Sussex Spaniel Breed Standard
Sporting Group

General Appearance
The Sussex Spaniel was among the first ten breeds to be recognized and admitted to the Stud Book when the American Kennel Club was formed in 1884, but it has existed as a distinct breed for much longer. As its name implies, it derives its origin from the county of Sussex, England, and it was used there since the eighteenth century as a field dog. During the late 1800's the reputation of the Sussex Spaniel as an excellent hunting companion was well known among the estates surrounding Sussex County. Its short legs, massive build, long body, and habit of giving tongue when on scent made the breed ideally suited to penetrating the dense undergrowth and flushing game within range of the gun. Strength, maneuverability, and desire were essential for this purpose. Although it has never gained great popularity in numbers, the Sussex Spaniel continues today essentially unchanged in character and general appearance from those 19th century sporting dogs. 

 The Sussex Spaniel presents a long and low, rectangular and rather massive appearance coupled with free movements and nice tail action. The breed has a somber and serious expression. The rich golden liver color is unique to the breed.

Size, Proportion, Substance
Size--The height of the Sussex Spaniel as measured at the withers ranges from 13 to 15 inches. Any deviation from these measurements is a minor fault. The weight of the Sussex Spaniel ranges between 35 and 45 pounds. Proportion--The Sussex Spaniel presents a rectangular outline as the breed is longer in body than it is tall. Substance--The Sussex Spaniel is muscular and rather massive.

Head
Correct head and expression are important features of the breed. Eyes--The eyes are hazel in color, fairly large, soft and languishing, but do not show the haw overmuch. Expression--The Sussex Spaniel has a somber and serious appearance, and its fairly heavy brows produce a frowning expression. Ears--The ears are thick, fairly large, and lobe-shaped and are set moderately low, slightly above the outside corner of the eye. Skull and Muzzle--The skull is moderately long and also wide with an indentation in the middle and with a full stop. The brows are fairly heavy, the occiput is full but not pointed, the whole giving an appearance of heaviness without dullness. The muzzle should be approximately three inches long, broad, and square in profile. The skull as measured from the stop to the occiput is longer than the muzzle. The nostrils are well-developed and liver colored. The lips are somewhat pendulous. Bite-- A scissors bite is preferred. Any deviation from a scissors bite is a minor fault.

Neck, Topline, Body
Neck--The neck is rather short, strong, and slightly arched, but does not carry the head much above the level of the back. There should not be much throatiness about the skin. Topline and Body-- he whole body is characterized as low and long with a level topline. The chest is round, especially behind the shoulders, and is deep and wide which gives a good girth. The back and loin are long and very muscular both in width and depth. For this development, the back ribs must be deep. Tail-- The tail is docked from 5 to 7 inches and set low. When gaiting the Sussex Spaniel exhibits nice tail action, but does not carry the tail above the level of the back.

Forequarters
The shoulders are well laid back and muscular. The upper arm should correspond in length and angle of return to the shoulder blade so that the legs are set well under the dog. The forelegs should be very short, strong, and heavily boned. They may show a slight bow. Both straight and slightly bowed constructions are proper and correct. The pasterns are very short and heavily boned. The feet are large and round with short hair between the toes.

Hindquarters
The hindquarters are full and well-rounded, strong, and heavily boned. They should be parallel with each other and also set wide apart--about as wide as the dog at the shoulders. The hind legs are short from the hock to the ground, heavily boned, and should seem neither shorter than the forelegs nor much bent at the hocks. The hindquarters must correspond in angulation to the forequarters. The hocks should turn neither in nor out. The rear feet are like the front feet.

Coat
The body coat is abundant, flat or slightly waved, with no tendency to curl. The legs are moderately well-feathered, but clean below the hocks. The ears are furnished with soft, wavy hair. The neck has a well-marked frill in the coat. The tail is thickly covered with moderately long feather. No trimming is acceptable except to shape foot feather, or to remove feather between the pads or between the hock and the feet. The feather between the toes must be left in sufficient length to cover the nails.

Color
Rich golden liver is the only acceptable color and is a certain sign of the purity of the breed. Dark liver or puce is a major fault. White on the chest is a minor fault. White on any other part of the body is a major fault.

Gait
The round, deep and wide chest of the Sussex Spaniel coupled with its short legs and long body produce a rolling gait. While its movement is deliberate, the Sussex Spaniel is in no sense clumsy. Gait is powerful and true with perfect coordination between the front and hind legs. The front legs do not paddle, wave, or overlap. The head is held low when gaiting. The breed should be shown on a loose lead so that its natural gait is evident.

Temperament
Despite its somber and serious expression, the breed is friendly and has a cheerful and tractable disposition.

Faults
The standard ranks features of the breed into three categories. The most important features of the breed are color and general appearance. The features of secondary importance are the head, ears, back and back ribs, legs, and feet. The features of lesser importance are the eyes, nose, neck, chest and shoulders, tail, and coat. Faults also fall into three categories. Major faults are color that is too light or too dark, white on any part of the body other than the chest, and a curled coat. Serious faults are a narrow head, weak muzzle, the presence of a topknot, and a general appearance that is sour and crouching. Minor faults are light eyes, white on chest, the deviation from proper height ranges, lightness of bone, shortness of body or a body that is flat-sided, and a bite other than scissors. There are no disqualifications in the Sussex Spaniel standard.

Approved April 7, 1992
Effective May 27, 1992

Sussex Spaniel(塞式猎犬)

[简介] 塞式猎犬是AKC在1884年出版的品种手册中最先得到承认的10个品种之一，但作为一种独特的品种，他出现的时间更早。就象他的名字所指出的那样，他起源于英格兰的塞式郡，从18世纪开始，在野外使用的一种狗。1800年后期，塞式猎犬作为一种卓越的猎犬和伴侣犬，在塞式郡周围已经相当出名了。短腿、结构厚重、身躯长、嗅到气味时习惯于叫喊，非常适合在浓密的灌木丛中，在猎枪射程内利用尖锐的吠声工作。有力、灵活、热爱是这个对品种的基本要求。虽然，在数量上不可能得到普及，但从19世纪的运动犬延续到今天，在特征和面貌上几乎没有什么变化。 塞式猎犬显得长而矮，呈矩形且结构厚重，结合了舒展的步态和漂亮的尾巴动作。他拥有忧郁而严肃的表情。丰富的金肝色是这个品种的特殊之处。

 [体型] 尺寸：塞式猎犬的肩高为13~15英寸。任何背离这个尺寸范围的情况都属于次要缺陷。塞式猎犬的体重范围在35~45磅之间。比例：塞式猎犬的外形轮廓呈矩形，身躯的长度大于肩高。体质：塞式猎犬肌肉发达且显得厚重

 [头部] 正确的头部和表情是该品种非常重要的特征。眼睛：眼睛的颜色是榛色，相当大，温和而忧郁，但瞬膜不能过度外露。表情：塞式猎犬的外貌显得忧郁而严肃，而且，浓重的眉毛显示出皱着眉头的表情。耳朵：耳朵厚，相当大，叶瓣状，位置略低，略微高于眼睛的外眼角。脑袋和口吻：脑袋略长，且同样宽，中间有凹痕，止部完美。眉毛相当厚重，后枕骨丰满而不尖。整体给人的印象是沉重但不迟钝。口吻大致有3英寸长，宽阔，正方形轮廓。脑袋的长度（从止部到后枕骨的距离）比口吻长。鼻孔开阔，肝色。嘴唇略微下垂。牙齿：剪状咬和，任何背离剪状咬和的现象都属于次要缺陷。 [颈部、背线、身躯] 颈部：颈部短，结实，略微圆拱，但不应该将头部昂地太高（高出背部太远）。皮肤不应该有过多的赘肉。背线和身躯：整个身躯很有特色，长而矮，背线水平。胸部圆，尤其是在肩胛之间。胸部深而宽，周长很大。背部和腰部长而肌肉发达（不论是宽度上还是在深度上）。由于上述原因，后面的肋骨相当深。尾巴：需要断尾，保留5~7英寸，位置低。在行走时，塞式猎犬展示出漂亮的尾巴动作，但尾巴的姿势不能高过后背水平。

[前躯] 肩胛向后倾斜，且肌肉发达。上臂骨有足够的长度和角度，能折回来，使腿部位于身躯下恰当的位置。前肢非常短，结实，骨骼沉重。可能显得略微呈弓形。笔直的前肢和略呈弓形的前肢都是正确的，可以接受。骹骨非常短，且骨骼沉重。足爪大而圆，在脚趾间有短毛发。

 [后躯] 后躯丰满而圆润，结实且骨骼沉重。大腿彼此平行，位置分的较开，与肩胛之间的距离一样宽。后腿从飞节到地面的距离短，骨骼沉重，看上去既不比前肢短，且飞节也不过分弯曲。后躯的角度必须与前躯相互协调，飞节既不向内弯，也不向外翻。后足爪与前足爪相同。

 [被毛] 身躯的被毛丰厚，平坦或略呈波浪状，没有卷曲的倾向。腿部有适量的羽状饰毛，但在飞节以下部位整洁。耳朵上有柔软而呈波浪状的毛发。颈部有明显的装饰性毛发。尾巴上有浓厚的中等长度的羽状饰毛。毛发不应该修剪，除了足爪的羽状饰毛需要修整，或去除脚垫间的毛发及从飞节到足爪间的羽状饰毛。脚趾间的毛发需要保留，使其有足够的长度能保护趾甲。

[颜色] 丰富的金肝色是唯一允许的颜色，而且这个品种要求明确的颜色纯度。深肝色或深褐色属于主要缺陷。胸部出现白色属于次要缺陷。身体其他部位出现白色属于严重缺陷。

 [步态] 塞式猎犬圆、深而宽的胸部，结合了短短的腿和长长的身躯，构成了他的滚动步态。他的整个动作都是慎重的。塞式猎犬不能让人感到笨拙。步态有力而准确，前后躯完美而协调。腿不能出现划桨姿势、起伏或交迭。行走时，头部保持较低的位置。牵这个品种时应该放松牵引绳，使他显露出自然的步态。

 [气质] 尽管表情忧郁而严肃，其实，这个品种非常友善，快乐，且容易调教。

[缺陷] 这个品种的面貌分为三个标准等级：最重要的是颜色和整体外观。第二位重要的是头部、耳朵、背部和后腰，腿和足爪。重要程度最低的是眼睛、鼻镜、颈部、胸部、肩胛、尾巴和被毛。同样的，缺陷也分为三个等级：最主要的缺陷是颜色过深或过浅、胸部以外的任何部位出现白色、卷曲的被毛。严重缺陷是头部窄、口吻软弱、有顶髻、整体外观迂腐而萎缩。次要缺陷包括了浅色眼睛、胸部有白斑、背离正确的肩高范围、骨量不足、身躯太短或身躯侧面平坦、非剪状咬和。

在塞式猎犬的标准中没有失格的现象。

 标准通过日期：1992年4月 7日

标准执行日期：1992年5月27日

 原作： 酋长

 来源： 转译自AKC

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