General Appearance.
Heavily boned, powerfully built, not to compact and never appearing short on the leg.
Characteristics.
Sled dog capable of surviving in Artic temperatures and pulling heavy loads at steady speeds.
Temperament.
Affectionate, freindly,loyal,devoted companion but not a one man dog,playful on invitation,genrally
impressive by his dignity after maturity but tends to show dominance to other dogs.
Head and Skull.
Head broad, powerful, not coarse,in proportion to size of dog.
Skull broad between ears ,gradually narrowing to eyes, moderately
rounded between ears ,flattening on top as it approaches eye,
rounding off to moderately flat cheeks. very slight but perceptible stop
Muzzle large in proportion to size of skull ,scarcely diminising in width or depth from stop.
Nose black except in red and white dogs
when it is brown .Pink streaked ' snow nose' acceptable.
Eyes.
Brown, almond-shaped, moderately large, set obliquely.Dark eyes
preferred, exceptin red and white dogs where light eyes are permissible. Blue eyes highly
undesirable.
Ears.
Small in proportion to head. Triangular in shape, slightly rounded at
tips, set wide apart, at back of skull. Ears forward when erect. When dog is working sometimes
folded against skull.
Mouth.
Upper and lower jaws broad with large teeth,with a perfect, regular
and complete scissor bite, i.e upper teeth closely overlapping lower
teeth and set square to jaws.
Neck.
Strong and moderately arched.
Forequaters.
Shoulders moderately sloping; forelegs heavily boned and well muscled, straight as far as
pasterns which are short, strong and almost vertical viewed from side.
Body.
Strong and powerfully built, chest strong and deep; back straight but not level, sloping slightly
downwards from shoulder to croup. Loins
well muscled, never so short as to interfere with movement.
No excess weight.
Hindquarters.
Hindlegs broad and powerfully muscled through thighs; stifles moderately bent, hock joints
broad and strong, moderately bent and well let down. Viewed from behind, hindlegs vertical, standing and moving true, in line
with movement of front legs. Legs indicate tremendous propelling power. Dewclaws on hind legs undesirable.
Feet.
Large and compact, toes close, well arched, pads thick and tough,
toenails short and strong. Protective growth of hair between toes.
Tail.
Moderately high set, following line of spine at start then curving gently upwards. At rest
may hang straight down. Well furred and carried over backwhen dog is working, not tightly curled to rest on back,nor short
furred and carried like a Fox brush,but giving appearance of a waving plume.
Gait/Movement.
Single tracking at trot is normal bot movement not too wide or too close at any gait. Easy,
tireless,rhythmic movement, produced by powerful drive from hindquaters.
Coat.
Thick, coarse guard coat, not long and soft. Dense undercoat, from 2.5-5 cms (1-2ins) in depth,
oily and woolly. Coarse guard coat stands out, with thick fur around neck. Guard coat varies in length as does undercoat,
but in general coat of medium length along sides of body, increasing somewhat around shoulders and neck, down back and over
croup, as well as in breeching and plume.
Colour.
Range is from light grey through intermediate shadings to black, or from gold through shades
of red to liver, always with white on underbody, parts of legs, feet and part of mask marking. Markings either caplike or
masklike on face. Combination of cap and mask not unusual. White blaze on forehead, white collar , or spot on nape permissible.
Heavy mantling of unbroken colour acceptable, broken colour extending over body in spots or uneven splashings undesirable.
Only solid colour permissibe is all white.
Size.
Height: dogs:64-71 cms (25-28 ins); bitches: 58-66 (23-26 ins).
Weight between 38-56 kgs (85-125 lbs), size consideration not to outweigh type.
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 effect upon the health and welfare of the dog.
Note.
Male animals should have two apparently normal testicles fully descended into the scrotum.
