FCI-Standard N° 187 / 04. 12. 1998 / GB
PORTUGUESE POINTING DOG
(Perdigueiro Português)
TRANSLATION : Portuguese Kennel Club, Mrs. Peggy Davis.
ORIGIN : Portugal.
DATE OF PUBLICATION OF THE ORIGINAL VALID STANDARD : 19.09.1967.
UTILIZATION : A tenacious hunter and a good walker.
He beats the ground with the perseverence of an experienced
explorer, instantly looking for his prey, with all the attention
required by his excellent subtle nose and his outstanding skill.
A crafty worker and a faithful helpmate to the hunting sportsman.
Alert and silent, raised head, open nostrils, by his demeaour,
his look, the position of his tail or his gait, he conveys to his
attentive companion the knowledge gained through his sense of smell.
A good Portuguese Pointing Dog is always ready to help with
intelligence, sometimes even with surprising cunning.
The dog manages to stand still when the smell
of the game awakes his senses.
He points firmly, in odd attitudes connected with his
characteristic mental reflexes : Contracted face, glassy, fixed gaze,
poised listening ears, immobile head, rigid horizontal tail, a foreleg
raised; he is at times indifferent to what is going on around him, as
soon as his olfactory senses feel the closeness of the game.
Not selfish at all, he enjoys and shows his delight in sharing
the hunter’s pleasure, no matter how hard the climate or rough the
ground. His main interest is
bringing down the quarry and his main reward to retrieve and hand it to
his master. Both of which he
does surprisingly well.
CLASSIFICATION F.C.I. : Group 7 Pointing Dogs.
Section
1.1. Continental Pointing Dogs, type « Braque ».
With working trial.
BRIEF HISTORICAL SUMMARY : His remote origins are rather cloudy; we have
good reason, however, to assume that he came from the Orient to the
Iberian Penininsula in very early times; his presence in Portugal can be
traced back to the late XIVth. century.
It may be assumed that, with the years and owing to various
influences, some of the mutations suffered by the original species
became fixed in such a way, that they individualize the Portuguese
Pointing Dog. In fact he
should be considered as an autochthon, well defined breed, both in
morphology and in psychological characteristics.
The Portuguese Pointing Dog can be found scattered all over the
continental area of Portugal; mainly in towns where shooting is a
favourite sport, as he is greatly appreciated as a gun dog.
GENERAL APPEARANCE : Of medium proportions, bracoïd type dog, balanced
in shape, showing a solid structure combined with great suppleness of
movements.
BEHAVIOUR / TEMPERAMENT : Extremely affectionate; very submissive, the
Portuguese Pointing Dog can go to extremes of affection, occasionally
even embarrassing, when, through lack of training, the dog does not obey
either any signals or vocal commands.
He is quite sociable, although sometimes slightly frisky within
his own kind. He is of
graceful appareance, of calm but lively temperament and of an
interesting variable expressiveness.
HEAD : Proportioned to size of the body.
It gives, however, by its shape, the impression of being larger.
Slightly heavy, but should not be too bony or fleshy.
It should be covered with loose and fine skin without any
wrinkles; if there are wrinkles, they should only be slightly developed.
Seen from the front, the head seems to be square, from the side
rectilinear. Head well set
into the neck, allowing free and haughty carriage.
Of good shape and well proportioned; seen from the front, the
head shows a clear separation between the nasal bridge and the skull
along an ideal line passing at the level of the internal eye angles.
CRANIAL REGION :
Skull : Seen from the front, the forehead is almost flat, high, wide and
symmetrical, from profile slightly arched.
Occipital crest barely perceptible.
Stop : Well marked (skull-foreface angle about 100°), nearer to the tip
of the nose than to the occiput.
FACIAL REGION :
Nose : The nose forms a perfect right angle with the nasal bridge and
the upper lip. Nostrils
should be large, well shaped and well open. The nose should be black in
chamois or similar coats; preferably light brown or dark brown in dogs
of brown colours, the nose always lighter than the coat.
Muzzle : Nasal bridge straight, of adequate width in its whole length;
should be flat over the entire length.
The connection with the face should be well marked.
Lips : Of moderate size.
Mucous membranes irregularly pigmented.
The upper lip is pendulous, but not excessively so, only slightly
fleshy, looking square in profile; falling naturally without folds and
meeting with the lower lip in a loose and folded commissure, which
results in slightly drooping corners of the mouth.
Jaws/Teeth : A normal dentition must always exist with regard to the
position, constitution, shape and development of the teeth.
Each time the dog closes its mouth, the jaws, well adapted and
developed, must meet in a correct bite.
Eyes : Looking straight, perfectly alike and symmetrical; large, in
different shades of brown, preferably dark.
Oval shaped, horizontal, set even with the head, filling the
socket well. Thin wide
opened lids, moving easily and closing well.
Both with black or brown rims according to the nose pigmentation.
Bright, expressive look, especially in adults.
Prominent superciliary arches, but without excess, which would
make the head look bony.
Leathers : The ears of medium length (15 cm in length-11 cm in width)
must be thin, supple, covered with fine, dense, short hair; much wider
at the base than at the tip, in approximative proportion of 1 : 2, 5;
with a rounded tip and looking like, because of the shape of the
auricles, a triangle of superior base.
The ears are hanging, of almost flat surface; set high, falling
well and parallel; on the outside they show, when the dog is attentive,
one or two small lengthwise furrows of variable depth and width, but
never very accentuated.
NECK : Straight, upper third slightly arched, not very thick, rather
long with a short dewlap along the underside.
The neck should meet the head gracefully at an inclination of
approximately 90°; it should join the thorax without a substantial
transition, thus achieving a perfect and harmonious junction.
BODY :
Withers : Moderately high and slightly thick.
Back : Short, straight, broad, perfectly horizontal; smoothly connected
with the loins.
Loins : Short, rather wide, well muscled, a little arched and merging
well with the croup.
Croup : Of harmonious shape, in good proportional width to the loins.
Its longitudinal axis is slightly oblique, thus giving a slightly
sloping shape.
Chest : Deep and wide, brisket revealing a good thoracic capacity;
should be more developed in length and depth than in width and should
reach down to the elbows.
Ribs very well sprung and noticeably wide in their upper section.
Considering the girth and the crossection, the chest and its
bordering ribs appear as a forefoot horseshoe, with both ends meeting.
Lower profile and Belly : From sternum to groin the line which follows
the lower part of the thorax and belly is noticeably oblique, from
bottom to top and from front to back; it follows the natural outline of
the abdomen and shows, together with the upper line of the body, a
certain elegance to which contributes a belly of moderate volume as well
as the short distance with separates the hips from the last ribs, giving
the flank a short and well filled out appearance.
TAIL : Generally docked by one third; the tail when undocked, must not
go beyond the hock, or even preferably not reach it.
Straight, set on at moderate height, strong at the root, tapering
gradually, but not too much, towards the tip; well attached, well grown,
in perfect continuity with the line of the croup; the line of the tail
must contribute to the gracefulness of the body outline.
When at rests, the dog carries the tail fallling naturally along
the limbs but never between the legs; in action, the tail rises to the
horizontal or even a little higher, but never to the vertical and never
bending as a sickle. On the
point of dynamic view, the dog when hunting moves the tail or the stump
from side to side perfectly synchronised with his pace.
LIMBS : At rest, the forelimbs seen from the front are vertical.
Seen from the rear the hindquarters are also vertical.
Both fore-and hind limbs, either seen from front or in profile,
should be placed perfectly parallel with the median plane of the body,
which gives the dog a great stability and a great natural smoothness of
movement.
FOREQUARTERS :
Shoulder : Long, well set, a little loaded, evenly sloping.
Upper arm : Close to the thorax, as the shoulder; length in proportion
with the distance between withers and the point of the shoulder; its
obliquity is in proportion with the degree of slope of the shoulder
blade.
Elbows : Separated from the chest by the armpit; clean, well let down,
neither turned in nor out.
Forearm : Set off from the body; long, straight and perpendicular, seen
from the front and in profile.
Pastern joint : In perfect line with the forearm.
Pastern : Broad, slightly sloping, well proportioned in length.
HINDQUARTERS :
Upper thigh : Preferably long, broad, well muscled.
Buttock : The buttocks show a more or less accentuated curve from the
base of the tail to the tendon of the hock; their length depends on the
length and the slant of the thighs; preferably long and with a slightly
plastic musculature.
Stifle : Placed slightly below the abdomen, but not too far away from it;
slightly prominent and slightly turned outward.
Second Thigh : In good direction; length in proportion with the upper
thigh, its obliquity in proportion to the slope of the croup.
Hock joint : Normally angulated and well placed; clean, broad and thick.
Hock : Short, upright, almost cylindrical, of even thickness, but lean.
Articulations and angles : Apparently well developed in width and in
thickness, formed in such a way as to allow great facility and scope of
locomotion movements. The
direction of the bony segments must be in correlation with the bony
bases of the bordering regions, forming angles of variable opening, but
never hindering the regularity of the gait.
FEET : In proportion with the length of the legs and the size of the
dog; the feet must have tendency to be rather round than long without
however looking like cat-feet.
Well formed toes, tight and solid in bearing the weight of the
dog, thus contributing to the uniformity of the whole of the feet.
Pads thick, well developed and detached, covered with blackish
skin, sufficiently rough, hard and wear resistant.
Nails well embedded, hard and preferably black.
GAIT / MOVEMENT : Normal movements of locomotion.
At work, the typical gait is the trot, extended, easy, rhythmic,
lifting well the legs and posing rhythmically and alternatively the
diagonal limbs right and left; first the right foreleg and the left hind
leg, the other two remaining suspended; then the left foreleg and the
right hind leg while the other two remain suspended.
COAT
HAIR : Must be short, strong, close, not very soft and dense; almost
uniformly covering the body, except in the armpits, groins, perianal and
genital regions where it becomes thinner and softer.
On the head, specially on the leathers, where it has a velvety
touch, the hair is shorter and smoother.
No undercoat.
COLOUR : Yellow and brown, unicoloured or with white markings.
SIZE AND WEIGHT :
Height at the withers for males:
56 cm.
Height at the withers for females:
52
cm.
With an allowance of 4 cm, above or below the standard.
Weight :
Medium weight of a full-grown male in good condition about 23,5 kg (20 -
27 kg).
Medium weight of a full-grown female in good condition about 19 kg (16 -
22 kg).
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.
ELIMINATING FAULTS :
Aggresive or overly shy.
Head : Atypical.
Nose : Unpigmented, irregular flecked appearance.
Jaws : Under- or overshot mouth.
Eyes : Wall eye, eyes different in size or shape; blindness.
Leathers : Atypical, incorrectly inserted, too large, fleshy, too folded
or curling ear; deafness.
Tail : Non existant at birth, very rudimentary, completely docked, or of
uncharacteristic carriage when natural.
Dewclaws : Presence of dewclaws, even only rudimentary.
Coat : Different from the standard, albinism.
Height : Gigantism, dwarfism, dog much above or below the standard.
SCALE OF POINTS :
Males Females
General appearance : Conformation, movement,
size and substance, sex specific characteristics........
25 25
Head : Carriage, skull, stop, nose, muzzle, eyes,
ears..................................................................
25
25
Neck, withers, shoulders, forequarters.....................
10 10
Chest, loins, topline, underline of body...........................15
10
Croup, pelvis, hindquarters......................................
10
15
Tail : carriage, shape, set-on..................................
3
3
Feet, toes, nails...................................................
5
5
Coat : texture colour, denseness............................. 7
7
-----
------
100 100
Any dog clearly showing physical or behavioural abnormalities shall be
disqualified.
N.B. : Male animals should have two apparently normal testicles fully
descended into the scrotum.
