The Toy Poodle
Behavior and character:
Dog known for its loyalty, ready to learn and be trained, which makes it a particularly pleasant companion dog.
Gait:
The Poodle has a bouncy and light gait.
Size and weight:
Miniature Poodle:
Above 28 up to 35 cm. The Miniature Poodle must show in its entirety the appearance of a reduced medium-sized Poodle, preserving the same proportions as much as possible and without showing any sign of dwarfism.
Toy Poodle:
Above 24 cm (with a tolerance of 1 cm less) and up to 28 cm. (ideal height sought 25 cm). The Toy Poodle retains the overall appearance of a Miniature Poodle and the same general proportions, according to all the requirements of the standard. Any presence of dwarfism is to be excluded; only the occipital crest may be slightly less pronounced.
Appearance:
Facial Region:
Rather wide, slightly exceeding half of its total length.
Skull Region:
Skull: Its width is less than half the length of the head. The skull as a whole, viewed from above, appears oval and slightly convex in profile. The axes of the skull and muzzle are slightly divergent. Superciliary arches: moderately pronounced, covered with long hair.
Frontal furrow: wide between the eyes, narrowing towards the occiput, which is very pronounced. (in miniatures it may be slightly less pronounced).
Stop: Slightly marked, but must not be receding in any case.
Muzzle Region:
Nose: Developed, with vertical profile; open nostrils. Black nose in black, white, and gray subjects; in black bicolor, gray bicolor, black and tan, tricolor subjects; brown in brown subjects, in brown bicolor and brown and tan. In tan (apricot/red) and tan bicolor subjects, the nose can be brown or black depending on the intensity of the tan color. In light tan subjects, the nose must be as dark as possible.
Muzzle: Upper profile very straight, its length is about 9/10 of the length of the skull. The branches of the lower jaw are almost parallel. The muzzle is solid. The lower profile of the muzzle is given by the lower jaw and not by the edge of the upper lip.
Lips: Moderately developed, rather dry, of medium thickness, the upper lip rests on the lower without being pendulous. Black in black, white, and gray subjects; brown in brown subjects. In orange tan (apricot) and red tan subjects, they are more or less dark brown or black. The labial commissure should not be pronounced.
Jaws/Teeth: Complete dentition, scissor bite. Solid teeth.
Cheeks: Not protruding, shaped on the bones. The suborbital regions are chiseled and barely full. Zygomatic arches very slightly protruding.
Eyes: With an ardent expression, placed at the level of the stop and slightly oblique. Almond-shaped eyes. Black or dark brown. In brown subjects, the eyes may be dark amber. The profile of the eyelids is black in black, white, and gray subjects. Brown in brown subjects. In light tan subjects, the edge of the eyelids must be as dark as possible.
Ears:
Rather long, falling along the cheeks, set on the extension of the line that starts from the nose and passes under the outer corner of the eye; flat, widening after insertion and rounding at the ends, they are covered with very long wavy hair. The skin of the ear flaps, if brought forward, reaches the labial commissure, ideally it should exceed it.
Neck:
Solid, slightly arched after the nape, of medium length, well proportioned. Proud head carried high. Neck without dewlap of oval section.
Its length is slightly less than that of the head.
Body:
Well proportioned. The length of the body is slightly greater than the height at the withers.
Topline: Harmonious and well sustained (solid).
Withers: Moderately developed. The height at the withers is perceptibly equal to that of the top of the croup to the ground.
Back: Short.
Loin: Firm and well muscled.
Croup: Rounded, but not sloping.
Chest: Descends to the level of the elbow; the width is equal to 2/3 of its height.
Chest:
The tip of the sternum should be slightly protruding and set rather high. In large size Poodles, the chest circumference measured behind the shoulders must be greater than the height at the withers by at least 10 cm. Chest of oval section, wide in the dorsal part. Lower line and abdomen: Rising without being whippety.
Tail:
Set rather high, at the level of the loin line (ideal carriage at 9,10 o'clock in relation to the back line). Tail docking is no longer authorized.Limbs:
General appearance: Perfectly straight and parallel, well muscled and with good bone structure. The distance from the elbow to the ground is slightly greater than half the height at the withers.
Forequarters:
Shoulder: Oblique, muscular. The shoulder blade forms with the arm an angle of 110°.
Arm: The length of the humerus is equal to that of the shoulder blade.
Carpus: Continues the front line of the forearm. Metacarpus: Solid and almost straight seen from the side.
Forefeet: Rather small, firm, of a short oval. The toes are well arched and closed. The pads are hard and thick. The nails are black in black and gray subjects. Black or brown in brown subjects. In white subjects, the nails can be colored through the entire range of horn color, up to black. In tan subjects, they are brown or black, according to the color of the coat, as dark as possible.
Hindquarters:
General appearance: Hindquarters parallel, viewed from behind, with well-developed and clearly visible muscles.
Thigh: Well muscled and robust. The hip-femoral angle must be well marked.
Stifle (knee): The femoro-tibial angle must be well marked.
Hock: The hock joint is relatively well angled (the tibio-tarsal angle must be well marked).
Metatarsus: Fairly short and vertical.
Aesthetics:
Skin:
Soft, not loose, pigmented.
Poodles of black, brown, gray, orange tan, or red tan color must be pigmented in harmony with the color of the coat. For Whites, a silvery skin is sought.
Coat:
Hair: Curly-haired Poodle: abundant hair of fine texture, woolly and well curled, elastic and resistant to hand pressure. It must be thick, dense, of uniform length, and form equal curls. Corded-haired Poodle: abundant hair, of fine texture, woolly and dense, which forms characteristic cords, which must measure at least 20 cm in length.
Serious Faults:
- Eyes too large or sunken in the orbits, not sufficiently dark.
- Ears too short, not reaching the labial commissure.
- Muzzle "en sifflet" (when the tip of the nose goes beyond the vertical) or pointed.
- Roman nose.
- Kyphotic or sway back.
- Tail set too low.
- Depressed croup.
- Hindquarter angulations too straight or excessively angled.
- Fluid and extended gait.
- Sparse, soft, or hard hair.
- Subject with solid color coat: undecided or non-uniform color.
- Partially depigmented nose.
- Lack of 2 PM2.
Disqualifying Faults:
- Aggressive or excessively shy subject.
- Any dog that clearly shows physical or behavioral abnormalities.
- Lack of type and especially in the head, which clearly denotes the introduction of foreign blood to the breed.
- Subjects that exceed 62 cm in height for Large Size and less than 23 cm for Toy.
- Anurous or brachyurous dog.
- Dewclaws or traces of dewclaws on the hindquarters.
- Any subject showing signs of dwarfism:
- Globose skull
- Lack of occipital crest
- Very marked stop
- Protruding eye
- Muzzle too short and turned upwards
- Practically non-existent metopic suture.
- Very light bone structure in Toys.
- Tail carried completely curled.
- For solid color dogs: all white patches on the body and/or on the feet, for all subjects not of white color.
- For dogs of other colors:
- Dogs with a solid color coat, with a single isolated patch (mismarking).
- Lack of harmony in the distribution of colors on the head.
- White patch surrounding the eye (pirate mark).
- White patch surrounding both eyes.
- Completely depigmented nose.
- Undershot or overshot bite.
- All tooth implantation problems that could cause injury to the dog (example: canine with abnormal growth that touches the palate).
- Lack of:
- 1 incisor or 1 canine or 1 carnassial tooth.
- One PM3 or one PM4.
- 3 PMs or more (except PM1).