Catalaanse Herdershond

  History 

Historically, the Gos’d Perro de Pastor Catalan  a versatile dog who satisfies numerous chores in his native Catalonia, a region on the Mediterranean in the northeastern corner of Spain. The Catalan Sheepdog performs well as a herder of sheep and cattle, a police dog, and a messenger dog in times of war. The breed is native to Spain, but his region of origin was settled by French who crossed the border from the Pyreness region. There are two varieties of the Catalan Sheepdog; both are well suited to work either sheep or cattle, and they are renowned for their horse-working ability. The longhaired type is known as the Gos d’ Atura Catalan, and the short-coated variety is known as the Gos d’ Atura Cerda; in Castilian the two varieties are called Perro de Pastor Catalan depelo largo and Perro de Pastor Catalan depelo corto, respectively. Their natural guardian instincts combined with their ability to herd make these dogs capable of handling a flock by themselves.

  Standard

GENERAL APPEARANCE AND CHARACTER  DESCRIPTION A very sedate dog, active and intelligent, with a noble expression, with a hardy and pleasant character, really devoted to the shepherd and the flocks entrusted to him, wary of strangers, which at times make his seem unsociable. He is very vigilant, very resistant to heat, cold and all atmospherics. A very frugal alimentation is sufficient for him to work in extreme conditions.

SIZE   From 47 to 55 cm for dogs - from 45 to 53 cm to bitches.

DIFFUSION Originates from the Catalonian Pyrenees, has propagated in all other pastoral zones of Catalonia thanks to his normal function, that of shepherding flocks.

PROPORTIONS   Of well balanced medium proportion, medium size, with a beautiful coat, slightly longer than high, approximately in proportion of 9 to 8.

UTILIZATION   It is in the driving of flocks that the true essence of this breed manifests itself, because not only does he obey the shepherd, but in numerous cases, he shows his initiative, directing the flock with marvellous ease, preventing any animal from separating from the others. Through his great bravery and courage, he can also be used for guarding missions. Because of his size, his beautiful coat, his intelligence and his great loyalty to his masters, he can be an excellent companion.

FRONTAL-NASAL DEPRESSION (STOP)   Well visible but not too pronounced.

MUZZLE   Straight, rather short, in shape of a truncated pyramid, with rounded outlines.

NOSE Straight, proportioned with the head, must be black.

LIPS Rather strong, short, formed almost straight, with lower lip not pendulous, strongly pigmented with black; the palate is also black.

TEETH Strong, of good size, white and sound. Scissors bite. Blunt canines (tusks) are admitted in the working dogs.

EYES   Wide open, expressive, alert and intelligent gaze, round, dark amber colour, with black rimmed eyelids.

EARS   Set high, triangular, fine pointed,. Insertion cartilage supple and not thick. Hanging ears, carried close to the head. Ratio between ear width: length = 8 to 10. Covered with long hair ending in mobile fringes. For the working dogs cropped ears are accepted.

NECK   Vigorous, solid, muscled, rather short, but with such proportions permitting a good mobility, well tied to the shoulders.

BODY APPEARANCE   Slightly elongated, strong, muscled, giving an impression of power and agility.

WITHERS Well visible.

BACK Topline straight, not saddle-backed, slightly raised croup, which, in any case, shall be equal or slightly inferior to the withers. That difference at first sight may seem favourable to the croup because of the quantity of coat and undercoat which it carries.

CROUP Robust, muscled, slightly sloping.

CHEST Wide, well developed, reaching elbow level. Curved ribs, not flat, allowing for a good thoracic capacity in respect of the work.

BELLY AND FLANKS  Belly slightly tucked up, with short but strong and well marked flanks.

TAIL  Rather low set, may be long, going beyond the hock, or short, measuring less than 10 cm. There are also tailless subjects, and, for the working dogs, docked tail is admitted. When the dog is at rest, the tail just hangs. It forms a hook in its lower part. Sabre tail also accepted. In action, the tail is raised gaily but not rolled on the back. Is abundantly covered with slightly wavy hair.

FOREQUARTERS GENERAL APPEARANCE Strong, lean, straight, vertical and parallel, seen from the front or in profile.

PROPORTIONS   The elbow-wither distance is about equal to that of the elbow to ground.

SHOULDER Muscled, strong, slightly oblique.

ARM   Strong, muscled with parallel elbows, neither in or out, close to the body.

SCAPULAR-HUMERAL ANGLE  Of about 110º.

FOREARM Vertical, strong, fit for the work.

HUMERAL-RADIAL ANGLE Of about 135º.

CARPAL & METACARPAL Following the same vertical as the forearm, rather short.

FEET Oval, pads black and hard, interdigital membranes neat and well covered with hair, nails black and strong.

HINDQUARTERS APPEARANCE Strong, muscled, vertical, giving impression of power and agility.

THIGHS  Long, broad and muscled, with strong bones.

COXAL-FEMORAL ANGLE Of about 115º.

LEGS Strong bones and muscles.

FEMORAL* TIBIAL ANGLE Of about 120º.

HOCK  Must be well let down, parallel and vertical.

ANGLE OF HOCK  About 140º.

METATARSAL   Rather short, strong and vertical.

FEET Identical to front feet, but with low set double bony dewclaws. These dewclaws are joined together and joined to the first toe of the foot by a membrane. 

GAIT/MOVEMENT Supple, typical of shepherd dogs. Gallop only obtained in very large spaces, but in the ring, the typical gait is a short trot, with that gait peculiar to all dogs with dewclaws.

SKIN Rather thick, close and tight all over the body and the head. Well pigmented.

COAT Long, flat, or very slightly wavy, rough with abundant undercoat on the whole of the posterior third of the body. On the head we notice a beard, moustaches, tuft and eyebrows which do not affect the sight. Tail well covered with hair as are all the extremities. It is noticeable that during the moult we observe a typical phenomenon: the moult occurs in two times. First of all it affects the coat on the front part, giving the impression of two halves of dogs with different coats; then it is the turn of the hind part of the dog and every thing becomes uniform again.

COLOURS Seen from the distance the dog seems to be unicolour and may have lighter shadings at the extremities. Seen close up, it is noticeable that the colour comes from the mixture of hairs of different tones: fawn, brown more or less reddish, grey, black and white. The basic colours deriving from this mixture are: fawn, in its light tones, medium or dark, sable, with chestnut hairs, fawn white and black, also in its light tones, medium and dark, grey, made up of white, grey and black with shadings going from silver grey to blackgrey. If black is dominant and is simply combined with white, it gives a black which looks frosty. These are also dogs with a mixture of black, fawn and reddish brown, which can dominate in one or several parts, giving the impression of black and tan subjects. Not admitted are white or black spots. Sometimes a few white hairs, as a star shape on the chest are tolerated, or on the upper part of the toes, but, in that case however, this must not be accompanied by white nails.

FAULTS IMPORTANT FAULTS  Head flat or without furrow; rose shaped ears or badly set; insertion cartilage thick, long or sticking out; light eyes; 2 PM missing, slight prognathism; saddle back; legs or feet turned in or out; a few white nails; lack of bone in the dewclaws or single dewclaw.

Faults    Any deparure 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.

Copy right © Dutch Kenstaff Staffordshire Bull Terrier ® All rights reserved