Standards of the Schwarz Vulpes Companion Dog

The Vulpes dog is a small to medium sized FOX looking Companion dog. He is well balanced though he is a lot longer than he is tall. Exhibiting a unique combination of fox like appearances. He is a bit hyper and as a fox he jumps in the air and pounces on his prey. He does have prey drive and will play fetch as well as catch butterflies and bugs. He is a bit shy and standoffish but loves to play and will give you many minutes of entertainment after his naps. His tail is his crown of glory.

The Vulpes Dog is standoffish but never hostile as he tries to avoid fights. If cornered he will fight and bite to get away. He is self-confident in his own environment, poised and inquisitive, but may possess a certain aloofness that does not lend itself to immediate friendships. He is very fast on his feet. Again, he is standoffish and only really trusts his own people. He is not a socialite and will not do dog parks. When confronted with other dogs he will run and try to hide and this leads to other dogs attacking him. He is devoted to his person and to his pack/territory. He is on the velcro side and does not like to venture out of his turf. He will gladly go with you in the car or in a carry on soft bag as he loves tunnels and holes to go into. He is a quick trailer and has a fantastic sense of smell. He can easily find your lost items or people.

Developed solely for companionship and entertainment, he is not a working or herding dog and does not possess the extreme willingness to work or do work. He is self centered. He does possess a strong desire to be close to his master. therefore, he cannot and does not wander or roam. He is more on the independent side of the genome and may not do as you ask without food rewards. This breed WILL tend to get over weight.

As a puppy, this breed tends to be more 'mature' than most puppies. Very loving with a tendency to get as close to his owner’s body as possible, a lover of the human lap. They grow up very fast. They mature at 1 year old. Neuter at 5 or 6 months. Find Cat Veterinarian or small animal veterinarians that specialize in toys.

The Vulpes Dog loves to climb and jump and run in the early morning hours just before sunrise. They sleep during the heat of the day and love the coolness of the forest floor. They love to play in running water or pools of water. They love to catch and eat bugs of all kinds, even dig for worms. They eat around 4 am. They go to sleep around 2 am. They love a full moon and will play all night. For their entire life they will be searching for the elusive butterfly and elves that hide beneath the mushroom canopies. They use their front feet to grab hold of objects so do not clip the dew claws on the front legs. They do not have dew claws on the rear legs.

The Vulpes Dog loves to dig dens and would love for you to make an agility course in your backyard. They are extremely agile and will run across small plank boards, jump high up onto tree limbs and climb over obstacles. They like to perch as high as they can to keep watch over their territories and to watch for those fairies they just know are around. They play with frogs and toads but will eat small frogs and tadpoles. They also eat small fish, bird eggs and small birds. Did I tell you that they love chicken? They also like to play hide and seek from their owners or the other Vulpes fox dog friends. They do not mind dogs of their size but those dogs must not be mean.

The owners of these dogs MUST be ever watchful of other predator's that would love to catch, eat or kill your Vulpes Fox Dog. Be forever worried about birds from the sky or stray animals, even large cats. These dogs may also get into trouble with gadgets, tools or objects that could hurt them so train them early and give them their own rooms with the toys they can play with. They love crates because they crave safety. Keep them safe.

The Vulpes Fox Dogs are also known to mark their territory so they must have rooms with inside and outside availability and safety. Cages to keep them safe when you are not around. The cages must have wire tops or some kind of covering. One dog must have human companionship so two dogs are suggested unless you have the time to spend with the individual pup. One dog alone will need some kind of friend such as a turtle, fish, cat, guinea pig or rabbit, even the television would help to keep him company. stuffed animals also help.

The Vulpes Fox Dog does not work out well with unsupervised children and as they grow older, they do not like to be bothered by kids as the Vulpes Fox Dog is vulnerable to broken bones because of their small size. Young children are a threat to these small creatures.

The Schwarz Vulpes Dog has a high yip tone. Barking is very infrequent and they do NOT have a tendency to whine but can be taught by owners that pet them as they cry. . Some may yip at other dogs that are howling. Your neighbors will not like their high pitched yip. Train them young NOT to yip. They will howl at the moon in their own yippy way.

Serious Faults: Elaborate barking for no reason is a serious fault.

Size: The height at the highest point of the withers should be 10-12 inches in males and 7-9 inches in females. Out cross dogs may reach as tall as 20 inches in males and 18 inches in females. As they progress in generations a Vulpes Schwarz Fox Dog may get the size of the small foxes of the world. In the beginning of the development of the breed, outcrosses are needed and sizes may vary. The perfect measurements are 10 inches tall. 24 inches long from chest bone to end of tail. Legs should be about 4 inches from ground to elbow. Tails should be longer than the body.

Proportion: The length of the Schwarz Vulpes Dog is longer than tall. The overall length of this breed is to be measured from the chest bone to the tip of the tail. The length of the body should be as long as the tail though the tail might be a few inches shorter. 16 inches body length and 12-14 inches tail length or there about.

Substance: The Schwarz Vulpes Dog is light in bone with small feet and therefore is delicate in nature. Do not miss handle these dogs for injuries of broken bones. Be careful with them and do not allow them to jump out of your hands or arms. You must TRAIN them to be still and you must be ready for them to jump out of your arms if you do not train them to 'stay'. I would not trust them with children that are rambunctious.

Serious Faults: Too tall. To Short of tails.

The skull of a Schwarz Vulpes Dog is small and slopes slightly from between the yellow eyes down to the deep black nose, closely resembling the Red Fox. The head is of distinctive importance, as it is this head that holds the Foxy look and slanted yellow-eyed stare.

The Schwarz Vulpes Dog should have a short coat of hair on the head and face. The coat should begin to lengthen as it starts down the neck to the shoulders where the hair is the longest. They should not have fly away hair behind the ears or on the ears.

The skull is measured from the point of the stop (in between the eyes) to the far most point of the occiput. It is slightly flat and rounded, never domed, gradually narrowing and flattening as it approaches the eyes. The stop is nonexistent or just a touch of an angle and should slope gently from the eyes down to the muzzle out of the face.

Muzzle: His muzzle should be Long and small in comparison to the skull, the lips should be close fitting and deep black in color with small pointed white teeth.

The upper and lower jaws should be broadest in the back with his sharp razor teeth closing in a scissors bite. The total muzzle should be slightly longer than the head is deep.

Eyes: His eyes are an almond shape, medium to small, and set obliquely. Light eyes are preferred with colors ranging from yellow to light brown and orange that gives him the unique Foxie stare. The eyes should have a look of deep black eyeliner around the eye and out from the outer corners of the eyes. NEVER blue and NEVER round. Round eyes are a serious fault and will not be bred. Small eyes are better than large eyes.

Ears: His ears are triangular in shape and slightly rounded at the tips. They are set wide apart and set on the outside back edges of the skull. The ears are wedge-shaped, erect and large in comparison to the head as well as tipped with deep black hairs to form an outline around the ear. When alerted his ears turn forward. When shamed his ears will turn sideways and lay back along the sides of the skull.

Teeth: 42 in number, 20 upper and 22 lower, the teeth are sharp and come together in a scissors bite in which part of the inner surface of the upper incisors meet and engage part of the outer surface of the lower incisors. The jaw should never be over or undershot.

Serious Faults: A large round eye is a serious fault, as is dark eyes, or a large bulky muzzle.

Neck: The neck is long. The carriage of the head appears to be pushing back into the neck when alert. The neck may also be slightly curved as an Arabian horse. When running the head and neck reach out and the body becomes a single blur from nose to tip of tail as the animal is swift and low to the ground.

Topline: The topline is level from the back of the withers to the croup. When gated, This dog will hop and run then stop, alert and ready to pounce. It is hard to gait the Schwarz Vulpes Fox Dog.

Body: The chest is of sufficient depth to reach below the elbows. The back and loin are muscular, broad and strong. The tail is an extension of the body and comes out from the top of the croup.

Serious Faults: Short tail

Shoulders: The shoulders should be slightly sloping, without any tendency to looseness of shoulders. The shoulders lie close to the body.

Forelegs: The leg bones are straight to the pasterns, which are medium to long and bent only slightly. The black coloring extends upward from the pads into the leg and even up into the chest. When trotting, the forelegs should come together in the middle of the body, making tracks within tracks on the ground. White gloves are not a fault.

Front Feet: The feet are cat like with well-arched toes. The pads on the bottom of the feet are black. They should have black toenails. Extra points are given to the black gloved dogs. All of these dogs will have front dew claws.

The Schwarz Vulpes Dog's rear assembly, viewed from the rear, the legs are straight and parallel. Viewed from the side, the thighs are fairly long. His stifles are moderately bent. His hocks should be set wide enough apart as to never hit one another.

Rear Legs: The legs of the Schwarz Vulpes Dog must indicate a light footedness. When viewed from the rear, the hind legs come straight down from the hips to the ground. His feet and legs might stay up off the ground in anticipation of the next move. He has the border collie stare with his head down and his feet/legs very still and not moving.

Hind Feet: cat like with long toes and arched pads. He is sure footed even when stalking. The pads of the feet are always dark in pigmentation and well padded. The imprints when running may be placed on top of the others.

Tail: The tail should reach the ground and when running it should be an extension of the body. Longer is more acceptable than shorter. The tail should be wide at the root, tapering to the end. The tail should be well furred but the guard hairs are not overly long. The tail should hang down when at rest. The tail should never hide under the body or between the legs in a gesture of fear. He may carry his tail high when excited yet never curling tightly and never curled over the back. A straight tail is the ideal. The undercoat is more than the top coat. The guard hairs are sparse giving the breed a wild look of un tidiness.

Serious Faults: Rear legs too close together

The coat and tail are the most important aspects of this breed. Prized for the coat. The beauty of this companion dog is his coat! The inner coat is thicker than the outer coat.70/30

As a pup the coat is short and thin. You can see the entire conformation of the pup/dog to be. You wonder if the pup will ever develop the luxurious coat of the adults.

Before the first winter the coat has grown and filled in and the dog is now in all his glory!

The face is short in coat and without undercoat as is the legs. The legs may have small amount of feathering but not profuse. Too much feathering is a fault as the animal will then resemble a dog and not a fox. The points will always go to the foxiest looking of dogs.

The hair on the tail is THICK and short. The longest hair is the guard hairs on the shoulders, so long it falls over and does not stick up unless threatened or scared.

No undercoat on legs or face. This dog will posses two coats a year.

Winter Coat:

The outer coat is moderately coarse (harsh) and his entire coat is thicker during the winter months. It should not be too long, but moderately dense, slightly oily and slightly woolly with the thickest and longest fur around the neck. The winter coat is the prize of any fur trapper as it is full and thick. The color of the coat seems whiter during the winter months.

Fault in the winter coat: too long or too even.

Summer Coat:

The coat is shorter and thinner during the summer months as the undercoat almost entirely sheds out. The head, inner ears, face, legs and paws should be covered with short hair. The color of the dog during the summer appears to be darker.

Serious Faults: Faults in coat include too long outer coat, too woolly, too much undercoat and/or curly

Shedding: This breed sheds during the longer days of the years cycle. Usually beginning to shed in May or June. Shedding takes about a month or two. The dog will appear darker in color and much thinner and taller during their shed. The use of a pin brush will keep the dog looking full and not pull all the undercoat out. In this breed we like to keep that thick coat appearance as long as we can.

Shedding will begin at the hocks, legs and rear of the dog. The soft lighter colored undercoat will die out and will be seen as clumps of hanging fur caught up in the dog’s coat. This shedding will make the dog itchy and he/she may rub up against trees, bushes or kennel wire to remove this undercoat. The owner can help the breed shed by using a pin brush and several brushings a day. Brush in both directions.

The next section of the body to shed its undercoat is the belly and up into the back or top line and the tail. This section will take about two days to fully come out and may linger as you continue to comb out the undercoat every other day. To keep your dogs fox like appearance do not strip this dog of all its undercoat and leave the tail as fluffy as you can. Never clip this dogs coat.

The front legs, chest and back of the neck are the next to come out and the last is the throat area. Using a pin brush will not strip the dog of all its undercoat. This breed is prized for its coat.

This process is a slow one. The undercoat will come back in and thicken the dog up with the shorter days of September and October.

There are no health or mental concerns and your dog should be his normal everyday self. This breed sleeps mostly during the afternoon heat and is most active in the very early mornings and late evenings.

This dog will require air conditioning or cooler climates.

Red fox: Red fox is native to every continent with the exception of South America. The best red fox comes from northern climates and is deeply furred with silky, strong texture.

Silver fox: Silver fox fur is blue black in color with a white tip on the tail. The best silver fox is a true silver color with a black stripe, black up the legs and a full black mask.

Grey foxes are found in the southernmost points of Canada, the United States and northern South America. They have dense, mid-length fur. The underfur is soft and lush, while the guard hairs are more rigid than most types of fox. Grey and black guard hairs contrast with rusted blonde underfur to create a stunning natural colorway. Grey tones dominate a stripe that runs down the back of the fox.

Any Other Solids: These are not sables and do not have banded guard hairs.

Notes: Solid colored dogs are discouraged in our breeding plans only because we strive toward the look of an Agouti (banded) guard hair.

When describing color on animals, the major color or main color, is always placed first. Like ingredients listed on a product, (in describing the color of any object,) the major color of the object is listed first. This is the main color of the dogs’