Breed Standard

These unique little dogs come in two varieties - the Hairless and the Powder Puff. The 'Hairless' have a crest of hair on their head extending part way down their neck, 'socks' covering their toes, and a plume on their tail. The rest of the body is, as the name implies, hairless, and moisturisers are frequently used to keep the skin fine and supple. The 'Powder Puff' variety is covered entirely with a veil of long soft hair. Both varieties come in a mixture of colours, and can be plain or spotted. Definately a breed for the connoisseur. While it is difficult to pinpoint their origin, it is said that they were owned by families of the Han Dynasty in China. They are a fastidious breed, keeping themselves scrupulously clean, and have no 'doggy' odour. Affectionate and intelligent, with a strong constitution, they make unique and delightful companions with a built-in burgler alarm.

General Appearance: A small, active and graceful dog; medium - to fine-boned, smooth hairless body, with hair on feet, head and tail only; or covered with a soft veil of hair.

Characteristics: Two distinct types of this breed: Deer type, racy and fine boned, and cobby type, heavier in body and bone.

Temperament: Happy, never vicious.

Head and Skull: Slightly rounded and elongated skull. Cheeks cleanly chiselled, lean and flat, tapering into muzzle. Stop slightly pronounced but not extreme. Head smooth, without excess wrinkles. Distance from base of skull to stop equal to distance from stop to tip of nose. Muzzle tapering slightly but never pointed, lean without flews. Nose a prominent feature, narrow in keeping with muzzle. Any colour nose acceptable. Head presenting graceful appearance, with alert expression. Lips tight and thin. An ideal crest begins at the stop and tapers off down the neck. Long and flowing crest preferred, but sparse acceptable.

Eyes: So dark as to appear black. Little or no white showing. Medium size. Set wide apart.

Ears: Set low: highest point of base of ear level with outside corner of eye. Large and erect, with or without fringe, except in Powder Puffs where drop ears are permissible.

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

Neck: Lean, free from throatiness, long and sloping gracefully into strong shoulders. When moving, carried high and slightly arched.

Forequarters: Shoulders clean, narrow and well laid back. Legs long and slender, set well under body. Elbows held close to body. Pasterns fine, strong and nearly vertical. Toes turned neither in nor out.

Body: Medium to long. Supple. Chest rather broad and deep, not barrel ribbed. Breast bone not prominent. Brisket extending to elbows; moderate tuck-up.

Feet: Extreme hare-foot, narrow and very long, with unique elongation in forefeet, which almost appear to possess an extra joint. Nails any colour, moderately long. Socks ideally confined to toes, but not extending above the top of the pastern. Feet neither turning in nor out.

Tail: Set high, carried up or out when in motion. Long and tapering, fairly straight, not curled or twisted to either side, falling naturally when at rest. Plume long and flowing, confined to lower two-thirds of tail. Sparse plume acceptable.

Gait/Movement: Long, flowing and elegant with good reach and plenty of drive.

Coat: No large patches of hair anywhere on body. Skin fine-grained, smoothed, warm to the touch. On Powder Puffs coat consists of an undercoat with soft veil of long hair, veil coat a feature.

Colour: Any colour or combination of colours.

Size: Ideal height in dogs: 28 - 35 cms (11 - 13 ins) at withers. Weight varies considerably, but should not be over 5.5 kgs (12 lbs).

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 it's degree.

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