As this is a very rare breed, both in Europe and North America, it has been difficult to obtain a clear standard for the breed. It seems that some countries have different standards, particularly where size and colour are defined. this being the case, the information below contains some differing information in these two respects.
History
The Swiss Laufhunds are most probably the direct descendants of Saint-Hubert, a race which was developed in the of the Ardennes abbey of the same name. The kings of France received some splendid subjects each year. The race was then neglected by the French aristocracy. Fortunately, the English and the Swiss were not of the same opinion. The British created the Bloodhound and the Swiss ones developed their Laufhunds from the average size Saint-Hubert. The Swiss current dogs indeed inherited all qualities of Saint-Hubert, i.e. they are able to travel on the most difficult grounds, undulating or rock. However, it is only towards 1930 that the four varieties of Swiss Current Dogs were defined: the Jura, the Schweizer, the Bernois and the Lucernois.
Characteristics
Its general appearance must be that of a dog of average size, heavy, slightly
lengthened, not overpowering. It must give an impression of robustness, endurance
and balance. Its size ranges from 45 to 54 cm at the shoulder (with a tolerance
of 2 cm as long as it is balanced), with a weight of approximately 25 kg. The
colour is either unicoloured, brown-yellow or brown-red, or with a black saddle;
or full-coated black with tan points. The Jura type St Hubert is differentiated
from the type Bruno because it looks more like a Bloodhound by his face being
much more wrinkled and by his size which is larger and heavier.
Personality and
Temperament
The Jura is a particularly sociable dog which gets along well both with people
and other dogs... soft and trustful and very good with children. They enjoy
hunting, and are used in packs in Europe. Specialists in the mountain, the Jura
is a good swimmer, not having any fear of water. They are able to follow their
game into in a lake or a river and tolerate the low temperatures very well.
Hunting
In Europe, their primary use is for hunting. An excellent sleuthhound, the Jura is very powerful on hare, fox, wild boar and the roe-deer. Vigorous and enduring, it is a tracker of great quality utilizing a very fine nose and a powerful voice, particularly loud: the closer it gets to the game and the louder it becomes. The Jura is also an excellent dog of blood scenting, i.e. it is ready to seek an animal wounded by a weapon, but which is still able to flee on a few kilometers. The first job of the huntsman is then to find the game as fast as possible to avoid suffering and panic to him. In this field, the Jura is active and fast, finding the wounded animal in record time.
Breed Standard for the Bruno du Jura, Type St Hubert
General Appearance
The head is of the specific “braccoid” type (Prism shaped head,
ears pointing downward, muzzle as wide at the base as at the end, concave forehead,
long and floating lips, the upper lip falling below the lower jaw with fairly
marked St-Hubert like characteristics. It must emphasize, as a whole, a very
great nobility. Its massive and powerful characteristic should not give an impression
of excessive heaviness. It must always be in harmony with the body.
Head
Skull Region - Skull is long and broad, the upper part bending in the shape
of a basket handle. Pronounced occiput; axes of skull and muzzle slightly divergent.
Not too many folds on the forehead, but marks on the eyes.
Stop - Very pronounced stop.
Facial region
Muzzle - Longer than skull dimension. Wide and square, foreface straight or
slightly aquiline (bent forward - Roman nose)
Nose - Completely black well developed, flexible. Wide open nostrils.
Lips - Very developed, never floating. Upper lips covering the lower jaw closely;
corner of the lips slightly open.
Cheeks - Lean, zygomatic arches not prominent. Thick, loose skin; well defined
folds starting at a line under and at the back of the eye, to the start of the
dewlap.
Jaws - Powerful, tightly closed.
Teeth - Strong, complete and regularly set with scissors bite, i.e. the back
sides of the upper incisors are in close contact with the front face of the
lower incisors; teeth squarely implanted into the jaws, pincer (level) bite
accepted; absence of one or two premolars (PM1 or PM1) tolerated. The Molars
M3 are not taken into consideration.
Eyes, eyelids, expression - Dark or lighter brown corresponding to the colour
of the coat, slightly oval, medium size, soft expression; rims of eyelids well
pigmented. The lower eyelids are slightly falling, showing a slightly apparent
conjunctive red.
Ears - Set on below the eye level and towards the back of skull, never attached
in their greatest width; in length, reaching at least to the tip of the nose;
ear conch not prominent; leathers narrow, drooping, folded and twisted at their
tips, supple and covered with fine hair. Ears widen toward the middle and narrow
in the lower part. They are heavy, curly and slightly folded.
Neck - Long, broad, powerful, proportional to the length of the body. At rest,
it is held at a 45° to horizontal. The neckline breaks away clearly off
the fore-quarter.
Dewlap - At the neck, the skin is loose and forms well defined dewlaps.
Body
Top Line - All together, the neck, back, rump and tail should form a harmonious
and firm outline.
Shoulder - Normally set, without breaking the harmony of the top line.
Back - Not too long, proportional to the height. Broad, powerful, compact, straight,
flexible without flabbiness.
Loin - Vigorous, broad, solid, muscular and supple.
Rump - Slightly inclined, elongated; back merging smoothly with the rump; not
higher than the withers.
Tail - (Stern) Set in prolongation of the rump, it is strong and of medium length,
elegant tapered at its extremity which forms a slight upward curve; at rest
or in slow gaits, it hangs naturally without a distinctive curve; when the dog
is more attentive or is moving faster, it is carried higher than the back line,
but never falling over the back or curled up; well covered with hair without
any coarse hair underneath (brush tail).
Breast - The breast piece must be open well and in direct relationship to the
width of the chest.
Chest - Deeper than wide, well let down and reaching at least the point of the
elbow, thoracic cage carried well back, with slightly sprung ribs. Its depth
is approximately 2/3 of the total body length.
In summary, the chest must be high, broad, a little convex and long without
altering the general harmony of the subject.
Underline - Belly (abdomen) slightly tucked up towards hindquarters. From the
sternum towards the hind quarters in a gracious and harmonious curve, without
break. The sides are full. The belly should not be descending nor slim nor narrow.
Legs
Forelimbs
Overall picture - Seen on a whole the forelegs are very muscular, large bone
structure, without heaviness; seen in profile, forelegs vertical; seen from
the front, straight and parallel; forefeet pointing straight ahead.
Shoulders - Shoulder blades long and oblique, muscled and well attached to the
chest wall. Ideal angle of the scapular-humeral is at the most 50° off the
horizontal plane.
Upper Arm - A little longer than the shoulder blade oblique close to the body
and muscular without heaviness.
Elbows - Naturally placed against the thoracic wall.
Forearm - Seen in profile, the arm is vertical, large in bone and muscular.
Carpal Joint (wrist) - Broad, robust, strongly fastened tendons.
Pasterns (metacarpus) - Relatively short; seen from front , in a vertical line
of the forearm; seen in a profile, slightly inclined.
Feet - Of roundish shape; toes tight; pads rough and hard; nails solid and colored
according to colour of coat. Toes tightly set together and well arched.
Posture - The front legs sit squarely on the ground. As seen from the front
and from the back, they are vertical and parallel.
Hindquarters
Overall picture - The back legs are very muscular and large in bone. More powerful
than the forequarters, they must show a harmonious relation to the forequarters;
in the body axis, neither out or in.
Upper Thighs - Long, oblique, strongly muscled, without being over done, large
in bone. Angle of coxal-femoral articulation: about 110 degrees.
Stifles - Neither turned in or out. Angle of the femoral tibial articulation
about 120 degrees.
Lower thighs - Relatively long compared to the thigh. Long, lean, muscles and
tendons apparent
Hock (metatarsals) - The tip of the hock (calcaneum) is quite visible. The angle
must be open in such way that the shank is vertical from the tip of the hock
to the ground line. The hock must show an average arc, neither too strong nor
too small. No dewclaws.
Size
Height - Female: not less than 47 cm and not more than 57 cm (19 to 22 inches)
Male: not less than 49 cm and not more than 59 cm (19.5 to 23 inches)
Important Ratio Proportions
| Length of body : height at withers | 1.13 (maximum) : 1 |
| Size : depth of chest | 2 : 1 |
| Length of skull : length of muzzle | 1 : 1.1 |
| Total Height | 2.0 |
| Chest height | 1.0 |
| Height - ground to bottom of chest | 1.0 |
| Chest (depth) - Approximately 1/3 of the total length of the body | |
Faults
Any departure from the foregoing points constitutes a fault. It shall be penalized
according to its seriousness and importance.
General appearance lacking distinction.
Too heavy or sickly.
Too large or too weak in bone.
Not enough muscles.
Lack of harmony between the various body parts.
Disproportion between body length, chest depth and body height.
Neck too short or too long. Not enough power in neck.
Thoracic cage not let down enough not enough spring of ribs or barrel shaped.
Breast too narrow or too large.
Back arches or sags.
Rump too sloping or too short. Higher than the withers. Staircase-like.
Belly dropping below underline, or too narrow.
Hollow sides.
Shoulder too upright, upper arm too short.
Insufficient angulation of hindquarters. Cow hock. Front / back legs not pointed
properly.
Poor angulation.
Elbows turning in or out.
Metacarpus angle: too straight or too highly pitched.
Presence of dew-claws on the back legs .
Thin legs .
Stern badly set, carried too high, deviated, curved, coarse or feathered .
Entirely black coat, or single colored tan coat.
Coat harsh or shaggy.
Too narrow, too wide or too flat back skull.
No distinct stop.
Muzzle too short or too long, too narrow or pointed.
Foreface dished.
Lips not covering the mandible (lower jaw).
Corner of the lips not well defined .
Too many skin folds on cranium or not enough in the neck area. Not enough dewlap.
Color of eye too light or not proportional to coat color.
Too much or not enough conjunctive red.
Light color pigmentation at edge of eyelids.
Ears too flat, too light, too short, or set too high, or too wide.
Absence of teeth other than the two premolars (PM1 or PM2).
Teeth badly set in jaw.
Movement: jerky, paces too short, ambling.
Disqualifying faults
Lack of type.
Size either over or under that fixed by the standard.
Nose entirely dispigmented.
Overshot or undershot jaw.
Entropian or Ectropian (even surgically corrected)
Rolled or ring tail, kink tail, tail with vertebral deformity
Very timid or aggressive behaviour
For the males: monorchid or cryptorchid
Walleye
Eyes of different colours
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