Comment on the Chart Polski standard-
Dr. Malgorzata Szmurlo, Veterinary and International judge for Sighthounds, is the main author of the FCI breed standard and the most experienced, with her sister dr. Izabella, who has assisted her in saving from extinction risk together with few other passionates.-
Dr. Malgorzata Szmurlo – President of the Chart Polski Club in Poland (Klub Charta Polskiego)-
The important general appearance of the Chart Polski is the impression of a working dog, he has to be strong, and muscular, with strong bones. Chart Polski can not be a delicate, fragile dog, remember that once hunted with him, was also used for the wolves and roe deer. However he has to be fast and agile, not heavy or lymphatic, and the difference between male and female must be obvious.
The appearance should clearly be similar to that of his Asiatic ancestors. The Chart Polski is the archetype of the contemporary Saluki. In comparison he should appear with more substance, but maintains the harmony of the construction of his ancestor.
The proportion of the length of the body and the height at the withers is 102-103% , which means that the length of the body is SLIGHTLY greater than height at the withers. Chart Polski however must not be too long, which usually proceeds at the same rate with a soft top-line. These proportions are subjected to the mechanisms of movement.
Chart Polski’s head must be long, rather narrow and “dry”, but with strong jaws. As for Saluki or Borzoi, there are different types of heads from each other. It is really important a head with the right size in proportion to the body and with the corrects proportions of the muzzle and skull: the imperfect muzzle is narrow, pointed, with a weak jaw; the wrong skull is round shaped (as a dome), with accentuate stop and deep groove between eyes, prominent cheek bones , skull out of proportion to the muzzle. The length of the muzzle should be equal to length of the skull or slightly longer. A distinctive feature is the large nose, clearly projected beyond the lips. A special taste of the beauty of the Chart Polski is the Roman profile, slightly aquiline: the nose is under the bridge of the nose. The upper lines of the skull and muzzle are slightly divergent.
One important thing is the colour of the nose, lips and eyes contour- in line with the desired model is black, although in the case of blue or beige coat (and thus influenced by the dilution gene), this colour can be consistent with the mantle, respectively blue and beige. In a Chart Polski with a very clear mantle, as ivory, the nose may be sand, or it can take “coffee and milk”-coloured shades, but not pale red.
Those without pigment or with pink spots clearly demarcated from the rest of the black truffle have to be treated as defective.
The eyes are quite large, almond shaped, oblique. Defective ones are small, sunken or round, prominent. Very similar to the shape of the eyes of Saluki, the eye of the Chart Polski is more “cutting ”, more piercing.
The neck have to be long, strong, muscular. The head should not be raised as high as in Greyhound, nor so low as in Borzoi. A common defect is a neck too much as a deer, too much upside, usually combined with a too straight shoulder. This impression is often exacerbated when , wrongly, the handler try to force the dog to hold his head very high, while the proper carriage of Chart Polski’s head is with the neck upward, but forward. However the Chart Polski should not have the neck as a swan.
The thorax of a valid Chart Polski can not be flat, but should not be circled as well Afghanhound.
The back is slightly arched in the lumbar region, A back too arched in thoracic region and the croup too precipitous are defects. A so “hunch-backed” Chart Polski usually has another fault: legs are too straight. The lumbar area almost straight is not a defect in females, although generally, so constructed dogs are too long. The croup is broad, strong, muscular, gently sloping.
The chest is made to accommodate a heart and lugs of an appropriate size for a sprinter. Must be deep, and with the ringing of the ribs it earns capacity. The sternum should be long and also the ribs, placed obliquely to the spine. In Poland there are Chart Polski with shallow, flat chest- many of which may be associated with abnormal breeding of the puppies ( not enough movement). You may also find dogs with ribs and sternum short as Azawakh, and this in Chart Polski is not valid. This function is generally with too vertical shoulder- then the chest is too narrow and not much capacious and the base of the sternum is invisible in profile.
The tail is carried low at rest , but not completely abandoned to the ground as a cow. Moving, the tail is carried much higher and the terminal part as a sickle can be folded upward to form a complete ring. Important here is the basic position- can not be brought on the back. This point sometimes creates problems of interpretation – judges usually consider that the ring at the end of the tails should brought be carried under the loins, while a Chart Polski in “good spirits” often carries the ring at the end of the tail on the back. This is just to set the tail- it should be an extension of the topline. It is only important that all the tail is not resting on the back or that the base is not carried to high (as straight as the tail of a terrier).
A distinctive feature is the fringe of coat on the tail, i.e. the longer hairs on the underside. The “brush” must be clearly visible and quite thick and stiff! Frequent defects is the hair too short (almost invisible) or sometimes too long and soft like a Borzoi.
The leg should be long, dry and well muscled, without giving the impression of a dog too high on the legs. The musculature is clearly more dry than in a typical sprinter as Greyhound and whippet: muscles too large and heavy are not right in Chart Polski, because he must be stronger than greyhound and can easily defeat him in a much longer distance. Hence the muscular construction more defined and clearly delineated.
Chart Polski should not have a so great angles in hind legs as Greyhound – very often it is the handler who makes a mistake, showing and placing him as a Greyhound. The hind hocks, seen from behind, should be parallel, but less enlarged than those of Greyhound.
A particular characteristic of Chart Polski is when he moves trotting: the hind legs are set on a line, or even should not move in parallel (trotting like fox), ie if we look at the tracks left and right of hind legs, they are in a line, not side by side. Many judges forget this standard feature putting this in the judgment as a defect!
The coat is slightly rough to the touch, flexible, with variable length on the various part of the body, a characteristic is the abundant undercoat, especially in winter. A soft and silky coat is a defect, and also a short, thin and with almost no undercoat, or long as Borzoi.
THE MOST SEVERE DEFECT IS THE LACK OF TIPICITY!
