meet the... Skye Terrier

Head

• General Appearance: Mesaticephalic skull type, moderate in size, and somewhat elongated, yet wedge-shaped. Always in proportion to the rest of the body. The skull is relatively broad between the ears and should be flat in profile or from the front. It tapers gradually to the muzzle. The head is clean-cut and without excess skin or wrinkles. It exhibits sufficient substance, bone, and muscle to denote terrier strength and capability. It is never refined or chiseled.
• Expression: Dignified, lively, intelligent, and watchful.
• Stop: The stop may range from slight to moderate.
• Skull: The ideal muzzle-to-skull ratio is approximately 1:1 to 4:3, with the topskull being equal to or just slightly longer than the muzzle.
  The ideal muzzle-to-skull axis is parallel.
• Muzzle: The muzzle is full, deep, and broad. The plane, or bridge of the muzzle, is straight. The upper and lower jaws are well developed, approximately equal in length, and have good bone substance, never appearing snipy or weak.
• Lips or Flews: The lips are clean and fit tightly over the teeth and jaws.
• Nose: The nose is well-pigmented and black. The nostrils are well opened.
• Cheeks: The cheeks are smoothly muscled, never chiseled or coarse.
• Dentition and Bite: Forty-two strong, clean, and white teeth. The bite may be level, scissor, or reverse-scissor. Contact must be made between the top and bottom incisors. Missing or broken teeth due to routine work are not to be penalized.
• Eyes: Somewhat small to moderate in size, oval to almond in shape, and medium to dark brown in color. The eye rims are well-fitted and well-pigmented. The eyes are never bulging. There should be sufficient bone in the surrounding orbital sockets to protect the eyes.
• Ears: Moderate in size, set high and somewhat wide on the skull the outer corners of the skull. They are triangular, with rounded tips, and may be held firmly erect or carried drop. V-shaped ears are highly mobile and strong. Drop ears hang with the inner edges and tips close to the head. The ears should never appear small, like that of the Yorkshire Terrier, or overly long, large, broken, "fly-away," or semi-erect.

Body and Tail

• General Description: Low-set and rectangular, compact, solid, and of good substance. The body is never squared, racy, or overly refined. The width at the forequarters is approximately equal to the width at the hindquarters.
• Neck: Moderate length allows for proud head carriage. The neck is strongly muscled with a slight arch. It tapers smoothly from the deeper and broader body toward the head. The neck is clean-cut and without excess skin, throatiness, or dewlap.
• Chest: Deep and broad but never wider than deep. The brisket extends to the point of the elbows.
• Topline: Level from slightly prominent withers to croup. The back is rather long, broad, strongly muscled, and straight, yet supple. The loin is short, taut, flat, level, or slightly arched yet supportive. The back is never swayed or roached.
• Croup: It may be flat and level with the back or just slightly rounded.
• Underline: A slight tuck-up is present. The underline is taut and firm, without any indication of sagging or excess weight.
• Ribs: Long, well-sprung, well-laid-back, and oval-shaped, never barrel-chested or slab-sided.
• Tail: Set neither high nor low on the croup but as a natural extension of the topline. The tail is thick at the base and tapering toward the tip. It is carried in accordance with the dog’s mood and energy level, often carried at or below the level of the horizon. It can occasionally be raised above the level of the back during bouts of excitement but should never stay there. It should never be held tucked between the legs. The tail is left natural and never docked short. It is of a medium length, with the tip of the last vertebrae extending to the hock joints when held down. It may be straight or gently curved (never twisted or curled).

Forequarters and Hindquarters

• Forequarters: The forequarters are always balanced with the hindquarters and well-angulated with well-laid-back shoulder blades. The shoulder blades are approximately equal in length to the upper arm and forearm.
• Elbows: The elbows are close to the body. The distance from the withers to the brisket may be equal to, or just greater than, the distance from the elbows to the ground.
• Forelegs: Frontal View: Straight, of good muscle, of moderate bone, and parallel to one another.
  Side View: The forelimbs appear straight with strong pasterns.
• Pasterns: Never weak or broken.
• Hindquarters: The upper and lower thighs are equal in length, strong, sturdy, moderate bone, and well-muscled.
  Rear View: When viewed from the rear, the rear pasterns are parallel to one another.
  Side View: Good angulation will allow the rear toes to align with the point of the rump or within one to two paw-lengths behind the point of the rump, with the rear pasterns remaining perpendicular to the ground and parallel to one another.
• Stifle Joint: Well-angulated with a good bend to well-let-down rear pasterns.
• Stifle Joint: The angulation of the hindquarters is always in balance with the angulation of the forequarters.
• Feet: Oval to round and compact, with well-arched toes and tough pads.

Coat

• Skin: Well-fitted, yet supple. The skin should never obstruct the outline of the dog.
• Coat Type: The coat is a double, dense protective coat. The undercoat is dense, soft, and woolly. The outer coat is longer but not “long,” and daylight should show under the coat of the abdomen. It is harsh, flat, and long. It parts down the center from head to tail. The hair on the head exhibits furnishings of mustache, brows, beard, and ear fringing but is shorter than the coat on the body.
• Coat Color or Pattern: Black, various shades of blue-gray, gray, silvery gray, fawns with black, blue, or gray masks, sables or grizzles of black, blue, or gray varieties, silvery creams, all with black pigment points. Minimal white is permissible.

Movement

Efficient, effortless, energetic, lively, and spritely, the characteristics of a healthy structure are evident. When moving away, the forelegs and rear pasterns should remain parallel to one another. When viewing movement from the front, the forelegs should remain parallel, with elbows and paws moving neither in nor out. From the rear, the back pads should be visible when the rear legs are extended. As speed increases, the forelimbs and hindlimbs will converge to the centerline of gravity. From the side, the topline should remain firm and level. Good reach of movement in the front allows the forepaw to extend out in line with the nose. When extended, the width between the forefeet should be approximately equal to the width between the hindfeet when extended, indicating balance, good reach, and good drive. Dogs that exhibit any sign of breathing or locomotive difficulty shall be disqualified from the show ring.

Temperament

The Skye Terrier breed has a typical large terrier temperament, meaning they are watchful, alert, courageous, loyal, quick to act, and even quicker to react. They are friendly, affectionate, and loyal to their people, but they are aloof to indifferent towards strangers. Like a true terrier, the Skye Terrier breed can be rather predatory with other small animals, and they may develop aggression toward other dogs. These unwanted behaviors can be curbed with early socialization and obedience training. Skye Terriers are intelligent, affectionate, and wonderful companions. Any unprovoked aggressive or fearful behavior toward people is incorrect for this breed.

Faults

All dogs should be in proper, healthy condition, free from disease or defect. Any departure from this description is considered a fault. Unless altered, all male dogs should have two fully descended testicles.