briard
HISTORICAL SUMMARY:
Known for a long time as the “French Shepherd Dog of the Plain”. He was bred and selected for his skills in leading and guarding flocks. It was also used by the French army during the two world wars. He was also a sentry and rescue dog, looking for the wounded on the battlefields.
Country of Origin: France.
GENERAL APPEARANCE L : Rustic, flexible, muscular and well-proportioned dog, lively and alert.
IMPORTANT PROPORTIONS : It is a medium-sized dog. The length of the body, from the point of the shoulder to the point of the buttock, should be slightly greater than the height at the withers. The head is long: 2/5 of the height at the withers. The width of the skull is slightly less than half the length of the head. Skull and muzzle are the same length
BEHAVIOR AND TEMPERAMENT: Of balanced character, neither aggressive nor fearful. The Shepherd of Brie must be prudent and courageous.
HEAD : Strong, long, covered with hair that forms a beard, mustache, eyebrows slightly covering the eyes. Viewed in profile, the lines of the skull and muzzle are parallel.
CRANIAL REGION
skull : Strong, slightly rounded when viewed in profile.
Stop: Marked; of equal distance from the occiput and the tip of the nose.
FACIAL REGION
Truffle : Strong. The nostrils are wide open. The nose is always black, except in blue dogs, which have a blue or bluish nose.
Muzzle : The tip of the muzzle is more square; it is strong, big enough and never sharp.
lips : fair.
Jaws and Teeth : forts; white teeth, scissor-jointed
eyes : ovals; horizontal, wide open, preferably large, dark in color. In blue specimens, slightly lighter eyes are allowed.
Ears : Set high, non-adherent and preferably short if left unattended. The length of the uncropped ears should be equal to or slightly less than half the length of the head. The ears are always flat and covered with long hair. If they are cut, in any country where this practice is not prohibited, they must be carried straight, neither divergent nor convergent.
NECK : Muscular and loose from the shoulders.
TRUNK
Top Line: The back is straight. The loin is short and firm
Croup : slightly inclined; slightly rounded.
chest : wide and long; well down to the level of the elbows. Ribs well sprung.
TAIL: Whole, carried low, reaching at least to the point of the hocks, without deviation, forming a slight hook in the shape of a “J”. In movement, the tail may be carried at most to the extension of the topline.
MEMBERS
PREVIOUS :
Shoulders : Oblique, well angulated, medium long and well adherent to the rib cage.
Elbows : aligned to the body
Forearms : Straight and muscular.
Metacarpals : Slightly inclined when viewed in profile.
Paws : Strong, round and parallel to the body axis. The nails are always dark (except in blue dogs) and the pads are hard. The fingers should be tight and well arched.
HINDQUARTERS :
Hocks : Not too close to the ground and well angled.
Metatarsals : Perfectly vertical, seen from behind.
Paws : Strong, round. The nails are always dark (except in blue dogs) and the pads are hard. Fingers must be adjusted.
DRIVE : Regular, flexible, harmonious, so that the dog can move and work with the least amount of effort and fatigue. The Brie Shepherd should have a long trot with a good range of motion and good drive from the hindquarters.
COAT
By : Flexible, long, dry (goat hair type) with a slight undercoat.
COLOR
The coat is black, fawn, tawny (light to medium), often with a gray or blue mask. The coat of a rich fawn may have a lighter shade at the ends and on the underparts (sandy fawn). The black, gray and blue coats may have the same lighter parts. All coats can present a more or less gray tone.
SIZE : Males: 62 to 68 cm.
Females: 56 to 64 cm.
FAULTS
Any deviation from the terms of this standard should be considered a fault and penalized in exact proportion to its severity and its effects on the health and well being of the dog.
SERIOUS FAULTS
• Serious plumbing defects.
• Very light coat appearance.
• Coat: Hair of insufficient length (less than 7 cm); soft or woolly fur.
DISQUALIFYING FAULTS
• Aggressiveness or excessive shyness.
• Aggressive or fearful.
• Any dog that shows any sign of physical or behavioral anomaly must be disqualified.
• Stop not marked.
• Nose of a color other than black or blue; presence of depigmentation.
• Undershot or overshot with loss of incisor contact; absence of 2 lower PM4 or absence of 3 or more teeth, whatever (PM1 are not taken into account).
• Very light eyes (yellow), eyes of different colors.
• Folded ears, set far below the eye line, covered with shallow hair, naturally erect. • Tail carried over the back in the form of a “hunting horn” or raised vertically.
• Simple or total absence of ergots in the hind limbs.
• Coat: White, brown, mahogany; coat of two different colors, white spot, white hair on the extremities of the limbs, tawny coat, tawny coat with a tan mantle.
• Height outside the indicated limits with a tolerance of 2cm above and 1cm below;
• Fraudulent modifications of the dog or evidence of such practices through substance use or surgery.
GRADES
• Males must present both testicles, of normal appearance, well let down and accommodated in the scrotum.
• Only clinically and functionally healthy dogs with typical breed conformation should be used for breeding.