The International Standard

Area Representatives:

FEDERATION CYNOLOGIQUE INTERNATIONALE
SECRETARIAT GENERAL:
13, Place Albert I B6530 THUIN (Belg.)
FCI-Standard No 176
PICARDY SHEEPDOG
(Berger Picard)

TRANSLATION: Mrs. Peggy Davis.
ORIGIN: France.
DATE OF PUBLICATION OF THE VALID ORIGINAL STANDARD: 31.10.1964.
CLASSIFICATION FCI: Group 1 Sheepdogs and Cattle Dogs (except Swiss Mountain and Cattle Dogs) Section 1 Sheepdogs With working trial.

GENERAL APPEARANCE: Medium sized dog of rustic yet elegant appearance in its shapes, vigorous, well muscled, well structured, intelligent face, lively wide awake, characterized by his appearance resembling the Griffon.

Credit to: The Wright Photography

SIZE : 23 ½ to 25 ½ inches (60 to 65 cm) for the male
21 ½ to 23 ½ inches (55 to 60 cm) for the female.
Penalization : Up to an inch (2 cm) above the maximum.
Disqualification : Below the minimum, even in the young classes. More than an inch (2 cm) over the maximum limit.

HEAD : Without being massive, must be in proportion with the size. Very slight stop, at equal distance from the tip of the nose and the summit of the skull; skull quite broad, without exaggeration. Hair about 1 ½ inches (4 cm), eyebrows well marked without ever veiling the eyes.
Penalization : Stop too pronounced, or insufficient. Hair too short or too long, eyebrows absent or too marked.
Disqualification : Lacking in type, disproportionate, without furnishings or too hairy.

FOREHEAD : Seen from the front, must look flat but slightly vaulted with a light furrow between the frontal sinuses.
Penalization : Insufficiently or too vaulted, furrow too accentuated.
Disqualification : Skull flat or domed, forehead too flat or too steep.

CHEEKS : Must not be too strong but without being flat, must have a certain roundness. Behind the cheeks the hair has the same length as that on the body.
Penalization : Cheeks too full, flabby or lacking muscles.

MUZZLE : Strong and not too long, must not end in a point. Nose always black, lips lean and well closed, the bridge of the nose is straight. Slight moustache and small beard.
Penalization : Too long, weak or too strong, snippy or too square; nose small, spotted with pink; corner of the lips thick, lippy; convex nasal bridge lack of moustaches and small beard (it must be remembered that the hair on the head must be of about 1 ½ inches (4 cm) and that the moustache and small beard must stand out clearly).
Disqualification : Disproportionate at the skull, pendulous lips, nose of any other color than black, de-pigmentation of the mucous membranes.

JAWS : Powerful, closing perfectly without being over- or undershot.
Penalization : Very slightly under- or overshot; absence of two premolars does not allow any CAC nor reserve. Absence of four premolars : no "excellent"; decayed (caries) teeth depending on importance; broken or cut canines.
Disqualification : Absence of more than four teeth, distinctly over- or undershot.

EARS : Of moderate size, broad at their base, set rather high, the base resembling the ear of a sheep, always carried naturally erect, the tips slightly rounded; the slightly divergent carriage is tolerated. Length 4 inches (10 cm). Never more than 5 inches (12 cm) for a male of maximum size.
Penalization : Ear too big or similar to that of the Belgian Shepherd, set too low or too close together. Disqualification : Ear not carried correctly.

EYES : Of medium size, not prominent, dark in color, neither light nor wall eye; color more or less dark according to the coat color (in every cases never lighter than hazel).
Penalization : Everything which does not correspond to the description.
Disqualification : Wall eyes, slanting, dissimilar, color too light.

EXPRESSION : Must not be vicious, nor suspicious.
Disqualification : Haggard expression, shifty look.

NECK : Strong and muscular, of great length, carried erect in action and set well free of the shoulders, with proud head carriage.
Penalization : Neck long and weak, short and thick, rising too abruptly from the shoulders, loose skin.

BODY : Chest deep without exaggeration, must not be deeper than the elbow level; the thoracic perimeter taken immediately behind the elbows must be superior by 1/5 of the height at the withers, the length of the body slightly superior to the height at the withers; back straight; solid loin; the ribs well sprung at their upper third, then gradually flattening up to the sternum; belly slightly tucked up; the rump merges progressively with the thigh; bone structure visible without exaggeration.
Penalization : Depending on the importance of the fault; body too heavy or too light, too long, high on the legs or too close to the ground; ribs too flat or too sprung (barrel shape); built like a Bouvier (herder); rump too straight or falling away.
Disqualification : The above mentioned faults too accentuated.

TAIL : Hairy, the hair is of the same length as that of the body. At rest the tail must reach the point of the hock and hang straight with a slight curve at the tip; in action the tail may be carried higher without ever being carried over the back.
Penalization : Rat tail or too hairy, too short, deviated, carried badly.
Disqualification : Continuously carried over the back; carried low as a result of a correcting operation (niquetage); rudimentary or tailless.

FOREQUARTERS : Shoulders long and oblique giving great freedom of movement, muscular without being heavy; the legs straight and vertical; lean bone structure; joints are evident without giving the impression of malformation; pasterns slightly inclined from back to front giving suppleness in the leg and thereby facilitating the sudden halts.
Penalization : Shoulders too long (like a Greyhound) or too steep (like a Bouvier), weak or heavy, loose or impeding movements; bone structure weak or too strong; weak joints or giving the impression of being distended; pastern too straight or too inclined carrying foot too forward.
Disqualification : The above mentioned faults too accentuated.

HINDQUARTERS : Thighs long and well muscled. The upper part rather long, the articulation of the stifle strong; the dog must not be straight behind nor stand too far back; standing neither close nor wide. There must not be any lack of harmony between the thigh and the rump, the whole must dissolve into a pleasant curve. Legs solid supporting the hindquarters without weakness, but with suppleness; bone structure pronounced without exaggeration.
Hockjoints moderately angulated, neither spread nor too close, not set to high; a good angulation of the hock is absolutely essential in our Sheepdog. Hocks robust and lean, perpendicular to the ground when the dog is standing true; the legs seen from all sides are vertical and parallel.
Penalization : Depending on the importance of the faults.
Disqualification : Hindquarters generally faulty.

FEET : Rounded and short, close-cupped, arched; nails strong and dark in color. No dewclaws or extra toes; a dog with dewclaws is not disqualified but penalized. Firm pads, with a certain suppleness, the pad being a plantar cushion must absorb part of the jolts.
Penalization : In accordance with the fault.
Disqualification : Double dewclaws on the four legs.

COAT
HAIR : Hard, semi-long, not curly, not flat, must be harsh and crisp to the touch. The length is 2 to 2 ½ inches (5 to 6 cm) on the whole of the body including the tail. Undercoat fine and dense.
Penalization : Hair less than 1 ¾ inches (4 1/2 cm), not sufficiently harsh, tendency to be curly or flat.
Disqualification : Hair less than 1 ½ inches (4 cm), more than 2 ½ inches (6 cm), curly or very flat, soft or woolly.

COLOR : Gray, gray-black, gray with black highlights, gray-blue, gray-red, light fawn or dark, or a mixture of these shades. No big white patches permitted, a slight white marking is tolerated on the chest and on the tip of the feet.
Penalization : White patch on the chest forming a "shirtfront", white all over the toes.
Disqualification : Black, white, harlequin, pied, too much white on the chest, feet completely white; white in the coat elsewhere than on the parts indicated.

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.

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