Breed Standard (Doberman)

The Offical FCI Breed Standard for Doberman contrasted with the AKC (American Kennel Club) and KC (The Kennel Club - United Kingdom) regulations.

I have tried to list the breed standard of the FCI (Fédération Cynologique Internationale), the AKC (American Kennel Club) and the KC (The Kennel Club - United Kingdom).
The breed standard by the FCI is printed in blue like the rest of this page. Where appropriate I will add notes in green to point out differences between the FCI standard and the AKC standard. Alterations between the British and the FCI standard will be printed in purple. If no special note is added to the FCI breed standard list the AKC and/or KC have essentially identical criterea in their respective standards
I will not compare the AKC and KC standards!

Index

This is intended to help navigation within this document:

Date of publication of this version of the Breed Standard

Utility

Proportions

Temprament

Head

Face

Neck

Body

Tail

Limbs

Movment and Gait

Skin

Testicles

Hair and Coat

Size, weight, other measurments

Faults

Disqualifying Faults

Date of this revised publication:

14 Febuary 1994
approved 6 Febuary 1982; reformatted 6 November 1990
10 May 2006

Country of origin:

Germany

Original and current use (and hence specialisation) of Doberman:

companion dog (not mentioned by KC or AKC)
protection dog
working dog

Categorization within the FCI:

Group 2 (Pinscher, Schnauzer, molossian type dogs, Swiss Mountain and Cattle dogs
Section 1 (Pinscher & Schnauzer)
Working trial permission
Working Group (AKC)
Working Group (KC)

A very brief history of the development of Dobermans:

named after the original breeder Friedrich Louis Dobermann (1834-1894)
he mixed "sharp" caught dogs, "butchers dogs" (early version of Rottweilers) and East German Shepherds (they have black & tan colouring rather than the contemporary German Shepherd dogs with fawn and black mantle)
bred for protection and working tasks (herding, hunting, searching, etc)
unlike other dogs for this purpose Doberman are less sturdy and more elegant and agile

General Appearance:

medium size
strong and muscular
elegant
proud stature
expression of determination
symbolises the "ideal dog" (not mentioned by KC or AKC)
body suggests a speed and endurance (AKC)
capable of great speed (KC)
expressing toughness (KC)

Proportions:

body is square - especially in males, females may be longer to accomodate mammary glands
body length from shoulder to croup should not exceed the dogs height at withers (intersection of back and neck) by more than
- 5% in males
- 10% in females
- KC agrees without giving such exact numbers; AKC basically the same

Temprament and Behaviour:

friendly and calm (not mentioned in AKC standard)
devoted to his family
friendly and affectionate with children (not mentioned in AKC standard)
medium temprament
medium sharpness (alertness)
medium irritation threshold & close contact to owner
easy to train
good working ability, courage and hardness
self-confident
adaptability to the social enviornment
gives attention to (social) enviornment
obedient (AKC)
determined (AKC)
fearless (AKC)
KC describes the desirable temprament as "bold and alert"

Head:

Cranial region:
- strong
- in proportion to the body
- blunt wedge shape (when viewed from top)
- frontview: crown line should not drop at ears
- muzzle line extends straight to top of skull
- muzzle line falls gently into neck line behind skull
- the superciliary ridge is well developed without protruding
- forehead furrow visible
- occiput shall not be conspicuous
- bulge between rear of the upper jawbone and cheek bone is harmonious with total length of head
- head muscle well developed
- unwrinkled (KC)
Stop:
- slight but visible

Facial region:

nose:
- well developed
- more broad than round
- large openings without protrusion
- black (on black dogs)
- light, brownish colour in brown ("red") dogs
- dark grey in blue dogs (AKC & KC)
- dark tan in fawn dogs (AKC & KC)
muzzle
- in right proportion to upper head
- appropriate depth
- opening wide so molars are visible
- good width in upper and lower incisor area
lips
- tight
- lie close to jaw
- allow full closure of mouth (not mentioned by AKC& KC)
- pigmented dark (black dogs); lighter colour in brown dogs (not mentioned by AKC)
- flat cheeks (KC)
Jaws/Teeth
- powerful broad upper and under jaw
- jaws well filled under the eyes (AKC, KC)
- scissor bite
- 42 teeth correctly placed, normal sized
Eyes
- medium size
- oval
- dark in colour (lighter shades in brown dogs); lighter shades in brown - called "red" in AKC standard -, blue and fawn dogs (AKC); KC the same
- close lying eyelids (not mentioned in AKC standard)
- eyelids covered with hair (not mentioned in AKC standard)
- baldness on rim of eye undesirable (not mentioned in AKC standard)
- moderately deep set (AKC)
- iris is of uniform colour (AKC & KC)
- eyes should not be significantly lighter than the coat colour in its lightest spots (KC)
Ears
- set high
- carried erect and cropped in proportion to the head
  - where cropping is not permitted the uncropped ear is equally recognized.
  - medium size preferred
  - front edge lying close to cheeks
- small (KC)
- normally dropping down but may be erected (KC)

Neck:

good length
in proportion to body and head
dry
muscular
rises gradually
softly curved
carried upright
expresses nobility

Body:

Withers (intersection of back and neck):
- pronounced in hight and length
- especially pronounced in males
- determining slope of topline
- topline steadily rising from croup to withers
back:
- tight
- short
- muscular
- good width
loins:
- good width
- muscular
- in females slightly longer to accommodate puppies for suckling
croup:
- fall slightly
- hardly perceptible from sacrum to root of tail
- well rounded
- neither straight nor notably sloping
- good width
- muscular
chest:
- length and depth in proportion to body
- depth with slightly arched ribs approximately 50% of height of dog at withers; chest not so deep that it interferes with free elbow movement (AKC) - essentially the same as the FCI standard but not completely
- good width
- well developed forechest
underline:
- from bottom of breastbone to pelvis underline notably tucked up

Tail:

high set
docked with approximately two vertebrae remaining
where docking is not permitted tail may remain natural (not included in AKC standard)
continuation of spine without material drop or slightly raised when the dog is moving (KC)

Limbs:

Forequarters
- General view:
  - front legs appear almost straight
  - vertical to the ground
  - strongly developed
- Shoulder
  - shoulder blade close against chest
  - shoulder blade edges well muscled
  - reach over top thoracic vertebra
  - slanting as much as possible
  - set well back
  - angle to the horizontal is approximately 50%
- Upper arm
  - good length
  - well muscled
  - angle to shoulder-blade is approximately 105° to 110°
- Elbow
  - close in
  - not turned out
- Forearm
  - strong
  - straight
  - muscular
  - length in harmony with whole body
- wrist/carpus
  - strong
- front pastern (metacarpus)
  - strong bones
  - straight in front view
  - slightly sloping, maximum 10°.
- feet
  - short & tight
  - cat-like
  - toes arched and well closed
  - nails dark and strong (not mentioned in AKC or KC standard)
  - dewclaws may be removed (AKC & KC)
Hindquarters
- General
  - back view: wide and rounded off
  - muscles from pelvis to upper and lower thigh provide good width development
  - well muscled knee joint area muscule tone
  - hind legs straight and parallel
- Upper thigh
  - good length & width
  - muscular
  - good angulation to the hip joint
  - angulation to horizontal 80°-85°
- Stiffle (like the "knee")
  - knee joint strong
  - formed by upper & lower thigh >& knee cap
  - knee angulation approximately 130°
- Lower thigh:
  - medium length
  - in harmony with total length of hindquarters
- Hock (the "ankle" like part)
  - medium strength
  - parallel
  - lower thigh bone joined to metataesak at hock joint
  - angle approximately 140°
- Back pastern (metastartus) (="upper foot")
  - short
  - vertical to ground
- Feet
  - like front feet
  - toes short, arched, closed
  - nails short, strong & black (not mentioned in AKC and KC standard)
  - dewclaws should be removed if present (AKC & KC)

Gait and Movment:

elastic
elegant
free
ground covering
frontlegs reach out as far as possible
hind quarters give far reaching, energetic, elastic drive
front leg of one side and back leg of the other side move forward at the same time
good stability of the back, the ligaments and the joints

Skin:

close fitting
good pigmentation

Testicles (obviously males only):

two apparently normal testicles
fully decended into the scrotum

Coat:

Hair:
- short
- hard
- thick
- tight and smooth
- equally distributed all over the body
- no undercoat permitted; grey, thin, essentially invisible undercoat on neck permisable (AKC & KC)
Colour:
- black or brown
- clearly defined, clean rust-brown markings
- rust-brown markings on muzzle are required
  - on cheeks
  - on top of eyebrow
  - on the throat
  - two spots on forechest
  - on metacarpus
  - metastartus
  - feet
  - inside of back thighs
  - on arms
  - below tail
- colour definition in the AKC and KC standard is as follows:
  - black, red (brown), blue, fawn are permissable colours
  - markings identical to FCI standard
  - white patch on chest not exceeding 1.2cm permissable (highly undesirable by KC)

Size & weight:

Height at withers
- males: 68-72cm
- females: 63-68cm
- medium size desirable
Weight
- Males: 40-45kg
- Females: 32-35kg

Faults:

General appearance:
- reversal of sex impression
- little substance
- too light
- too heavy
- too "leggy"
- weak bones
Head:
- too heavy
- too narrow
- too short
- too long
- too much/too little stop
- bad slope of top line of skull
- weak underjaw
- round eyes
- slit eyes
- light eye
- cheeks too heavy
- loose flews
- eyes too open
- eyes too deepset
- ear set too high
- ear set too low
- open mouth angle
- missing or badly aligned teeth undesirable (KC)
Neck:
- slightly short
- too short
- loose skin around the throat
- dewlap
- too short (unharmonious)
- ewe neck
Body:
- back not tight
- sloping croup
- sway back
- roach back
- insufficient spring ribs
- too much spring ribs
- insufficient depth of chest
- insufficient width of chest
- back too long
- too little forechest
- tail set too high
- tail set too low
- too little tuck up
- too much tuck up
Limbs:
- too little/too much angulation in front and/or hindquarters
- loose elbow
- deviation from standard position
- deviation from standard length of bones and/or joints
- feet too close together
- feet too far apart
- "cow hicks"
- spread hocks
- close hocks
- open paws
- soft paws
- crooked toes
- pale nails
Coat:
- markings too light
- markings to sharply defined
- smudged markings
- mask too dark
- big black spot on legs
- chest markings hardly visible
- chest markings too large
- hair long, soft, curly or dull
- thin coat
- bald patches
- large tufts of hair - particularly on the body
- visible undercoat
Character:
- lack of self-confidence
- temprament too high
- sharpness too high
- too high/too low irritation threshold
Size:
- deviation of up to two cm from standard
Gait:
- wobbly
- restricted
- stiff
- pacing

Disqualifying Faults:

Character
- nervous
- aggressive
- (AKC) shyness leading to: refusing to stand for examination, shrinking away from judge, marked fear when approached from behind, shies away from unexpected noises
- (AKC) viciousness leading to: attacking/attempting to attack the judge and/or handler, pronounced aggressive behaviour towards other dogs
General
- pronounced reversal of sexual impressions
Eyes
- yellow eye
- wall eye
Dentition
- overshot
- level bite
- undershot
- missing teeth
- more than four missing teeth (AKC)
Coat
- white spots
- long hair
- wavy hair
- pronounced thin coat
- large bald patches
Size
- deviation of more than two cm from standard

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