Russian Salon Dog Standard

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                                                                                                          THE RUSSIAN SALON DOG

The Russian salon dog is a small, well-balanced and proportionally built dog of medium bone structure, slightly elongated, never carried up on its legs, but not squat either. It looks elegant thanks to the abundant long straight hair that evenly covers the dog’s body and parted from the occipital protuberance along the spine. Small, erect, pointed ears and sparkling eyes give the dog a sweet expression.

General appearance: The Russian Salon Dog is a small, well balanced, proportionally built, small-medium-boned dog of a slightly elongated format, never looks too high or too low on the legs.

Looks elegant due to the abundant long straight coat that evenly covers the body and is parting and hanging down each side of the body from occiput and along the spine. Small, carried erect, pointed ears and sparkling eyes give the dog a lovely expression.  

Important proportions:

•           Length of body is 6-8% longer than height at the withers.

•           Length of foreleg from elbow is about 50% of height at the withers.

•           Length of muzzle is about 1\3 of length of head.

Behavior/Temperament: Sociable, playful, good-tempered and affectionate companion dog.

Head: In good balance with the body. Well-covered with a long coat. Beard and moustache are to be well developed, hair on the skull should also be long.

CRANIAL REGION:

Skull:  Rounded and not too wide. Upper part of the skull is to be moderately rounded. Forehead is rather high. The supraciliary arches are barely marked and furrow not extending onto the skull. The occipital ridge is to be hardly visible.

Stop: Well defined, short and of medium depth. Furrow may be visible.

Muzzle: The length of the muzzle is approximately 1/3 of the total length of the head. Of medium depth and width, well filled under the eyes, slightly tapering to the nose. Should not be either heavy or light. The nasal bridge is to be straight, wide enough, located at approximately the same level as the lower eyelids.

Nose: The nose is small, rounded and glossy. The color of the nose is to be in accordance with the color of the dog. A flesh-colored nose and “winter” nose are both acceptable, but not desirable.

Lips: Tight and close fitting, not too thin. Black or dark in color. Significant lightening of pigmentation is acceptable, but not desirable. Unbroken pigmentation is not obligatory.

Jaws/Teeth: Well developed jaws. The scissor bite is preferable; level bite and tight undershot (without any gap between upper and lower incisors) are acceptable. The bite has the tendency to change to undershot with age. Distinct undershot with gap between upper and lower incisors is unwelcome. Complete set of incisors 6/6 is desirable. Presence of all four canine teeth are obligatory.

Teeth are to be white of color and not large.

Cheeks: Rather flat.

Eyes: Medium sized, bright, not too prominent, set straight forward and rather wide apart, oval in shape. Eye rims are to be dark or to correspond to the color of the dog. Eyelids are to be close fitting. Eye color is preferably darker or matches the color of the dog. Merle colored dogs may have partially or completely blue eyes.

Ears: Pricked ears are not large, carried erect, placed high on the skull. The shape is to be close to an equilateral triangle. The tips are not to be rounded. Leather of the ear is to be of medium thickness and firm to the touch. A natural ear should be covered with long hair clipped short at the upper third part of the ear to demonstrate the form of the ear tip.

Neck: Lean, rather long, set high, gradually broadening to fit snuggly into the shoulders. Proud carriage while in motion. The nape is to be moderately arched.

Body:  Compact and of medium capacity.

Topline: Straight and slightly sloping from a moderately pronounced withers to the croup. The distance between the withers and the croup should not be too long.

Withers: Sufficiently pronounced and slightly higher than the line of the back.

Back: Straight, firm and fairly broad.  

Loin: Short, slightly arched and of medium width.

Croup: Rounded, wide, slightly sloping, rather long. Sacrum slightly sloped towards the root of the tail. Buttocks are to be well marked.

Chest: Well developed, rather deep, oval-shaped; the forechest slightly protruding in front of the line of the shoulder-scapular joints; false ribs rounded and long.

Underline and belly: The belly is to be sufficiently tucked up, skin is thin and not loose.

Tail: Sickle-shaped, high or medium set, covered with long hair. Can be held above or at the same level as the topline in movement and standing, may be hooked at the end. 

LIMBS: 

FOREQUARTERS:

General appearance: Seen from the front and the side, legs are to be straight, parallel, and not set too wide.

Shoulder blade: Rather well laid back and of medium length.   

Upper arm: Medium length, moderate sloping.

Elbow: Turned neither in, nor out.

Forearm: Seen from the front straight and parallel. 

Metacarpus (carpal joint): Well developed.

Pasterns: Firm, moderately sloping. Parallel standing of pasterns is to be sought after.

HINDQUARTERS:

General appearance: In balance with forequarters. Parallel when viewed from behind. Moderately angulated.

Upper thigh: Slightly inclined. Hip joints are to be strong and well developed.

Stifle (knee joint): Of moderate angulation.

Lower thigh: Medium length, approximately equal to the length of the upper thigh.

Hock joint: Lean, well defined, and the ligaments are to be strong.

Metatarsus (rear pasterns): Of moderate length, upright, parallel to each other when viewed from behind.

Fore and hind feet: Oval in shape, not large. The toes are rather tight. The pigmentation of nails and pads corresponds to the color of coat or can be flesh-colored.

GAIT/MOVEMENT: effortless, free, with good reach at the trot; legs parallel in action.

SKIN: Elastic, taut, without any folds. Any color of pigmentation is allowed.

COAT:

Hair: In the natural condition the coat is to be as long as possible, straight or almost straight, evenly covering the whole body, head and legs. The coat is to part along the spine and hang down each side of the body. Rather soft, glossy, of moderate volume, with a small amount of undercoat, hiding the natural outlines of the dog. For shows grooming or clipping is needed, but must not interfere, however, to see the structure of the coat.

Color:

Red: various shades from rich red, sable, red to light fawn and cream. Most desirable is clear, intense and uniform color throughout the dog. All shades of red color may have a dark mask on the muzzle. Dogs with or without a mask have no difference when being evaluated. Sable is a color when red hairs have black tips.

Young dogs under 1.5 years may have more dark hairs in the coat than adults. Darker hairs may be present on the tail. The presence of some darker or lighter hairs on the uniform background color on the body is allowed, but not desirable. The hairs may be lighter at the root.

According to genetic rules, a cream coat cannot have any black hairs.

Red dogs (including red-white and white-red) are shown and bred separately from other colors.

Other colors allowed: 

Black, blue, brown, Isabella (any intensity). In these colors light/tan markings are acceptable: around lips, above the eyebrows (without spreading to the head), on the limbs, chest and under the tail. Allowed to be present are single white hairs on the body (grey hairs).

Any solid color may have no more that 10% of white markings.

Merle and brindle colors. Any locations of merle markings on any background colors are acceptable. Dogs with partially or completely blue eyes are considered as merle regardless of the presence or absence of markings on body. Brindle color can be various with or without a mask and can have any combination of dark and light hairs. Breeding of two merle dogs (sire and dam) is prohibited and cannot be registered in the Studbook.

Spotted color. All the above-mentioned colors may have white markings of any shape and size, covering more than 10% of the body area. Sometimes almost the whole body area is white. In all cases colored areas around ears and eyes are desirable.

SIZE AND WEIGHT:

Height at withers: 7-11inches.

Weight: 4-9 pounds. The weight should correspond to the overall size. 

FAULTS:

• Rounded, protruding or close set eyes.
• Soft ear cartilage.
• Excessive length of legs. 
• Steep croup.
• Over 9 pounds.

SEVERE FAULTS:

• Undershot bite with the gap between incisors of lower and upper jaws.
• The absence of even one canine.
• Low-set ears.
• Crooked or too short forearms.

DISQUALIFYING FAULTS:

• Aggressive or overly shy, hysterical dogs.
• Lack of hairs on the muzzle, harsh or coarse coat.
• Hanging or floppy ears.
• Color similar to the color of a Yorkshire Terrier.
• Any dog clearly showing physical or behavioral abnormalities shall be disqualified.
• Males without two apparently normal testicles fully descended into the scrotum.