Standard

Breed standard FCI ORIGINAL: SWITZERLAND OBS - There are 2 standards for the breed, FCI Europe and USA.
	General appearance: A tricolour, sturdy heavy boned and well muscled dog. In spite of his size and weight, he shows perseverance and mobility. Important proportions: Body length to height at withers = 10 : 9 Depth of chest to height at withers = 1 : 2 Length of skull to length of muzzle = 1 : 1 Width of skull to width of muzzle = 2 : 1. Behaviour - Temperament: Confident, alert, watchful and fearless in everyday situations. Good natured and devoted towards those familiar to him. Self assured with strangers. Medium temperament. FCI-Standards Text from NMBE Natural History Museum Berne
Head and Neck
	Head: strong in relation to the body, but not heavy. Dogs stronger in head than bitches. Cranial Region: flat and broad. The frontal furrow which begins at the stop gradually fades out towards the top. Stop: shallow. Facial Region: Nose: always black. Nasal bridge straight, without furrow. Muzzle: strong, longer than its depth. Must not be pointed seen either from above or in profile. Lips: barely defined, close fitting. Colour black. Teeth: complete, strong and regular scissor bite. The absence of just one (1) premolar (PM1 or PM2) is tolerated. Absence of molars M3 not considered. Eyes: almond shaped, medium size, neither deep set nor protruding. Hazel to chestnut brown, with alert friendly expression. Lids close fitting. Ears: medium size, triangular and set on fairly high. In repose hanging flat and close to cheeks, but raised foreward when attentive. Well covered with hair, both inside and out. Neck: strong, muscular, rather thick set. No dewlap.
BODY - TAIL - MOVEMENT
	Body: Back: moderately long, strong and straight. Loins: broad and well muscled. Rump: long and broad. Falling away in a gentle slope. Chest: strong, broad, reaching to the elbows. Chest shaped like a roundish oval (seen in cross section); ribs neither flat nor barrel-shaped. Forechest well developed, noticeably broad. Belly: belly and flanks barely tucked up. Tail: fairly heavy, reaching to the hocks, pendulous in repose. When alert and in movement, carried higher and slightly curved upwards, but never curled or tilted over the back. Movement: free, striding, even movement in all gaits. Far reaching free forward movement with good drive from hindquarters. When trotting, limbs move in a straight line when seen from front or back.
FRONT - BACK
	Limbs Forequarters: General: standing not too broad, straight and parallel seen from the front Shoulders: long, strong, well laid back, close fitting to the body and well muscled, forming a not too obtuse angle with the upper arm. Forearm: heavy-boned and straight. Pasterns: firm, in vertical position seen from the front; almost vertical position when seen from the side. Hindquarters: General: straight, parallel and not too close when seen from the back. Hocks and feet turn neither in nor out. Dewclaws must be removed.Upper thigh: fairly long. Seen from the side, should form a definite obtuse angle to the lower thigh. Thighs broad, strong and well muscled. Hocks: strong and well angulated. Feet: strong, pointing straight ahead, tight, with well arched toes and strong nails
COAT - SIZE
	Coat: Texture of coat: Double coat consisting of thick medium length outercoat and dense undercoat. The latter as dark grey or black as possible. Sort outercoat permissible if there is undercoat. Colour: Main colour black with reddish-brown markings. The reddish-brown colour is situated between the black and the white clean markings. The reddish-brown colour is situated between the black and the white markings on the cheeks, above the eyes, on the inside of the ears, on both sides of the forechest, on all four legs and underneath the tail. The white markings are on the head (blaze) and muzzle, running along unbroken from the throat to the chest, also on feet and tip of tail. Between the blaze and the reddish-brown markings above the eyes, a band of black should remain. A white patch on the neck or a white collar round the neck are tolerated. Size:Height at withers: Dogs: 65 - 72 cm Bitches: 60 - 68 cm
FAULTS
	Faults:Any deviation from the above points must be regarded as faults whose assessment should be in direct relation to the degree of deviation, strong deviation from body proportions and size, faults in construction, lack of correct gender characteristics, too fine or too coarse bone, insufficient muscle, too fine or heavy a head, pendant lips (flews), ears set on too high, too low or too far back, pincer bite. Over- or undershot mouth, absence of more than one PM 1 or one PM 2, entropion, ectropion, light eyes, sway back, badly carried tail, bad angulation in front- or hindquarters, splayed toes, visible yellow brownish or light grey undercoat, mismarkings, blaze too wide, white marking on muzzle which (clearly) reaches considerably further than the corners of the mouth white pasterns or hocks (="boots") reaching further than the pastern joints or hock joints, noticeably asymmetrical markings, colours and markings not clean. Disqualifying faults: other than tricolour coat,main colour other than black, wall eye, short coat with missing undercoat, serious faults in temperament (excessive aggression or nervousness), N.B. Male dogs must have two apparently normal testicles fully descended into the scrotum.

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