Breed Standard

CHINESE CRESTED DOG FCI Standard No. 288

Origin: China

Patronage: Great Britain

Date of publication of the original valid standard: June 24, 1987

Utilization: Toy Dog

Classification of FCI: Group 9 - Companion and Toy Dogs; Section 4 - hairless dogs, without working trial

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.
There are two distinct types of breed the breed: the racy and fine boned ("Deer type") and the ones heavier in body and bone ("Cobby type").

Behavior / Temperament (Character):

Happy, never vicious

Head:

Smooth, without excess wrinkles. The distance from base of skull to stop is equal to the distance from stop to tip of nose. Head presenting graceful appearance with alert expression.

Cranial Region:

Skull: slightly rounded and elongated.
Stop: slightly pronounced, but not extreme.

Facial Region:

Nose: a prominent feature, narrow in keeping with muzzle. Any color of nose is accepted.
Muzzle: tapering slightly but never pointed, lean without flews
Lips: tight and thin.
Jaws/Teeth: jaws strong with perfect, regular scissor bite, the upper teeth closely overlapping the lower teeth and set square to the jaws.
Cheeks: clearly chiseled, lean and flat, tapering into the muzzle.
Crest: ideally being at stop tapering off down the neck. A 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. They are large and erect with our without fringe, except in Powder Puffs (the hairy ones) where drop ears are permissible.

Neck:

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

Body:

Medium to long, supple.

Back: level.
Loin: taut.
Croup: well rounded and muscular.
Chest: rather broad and deep, not barrel-ribbed; breast bone not prominent; brisket extending to elbows.
Underline: moderate tuck-up.

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-third of tail. Sparse plume of tail acceptable.

Limbs:

Forequarters: legs long and slender, set well under body.
Shoulders: clean, narrow and well laid back.
Elbows: held close to body.
Pasterns: fine, strong, nearly vertical.
Hindquarters: hind legs set wide apart; angulation of the rear limb must be such as to produce a level back.
Stifles: firm and long, sweeping smoothly into hock.
Hocks: well let down.
Feet: extreme hare-foot, narrow and very long with unique elongation of small bones between joints, especially in forefeet, which almost appear to possess an extra joint. Nails any color, moderately long. Socks ideally confined to toes, but not extending above top pastern. Feet and toes turning neither in nor out.

Gait / Movement:

Long, flowing and elegant with good reach and plenty of drive.

Coat:

Hair: no large patches of hair anywhere on body. Skin fine-grained, smooth, warm to the touch. In Powder Puffs coat consists of an undercoat with soft veil of long hair, veil coat a feature.
Color: any colour or combination of colors is allowed.

Size / Weight:

Withers height: dogs ideally 23 - 33 cam (11 - 13 ins), bitches 23 - 30 cm (9 - 12 ins).
Weight: varies considerably, but should not be over 5.5 kg (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 its degree and its effect upon the health and welfare of the dog.

Any dog clearly showing physical or behavioral abnormalities shall be disqualified.

N.B.:

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