributed as possible. Size 2 - 3 cm in diameter. Spots on the head, tail and extremities smaller than those on the body.
Size and weight
Overall balance of prime importance
Height at the withers for dogs 56 - 61 cm
Height at the withers for bitches 54 - 59 cm
Weight for dogs approximately 27 - 32 kg
Weight for bitches approximately 24 - 29 kg
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.
Bronzing (transitory bronze-like discoloration of the black spots)
Eliminating faults
Definitely over - or undershot mouth
Ectropion, entropion, wall eye, eyes of different color (heterochromia)
Blue eyes
Deafness
Limited patching around eyes (monocle) or elsewhere
Tricolor (black and brown spots on the same dog)
Lemon (lemon or orange spots)
Very timid or aggressive behavior
NB: Male animals should have two apparently normal testicles fully descended into the scrotum
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