Romanian Carpathian Shepherd Dog

Breed Standard

Common CFCR – WDF nomenclature

__ORIGIN: __Romania.

__UTILIZATION: __Sheepdog used for centuries by Romanian shepherds in the Carpathian Mountains to defend the flocks while also being an excellent guard dog.

__CLASSIFICATION: __Group I — Romanian Shepherd Dogs (national native breeds).

__Morphological type: __shepherd guard dog, lupoid (wolf-like) type.

__Working trial: __not compulsory.

BRIEF HISTORICAL SUMMARY

The Romanian Carpathian Shepherd Dog was selected from an endemic breed present in the Carpathian-Danubian area. For centuries the principal criterion of selection has been utility, this dog having conserved its character intact to the present day. The first standard was written in 1934 and subsequently modified and updated in 1982, 1999 and 2001.

GENERAL APPEARANCE

A relatively large-sized dog, agile, never heavy, the general appearance being that of a vigorous dog. The body is rectangular, the croup broad and slightly sloping, the chest large and deep, the shoulder long and slightly sloping. Sexual dimorphism is well defined; males should be taller and stronger than females.

IMPORTANT PROPORTIONS

The length of the skull is slightly greater than or equal to half of the total length of the head. The length of the body is always greater than the height at the withers. In females, the lumbar region may be a little longer. The depth of the chest corresponds more or less to half of the height at the withers.

BEHAVIOUR / TEMPERAMENT

A natural and courageous guardian, he distinguishes himself by his instinctive and unconditional attachment to the herd and his master. He is a dignified, calm and stable dog.

HEAD

Lupoid type (wolf-like).

CRANIAL REGION

The Carpathian Shepherd Dog is of the mesocephalic type, with a powerful but not heavy head. The forehead is wide and slightly domed, wider between the ears and narrowing progressively towards the stop. The frontal furrow is relatively long and sufficiently well defined.

__Stop: __Moderate, never too pronounced nor too discreet.

FACIAL REGION

__Nose: __Large, wide and always black.

__Muzzle: __Powerful, of approximately oval section, slightly truncated-cone shaped. The length of the muzzle is slightly less than or, at most, equal to that of the skull.

__Lips: __Thick, well pigmented, tight and well closed at the corner of the mouth.

__Jaws / Teeth: __Strong, solid and straight jaws. Powerful dentition; scissor bite with the incisive arcades slightly rounded.

__Cheeks: __Lean, with strong but never prominent cheek muscles. The skin is tight.

__EYES: __Almond-shaped, slightly oblique, not too big compared to the size of the skull. Colour: various shades of brown; the eyes may be lighter in colour but never yellow. Neither protruding nor sunken in the sockets. The eyelids are black, tightly fitting the eyeball.

__EARS: __Not too big, triangular, attached a little higher than the line of the eye, with the tip slightly rounded, carried close to the cheek.

__NECK: __Muscled, very strong, of medium length, presenting an angle of approximately 50° to the horizontal.

BODY

Vigorous, well developed, slightly rectangular.

__Topline: __Straight and firm.

__Withers: __Only slightly pronounced.

__Back: __Of moderate length, straight, solid and muscled.

__Loin: __Powerful, muscled, but not too broad, of moderate length — neither too long (the topline would not be firm enough) nor too short.

__Croup: __Broad and muscled, of moderate length, slightly sloping, never falling away.

__Chest: __Well developed, deep, reaching to the elbows, relatively wide. Strong ribs, well sprung, never barrel-like.

__Underline and belly: __Moderately rising, belly tucked up but never drawn in nor pendulous.

__TAIL: __Set on relatively high, bushy, with abundant coat. At rest it is carried low, straight or slightly sabre-like, reaching to the hock. When the dog is alert or in action the tail is carried upwards and can be even higher than the topline, but never lying on or curled over the back.

LIMBS

FOREQUARTERS

__General appearance: __Strong bones. Seen from the front or the side, upright and perpendicular to the ground.

__Shoulder: __Strong, moderately sloping.

__Elbow: __Close to the body, turning neither in nor out.

__Forearm: __Straight, very vigorous, with an oval section.

__Metacarpus (pastern): __Short, slightly sloping.

__Forefeet: __Oval, massive, compact.

HINDQUARTERS

__General appearance: __Upright. Muscled, with strong bones and good angulation.

__Upper thigh: __Broad, very muscular.

__Lower thigh: __Powerful, muscled, of moderate length.

__Hock joint: __Solid, firm, neither too high (indicating an accentuation of the stifle angulation) nor too low.

__Metatarsus (rear pastern): __Solid, vertical.

__Hind feet: __Oval, well developed and compact, a speck smaller than the front. Toes arched and tight. Dewclaws, if any, should be removed except in countries where their removal is forbidden by law. The pads are resilient and resistant.

__GAIT / MOVEMENT: __Free, long-reaching movement. Vigorous and sustained trot. In action, the limbs are parallel.

__SKIN: __Ash-grey pigmentation. The nose, the eye rims and the lips should be black. Ash-grey or black preferred for the nails.

COAT

__Hair: __The coat is harsh, dense and straight. The undercoat is dense and soft. With the exception of the head and the front part of the limbs, where the coat is short and flat, the coat — of moderate length — is abundant all over the body. On the neck, the back of the limbs and the tail the coat is longer; a profuse coat on these parts is typical.

__Colour: __Pale fawn overlaid with black (wolf-grey) of different tones, often lighter on the lateral parts and darker on the upper part of the body. White markings on the muzzle, forehead, neck, chest, limbs and tail are permissible.

SIZE AND WEIGHT

Height at the withers:

• Males: ideally 65–73 cm (± 2 cm).
• Females: ideally 59–67 cm (± 2 cm).

However, the overall impression is always more important.

__Weight: __In harmony with the size, giving the impression of a powerful but not heavy dog.

FAULTS

Any departure from the foregoing points should be considered a fault, and the seriousness with which the fault is regarded should be in exact proportion to its degree and its effect upon the health and welfare of the dog and its ability to perform its traditional work.

SEVERE FAULTS

• Any departure from the preceding text that hinders utilisation.
• Weak or too heavy construction.
• Yellow eyes.
• Very drooping lower eyelids showing the eyeball; lips too fleshy and drooping commissures.
• Important pigmentation faults.
• Excessive length of body (more than 10%) and square body.

DISQUALIFYING FAULTS

• Aggressive or overly shy dogs.
• Any dog clearly showing physical or behavioural abnormalities.
• Lethargic.
• Subject clearly untypical, with a molossoid-type appearance.
• Absence of a PM3 and another tooth, absence of a canine, absence of a PM4, absence of a molar, or absence of three or more teeth (except PM1 and M3).
• Overshot, undershot or level bite.
• Very light bone.
• Chest insufficiently developed.
• Lack of undercoat; coat other than short on the head and front of limbs; curly or bushy, wire, long, limp or silky coat forming a distinct parting along the spine.
• Important lack of pigmentation of the eyelids, the nose, the skin and the lips; wall eye.
• Coat colour that is brown, brindle, yellow or flecked in these colours.

N.B.

• Male animals should have two apparently normal testicles fully descended into the scrotum.
• Only functionally and clinically healthy dogs, with breed-typical conformation, should be used for breeding.