Breed standard | CdC Breed Club

The breed standard for the “Câine de Castel”

In the following document, the breed standard will be explained fully and in detail, with photographs and sketches of the breed included. The breed will often be shortened to “CdC”. The plural is “Câini de Castel”

Section I: Temperament.

First and foremost, the Câine de Castel was bred to guard property, originating in Forgotten Hollow. The breed was eventually steered towards livestock guarding and personal protection as well. As such, aggression towards intruders, predatory animals, and other such threats is acceptable. True aggression towards strangers off-property, known humans, other dogs, and children are not permitted and are considered immediately disqualifying faults.

The Câine de Castel should be friendly and loyal to the family and other animals within his territory, eager to please, and of gentle nature towards children, small animals, prey animals, livestock, and his immediate “pack”. The Câine de Castel should be quick to give appropriate corrections to misbehaving dogs. As for training requirements, the breed should be paired with a headstrong, confident trainer. Purely-positive methods may work on weaker-willed dogs, but many require the use of training tools such as e-collars, prong-collars, and appropriate human-administered corrections.

Section II: Appearance

The Câine de Castel is a strong, thick-furred dog bred originally from spitz-type dogs, molosser-type dogs, and livestock guardian dogs found in the mountains just outside of Forgotten Hollow. As such, the breed takes on the qualities of many of these dogs; large build, impressive strength, intelligence, upright ears, and a gentle downward angulation of the spine. The body is strong, well muscled, and about as long as is proportionate to the legs, and paws should be of relatively small size and “cat” like. Dew claws, both rear and front, are permitted. Double dew claws on either rear or front paws, or both, are desired. Nails can come in black, clear, cloudy-gray, liver-clear or any mixture of the above listed colors. Paw pads can come in any color, with or without spots of other colors. Dogs should have upward angled tails without the tail touching the back or coiling like that of a pug or kinking like a bulldog. The tail should not be docked or shortened. There is no noticeable sexual dimorphism between dogs and bitches. Below are a set of two photographs dated to March 8. 1878 which depicts the breed as it should be. It has changed little since then.

Section II-a: Head and expression.

The Câine de Castel should have an almost sinister look about him when at rest, with hooded and slightly narrowed eyes, starkly pointed and upright ears, a face that is somewhat top-heavy at the cheek, and a rather serious expression. He should appear very intense in features. His nose should be neither snipish, too short, too long, or too wide. Lesser defined stops are permissible. Nose leather can be black, liver, blue, pinkish, and solid or splotched in any degree. Bright “Lily pink/albino pink” noses with ear leather and skin of the same color is a disqualifying fault. Ears should be upright, spaced appropriately, and neither incredibly narrow nor wide. A slight outer-angulation of the mid point of the ear is desired. Ears should not be cropped, weak, or uneven.

Section III: Coat type and color.

Câini de Castel possess a thick, heavily furred coat with soft but firm guard hairs and a very dense undercoat. Sparse, short fur or lack of undercoat or guard hairs are disqualifying faults, as the density and length of the coat is for the purpose of protecting the body from the bite of wolves, bears, and possible human implements. The coat should be groomed regularly with wire brushes, undercoat rakes, and "blown out" when they shed the heaviest in late spring. Matting is not terribly common due to the thick, heavy nature of guard hairs.

The Câine de Castel comes in a few defining colors and markings; Agouti, solid-colored (white flashes on chest, toes, or back of neck are permissible; can be black, liver, or blue; brindle in black, liver, or blue; or merle of black/blue or liver or brindle or Wolven, or solid white), Piebald (in aforementioned acceptable colors and patterns, piebald can be counted as a dog that is wholly white aside from one or two small spots of color as well on the body, head, paws, or muzzle), Wolven (“Seal” in other breeds; can be black, liver, or blue; piebald or solid, white spots are permissible as they are in solids), Merle (black/blue, liver, and brindle-merle or Wolven-merle; piebald, or solid; white spots permissible as is in solid or Wolven) but double merle (lethal white) is considered a disqualifying fault. Harlequin is allowed as other aforementioned coats (in black, liver, blue, Wolven, and brindle), but no spot-to-spot breedings must be done.

This means that merles must not be bred to each other, harlequins must not be bred to each other, and there must also be no harlequin to merle breedings. White markings of any size, shape, or amount are permissible and welcomed so long as the dog is not a double merle, true irish-marked, or lethal white. White paws or toes, white chests, and a white flash on the back of the neck are greatly desired, but the absence of any of said white markings is not a fault. Color on head is preferred in piebalds (at the very least, the dog must have color on ears or a spot anywhere on the face of any size). Brindles with “missing” stripes ( see here ) are greatly desired. Brindles with heavier coloring should not be faulted or discounted. Irregular, uneven, or unusually-shaped markings should never be faulted, and are generally desired somewhat over "uniform" markings.

Lily/albino dogs (pure white dogs with pink skin, eye leather, nose leather, and blue eyes with red pupils) should not be shown in conformation or bred. Saddle tan with or without a mask cannot be shown or bred either. Both are disqualifying faults. Isabella and tan points are also faults.

All faults are listed below with either “MI” (minor), “MA” (major), and “DQ” (disqualifying) beside them to denote severity.

Aggression towards other dogs, prey animals, livestock animals, children, familiar humans, or small animals. (Aggressive trait is okay.) DQ
Fearful in nature, weak-nerved. (Jumpy trait.) DQ
Lack of interest in pleasing humans, lack of interest in toy/food rewards. DQ
Overcorrection of other dogs/puppies. MA
Aggression towards unfamiliar humans off-property. DQ
Weakness or fineness in body, lack of muscle. DQ
Thin chest. MA
Large or flat feet. MA
Weak ears. MA
Too large or too small ears. MI
Disproportionate body (too long or too tall). MA
Tightly curled tail. MA
Wide “friendly” or “buggy” eyes. MI
Round ears. MA
Albinism/Lily. MA
Underbite or overbite. DQ
Thin or weak coat (absence of guard hairs or undercoat) (Can only use the one fur type included in the template dog). DQ
True irish markings. MA
Double-merle or lethal white. DQ
Saddle tan. DQ
Isabella. MI
Tan points. MI
Piebald dogs with NO color on head (colored ears, or a spot on the face negates this). MI
True irish markings. MA

Section IV: Health

The Câine de Castel is a hardy, healthy animal. They do not often suffer from disorders of the muscles, immune system or stomach, and allergies are rare among the breed. Due to their size and the dogs that were bred to create the Câine de Castel breed, they should be tested for the following disorders/diseases; hip and elbow dysplasia, x-linked progressive retinal atrophy, and the multidrug resistance gene. The average lifespan for a dog of this breed is between 10 and 14 years, though there have been individuals that lived to be over 15 years of age. The median age of death is 12.

Section V: History

In the late 1700’s, Forgotten Hollow was rife with crime and a disease which they had no name for. The castles and manors of the area were guarded heavily, yet trouble still persisted.

Hardest hit by the wave of crime was Lord Ardenov, a young nobleman living in a manor atop a hill. His kennelmaster, whose name was unfortunately lost to time, began the development of what we know as the Câine de Castel today. He took stock from molossers, herding dogs, livestock guarding dogs, a spitz type from further North, and two Borzoi bitches to create the Câine de Castel.

After much trial and error, the kennelmaster succeeded in creating a breed that was both extremely protective and trustworthy around one’s family. The first litter that was consistent enough for his liking, as recorded, included a brindle merle bitch, a black wolven dog, two piebald blue dogs, and one liver merle pup of unknown gender.

It wasn’t terribly long before the breed gained popularity. The noble class became very fond of these protective dogs, and still today one can find paintings of such individuals with their beloved Câini de Castel. Dogs with unusually shaped markings were valued greatly due to the fact that they were more difficult to steal and conceal from their owners, and individual dogs were more easily recognized from a distance.

By the early 1800’s, the Câine de Castel had gained popularity with hunters-- not because of the dogs’ hunting ability, but because he could keep hunters safe from bears and wolves-- with farmers-- because he could guard the sheep and cows with the same ferocity-- and with taxmen, for a short time.

By 1930, the breed was in dire straits. Many individuals of the breed were mixed, either with German Shepherds or other such dogs. Few purebred dogs remained.

It was by a handful of historic breed enthusiasts that the Câine de Castel was brought back from near extinction. As of 1990, there were at least 6,500 dogs of good health and fitting the breed standard. The numbers have continued to grow, and the breed has continued to improve in temperament and appearance.

OOC - Desired traits.

Aggressive, Adventurous, Friendly, Hunter, Loyal, Smart, Sleuth, Vocal.

OOC - Unacceptable traits.

Glutton, Independent, Jumpy, Stubborn, Troublemaker.

OOC - Acceptable traits, neither preferred nor unacceptable.

Energetic, Couch Potato, Hairy, Playful.