Russian Toy

GENERAL APPEARANCE   A small elegant dog, lively, long-legged, with fine bone and lean muscles.  Sexual dimorphism only slightly defined.

SIZE, PROPORTION, SUBSTANCE

Weight - Dogs and bitches: up to 3 kg (6.6 pounds).

Height – Height at withers:  Dogs and bitches: 20 – 28 cm (tolerance +/- 1 cm).  7.9 - 11 inches (tolerance +/- 0.4 in.)

Disqualification – Size over 30 cm (11.8 in) or under 18 cm (7.1 in).
Weight less than 1 kg (2.2 pounds).

Proportion - Square build. The height at elbows is only slightly more than half of the height at withers; the chest is sufficiently deep.

HEAD   Small compared to the body.  Skull: High but not too wide (width at the level of zygomatic arches does not exceed the depth of the skull).

Expression -

Eyes - Quite large, rounded, dark, slightly prominent, set well apart and looking straight ahead. Eyelids are dark or matching the coat colour, tightly fitting.

Ears - Big, thin, set high, erect.

FAULT:  Semi-pricked ears. This condition in longhaired dogs with heavy fringes is permissible but not desirable.

Disqualification- Hanging ears.

Stop - Stop: Clearly pronounced.

Skull: High but not too wide (width at the level of zygomatic arches does not exceed the depth of the skull).

Muzzle -. Lean and pointed, slightly shorter than the skull. Lips: Thin, lean, tight- fitting and dark or matching the coat colour.  Cheekbones: Only slightly pronounced.

Nose - Small, black or matching the coat colour.

Bite - Jaws/Teeth: Small, white.  Scissor bite.  Absence of 2 incisors permitted in each jaw.

FAULT:  Level bite or incisors sloping forward.

Disqualifications - Overshot, pronounced undershot.  Absence of 1 canine; absence of more than 2 incisors in either jaw.

NECK, TOPLINE, BODY

Neck – Long, lean, carried high, slightly arched.

Topline - Gradually sloping from the withers to the root of the tail. Withers: Slightly pronounced. Back: Strong and straight. Loin: Short and slightly arched. Croup: The croup is somewhat rounded and slightly sloping.

Body – Chest: The chest is oval, sufficiently deep and not too wide. Underline and Belly: Tucked up belly and drawn up flanks, forming a nicely curved line from the chest to the flanks.

Disqualification - Short legs.

Tail - Docked (only two or three vertebrae are left), carried high. In countries where tail docking is prohibited by law, it is left in its natural state. Undocked: sickle tail.  It should not be carried lower than back level.

FAULT:  Low set tail.

FOREQUARTERS - Thin and lean; seen from the front, the front legs are straight and parallel.

Shoulders - The shoulder blades are moderately long and not too sloping.
Upper arm: Forming an angle of 105 degrees with the shoulder blade.  The length of upper arm is approximately equal to the length of shoulder. Elbows: In line with the body.

Feet - Small, oval, turning neither in nor out.  Toes well-knit and arched.  Nails and resilient pads are black or match the coat colour.

Pasterns - Lean.

HINDQUARTERS - Seen from the rear, the hind legs are straight and parallel, but standing a little bit wider than the forelegs.  Stifles and hocks are sufficiently bent.
Upper thigh: Muscles are lean and developed.

Angulation – Upper thigh: Muscles are lean and developed. Lower thigh: The upper and lower thighs are of the same length.

Hock -   Sufficiently angulated. Rear Pastern:  Vertical

Feet - Arched, a little bit narrower than forefeet.  Nails and pads are black or match the coat colour.

COAT

Smooth-haired: short, close-lying, shiny hair, without undercoat or bald patches.

FAULT:  Presence of bald patches in smooth-haired dogs.

Disqualification – Many bald patches in short-haired dogs. 

Longhaired:  body is covered with moderately long (3-5cm) (1.2 - 2inches), straight or slightly wavy hair, close-lying, which does not hide the natural outline of the body.  Hair on the head and on the front part of limbs is short and close -lying.  Distinct feathers on rear side of limbs.  The feet have long, silky hair which completely hides the nails.  Ears are covered with thick, long hair forming a fringe.  Dogs of more than 3 years have such a fringe, which should completely hide the outer edges and tips of the ears.  Body hair should not look tousled nor be too short - less than 2 cm (0.8 inches).

FAULT:  Too long or too short hair on body of longhaired dogs.

Disqualification – Longhaired dogs:  absence of fringes on ears and presence of curly hair.

COLOR. - Black and tan, brown and tan, blue and tan. Also red of any shade with or without black or brown overlay.  Richer shades are preferable for all colours.

FAULTS:   Solid black, brown and blue colours. Note: Now accepted by RKF.  Tan markings too large or with dark shadings. Small white spots on chest and toes.

Disqualification – White coat, white spots on the head, abdomen and above metacarpus; large white patches on chest and throat, presence of brindle markings.

GAIT - Easy, straightforward, fast.  No noticeable change in the topline when moving.

TEMPERAMENT    Active, very cheerful, neither cowardly nor aggressive.  The behaviour is significantly different between males and females.

FAULT:   Timid behaviour.

Disqualifications - Aggressive, overly shy.     

Any dogs clearly showing physical or behavioral abnormalities shall be disqualified.

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.

 Merrick Pet Care Recalls

Sept., 2010

July, 2010 -

The site was last updated on
3/22/2011