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Head - Skull
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Head - Strong and rectangular, its width diminishing slightly from ears to eyes, and again to the tip of the nose. The forehead is unwrinkled. The topskull is flat and fairly long. The foreface is parallel to the topskull, with a slight stop, and it is at least as long as the topskull. The muzzle is strong in proportion to the skull; it ends in a moderately blunt manner, with thick whiskers which accentuate the rectangular shape of the head. Faults - Head coarse and cheeky. |
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For the head, the key words in the standard are strong and rectangular, and for the topskull, flat and fairly long. It is commonly accepted that the width of the skull should be slightly less than half the length of the head. There should be a strong topskull, but the sides of the skull should be clean and flat, without prominent cheekbones.
There should be a strong muzzle with plenty of fill under the eyes. The muzzle should be at least as long as the topskull, but not exaggerated.
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When judging, always check for the strength and length of the muzzle. It is very easy to hide a weak muzzle under a beard and with clever grooming make the muzzle appear longer than it is.
This dog has a correct stop, with good fill under the eyes, and good parallel head planes. The black on the top of his muzzle is what makes the black mask on the beard (not required). |
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Grooming, especially bad grooming, can make a big difference in the look of the head. Make sure to feel what the dog has under all that hair. You should not be able to see the cheeks by looking at the head from the front.
A dog may look cheeky, when in fact the beard was trimmed too short on the sides of the face making the cheeks stand out. Then again, it may really be cheeky. Getting your hands on the head of the dog is the best way to find out.
All these dogs have excellent heads.
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