The Croatian Shepherd

FCI:

Croatian Shepherd -Group I. - Sheepdogs and Cattle Dogs, Section 1 - Sheepdogs. Recognized in 1969.

General Appearance:

The Croatian Sheepdog is agile, nimble, quick-witted, intelligent and docile. Dog is at all times full of energy. But it is also very independent and quite sharp, we cannot blame it. As one of the few Shepherds had to be able to cope not only with sheep and cattle, but also with pigs, which always could not wait just to commands pastors often it had to decide itself it  and it had to be reasonably strong, particularly for smart cunning pigs.

Temperament/Behaviour:

Much attention should be paid to the education of obedience since an early age. The owner must be during the upbringing always consistent, sensitive and educate the dog, after it will be easy to train a dog. Croatian Sheepdog breed is suitable only for experienced owners who are calm, thoughtful, patient and steadfast consistent. The dog will reward them with their friendliness, hard work, tremendous perseverance, tenacity and willingness to work with full dedication, even in harsh conditions.

Against strangers, if it is responsible for the cattle is very suspicious if as the social dog depends mainly on its education. There still remains an excellent and alert guard. With proper guidance it is a perfect companion dog with a friendly disposition to other dogs and other pets and children. Regarding the strange dogs it requires absolutely necessarily broad and systematic socialization.

It requires not only a lot of movement, but also some regular, preferably daily job, where it could exercise its unflagging energy. This breed is excellent for different dog sports such as-agility, obedience, flyball, frisbee, etc. To the owner is always fiercely loyal, and because dog is diligent, happy and intensively trained.

Body:

This is less than medium-sized dog very typical coat. The body length should be about 10% more than height, so that the body is a rectangular format. Withers height is for male and female between 40 and 50 cm.

The head should be relatively light, narrow and fairly wedge-shaped. Skull should be slightly above arched brow ridges protruding occipital protuberance should be distinct. Longitudinal furrow front is not too obvious. The cheeks are rounded. The front slope should be clearly visible, sloping. Muzzle toward the nose narrows, but in the end not even be sharply pointed, angular or numb. The muzzle is level. The nose must be black.

The lower jaw is strong enough. The teeth are relatively large, the teeth should be complete. Scissor bite is permitted but undesirable. Lips should be lean, flexible and must fit snugly across the jaw and teeth. Their edges are black. Corners of the mouth should be closed.

Eyes must be of medium size, horizontal, almond shaped and hazel brown to black in colour. Look is bright, eye rims must be darkly pigmented, close to the eyeballs. Ears are triangular, of medium size, rather on the sides, erect or semi-erect. They must never be cropped. Erect ears are more desirable.

The neck is carried slightly above the topline of the body and to be reasonably long and deep. When viewed from the side must be a line neck and neck straight and merges smoothly into the topline of the body. Withers are lack of luster, the spine should be straight, short and muscular loins are required short-coupled. The croup should be medium length, slightly sloping, muscled and appropriately broad.

The tail should be set high, thick and long hair, calm down suspended or mounted at the upper line of the body, in the heat of passion and above. Some individuals have a bobtail tail. Another is running (if treatment is not prohibited by the law for the protection of animals) in adulthood measure about 4 cm.

The chest is of medium length, fairly broad and deep. Ribs arched top of the sternum protrudes forward slightly. Belly should be slightly tucked up, flanks are filled, solid. The forelegs should be straight, parallel blunt angle. Blades are moderately long, muscular, quite steeply saved. Forearms are long, heavy boned, muscular, pasterns unobtrusive, short and slanted. Feet must be small, short oval shape. Fingers should be nicely arched and tight, the nails black or gray.

The hindquarters are moderately angulated and parallel. The thighs should be broad, muscular properly, tibia length, hocks low above the substrate distinct and well angulated. Dewclaws should be removed.

The coat is soft, wavy to curly, never wavy. The undercoat must be dense. Length of hair at the top of the fuselage is 7-14 cm. The basic colour must be uniformly black, are permitted only single white hairs. On the head, trunk and tail will not tolerate even the slightest white markings. The coat requires regular care, combing.

Faults from the requirements of the standard must be considered as defects and evaluate exactly according to the seriousness with regard to the health and welfare of the male or female.

To negative defects include aggression or fearfulness, other than black nose, absence of more than two first premolars (P1), overshot and undershot jaw, light-coloured or white (i.e. glass or porcelain) eyes, hanging ears, hair clearly woolly or very long length of hair on the face, white markings on the head, trunk and tail and withers height of less than 40 and higher than 50 cm.