|
| General
appearance |
Typically
a small size molossian. Powerful dog for its small size, short,
compact in all its proportions, smooth-coated, with a short
face, a snub nose, erect ears and a naturally short tail.
Must have the appearance of an active animal, intelligent,
very muscular, of a compact build with a solid bone structure |
| Behaviour
/ Character |
Sociable,
lively, playful, sporty, keen. Particularly affectionate
towards his masters and the children. |
| Head |
The
head must be very strong, broad and square, the skin of the
head forming almost symmetrical folds and wrinkles.
The head of the bulldog is characterized by a contraction
of the maxillary-nasal part; the skull has taken up in width
that which it has lost in length. |
| Cranial
region |
Skull
: Broad,
almost flat, forehead very bulging.
Superciliary arches prominent, separated by a particularly
developed furrow between the eyes. The furrow must not extend
onto the forehead. Occipital
crest is hardly developed.
Stop : Deeply
accentuated. |
| Facial
region |
Nose:
Broad, very
short, turned up, nostrils well open and symmetrical, slanting
towards the rear. The inclination of the nostrils as well
as the snub nose (i.e. upturned) must, however, allow a normal
nasal breathing.
Muzzle: Very
short, broad, with concentric symmetrical folds coming down
on the upper lips (length of muzzle about 1/6 of the total
length of the head).
Lips: Thick,
a little loose and black. The upper lip rejoins the lower
lip at its middle, completely covering the teeth which should
never be visible. The profile of the upper lip is descending
and rounded. Tongue must never show.
Jaws: Broad,
square, powerful. Lower jaw shows a broad curve, terminating
in front of the upper jaw. The mouth being closed, the prominence
of the lower
jaw (prognathism-undershot) is moderated by the curve of the
lower mandibular branches. This curve is necessary to avoid
a too important shifting of the lower jaw.
Teeth:
The lower incisors must never be behind the upper incisors
in any case. The arch of the lower incisors is rounded. The
jaw must not show lateral deviation, nor torsion. The disposition
of the incisoral arches should not be strictly delimited,
the essential condition being that the upper and the lower
lips rejoin to completely cover the teeth.
Cheeks: The
muscles of the cheeks are well developed, but not prominent.
Eyes:
Lively expression, set low, quite far from the nose and especially
from the ears, dark coloured, quite big, well round, slightly
protruding, showing no trace of white (sclera) when the dog
is looking straight ahead. Rims of eyelids must be black.
Ears: Medium
size, wide at the base and rounded at the top. Set high on
the head, but not too close together, carried erect. The orifice
is open towards the front. The skin must be fine and soft
to the touch. |
| Neck |
Short,
slightly arched, without dewlap. |
| Body |
Topline:
Rising progressively
at loin level to slope rapidly towards the tail. This conformation
which must be sought after, is the consequence of the short
loin.
Back: Broad
and muscular.
Loin: Short
and broad.
Rump: Oblique.
Chest: Cylindrical
and well let down; ribcage barrel shaped, very rounded.
Forechest:
Wide.
Belly and flanks: Drawn
up without excessive tuck up. |
| Tail |
Short,
set low on the rump, close to the buttocks, thick at the base,
knotted or kinked naturally and tapering at the tip.
Even in action, must stay below the horizontal. A relatively
long tail (not reaching beyond the point of the hocks), kinked
and tapering is admissible, but not desirable. |
| Limbs |
Forequarters:
Forelegs vertical
and parallel seen in profile and from the front, standing
well separated.
Shoulder: Short,
thick, with a firm and visible musculature.
Upperarm: Short.
Elbows: Close
to the body.
Forearm: Short,
straight and muscular.
Pastern joint - Pastern: Solid
and short. |
| Hindquarterters |
Strong
and muscular, hindlegs a little longer than the forelegs,
thus raising the hindquarters. The legs are vertical and parallel
as seen both in profile and from behind.
Thigh : Muscled,
firm without being too rounded.
Hock joint : Quite
well let down, neither too angulated nor certainly too straight.
Hock :
Solid and short. The French Bulldog should be born without
dewclaws. |
| Feet |
Forefeet
round of small dimension, i.e. « cat feet », well
set on the ground, turning slightly outward. The toes are
compact, nails short, thick and well separated.
The pads are hard, thick and black. In the brindle subjects,
the nails must be black. In the pieds (caille = brindled fawns
with medium white patching) and
fawn subjects, dark nails are preferred, without however penalising
the light coloured nails.
Hindfeet well compact. |
| Gait
/ Movement |
Free movement, the
legs moving parallel to the median plane of the body. |
| Hair |
Beautiful smooth coat, close,
glossy and soft. |
| Colour |
Uniformly
fawn, brindled or not, or with limited patching (pied).
Fawn brindled or not, with medium or predominant patching.
All the fawn shades are admitted, from the red to light brown
(café au lait) colour. The entirely white dogs are
classified in « brindled fawn with predominant white
patching ». When a dog has a very dark nose, dark eyes
with dark eyelids, certain depigmentations of the face may
exceptionally be tolerated in very beautiful subjects. |
| Size
and weight |
The
weight must not be below 8 kg nor over 14 kg for a bulldog
in good condition, size being in proportion with the weight |
| Faults |
|
| Serious
faults |
-
Incisors visible when mouth closed.
-
Tongue visible when mouth closed.
-
Stiff beating movement of the forelegs.
-
Pink spots on the face, except in the case of brindled
fawns with medium white patching (« caille »)
and fawns with limited or predominant white patching.
(« fauve »).
-
Excessive or insufficient weight.
|
| Disqualifications |
- Aggressive or overly
shy.
- Colour of nose other
than black.
- Hare lip.
- Dog with lower incisors
articulating behind upper incisors.
- Dog with permanently
visible canines, mouth being closed.
- Eyes of two different
colours (heterochromatic).
- Ears not carried erect.
- Mutilation of ears,
tail or dewclaws.
- Taillessness.
- Dewclaws on hindquarters.
- Colour of coat black
and tan, mouse grey, brown.
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. |
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