Beauceron - Appearance

Appearance

This breed stands 61 to 70 cm (24 to 27.5 inches) in height and weighs 30 to 45 kg (66 to 100 pounds). Its standard colouring is black and tan (referred to in French as "rouge ecureil", squirrel-red) or tan and grey (harlequin). Other colours, such as the once prevalent tawny, grey or grey/black, are now banned by the breed standard. The outer coat is harsh while the undercoat is soft and silky. It comes in black with distinct tan markings and in a less common harlequin coat with patches of gray, black and tan. The harlequin coats should have more black than gray with no white. In the black and tan dogs the tan markings appear in two dots above the eyes, on the sides of the muzzle, fading off to the cheeks, but do not reach the underside of the ears. Also on the throat, under the tail and on the legs and the chest. Tan markings on the chest should appear as two spots but a chest plate is acceptable.

Although most breeds may or may not have dewclaws (many owners of other breeds remove dewclaws, especially if the dog is used for field and hunting), an important feature of the Beauceron is the double dewclaw. A beauceron must have double dewclaws, which form well separated “thumbs” with nails on each rear leg, anything less will result in disqualification.

Ear cropping is no longer allowed in the UK or Europe.