General Description
Small active and graceful dogs; medium to fine boned,

smooth hairless body with hair on feet, head and tail only;

or covered with a soft veil of hair

General Description Breakdown
Small;
This is of course relative; the dog is of course in reality a medium sized toy dog. 

He is not as small as the Chihuahua nor is he as big as the Lowchen. Too small and 

he appears Shelly and fragile (remember he is a hunter by nature and is still quite 

capable of killing birds and mice).
Active and graceful;
The most apt description is quick, everything is speedy and precise. A slow reluctant 

Crested is not typical.  
Hair placement;
Usually Crested are shown with the hair clipped off of the face but they can have a 

full face of hair if left unshaven. The Powderpuffs have a silky veil of hair and can 

also be left unshaven on the face if desired.
Both varieties can appear in the same litter, the gene that controls the hairlessness 

is dominant, so from a Hairless to Hairless mating, Powderpuffs can result as well as 

Hairless pups. However from a Powderpuff to Powderpuff mating only Powderpuffs can 

result, as the long coat is a recessive gene.
In judging the varieties consideration must be given to BOTH. Putting a bad hairless 

over a good Puff is not sound judging and does nothing to promote or improve the breed 

Characteristics 
Two distinct types of this breed; Deer type, racy and fined boned and the Cobby type,

 heavier in body and bone 
Temperament Happy never vicious;  
Some dogs can be overwhelmed by crowds of strangers and can appear at less than their 

best. Cresteds are naturally a wary dog and can be aloof with strangers. Crested are 

very hound like in their nature.
Watch them as they move out, does the tail go up and the expression change? If it does 

then the dog is naturally happy and is just unsure and wary of you. This is more 

obvious in adolescents and exposure to shows usually fixes the problem. If the dog 

slinks or fights hysterically on the table don’t push the situation, take stock of his

 age, however if the dog is vicious then treat it as a fault and grade it in context 

of that fault.

Head and Skull
Slightly rounded and elongated skull. Cheeks cleanly chiselled, lean and flat, 

tapering into muzzle. Stop slightly pronounced but not extreme. Head smooth, without 

excess wrinkles. Distance from base of skull to stop equal to distance from stop to

 tip of nose. Muzzle tapering slightly but never pointed leans without flews. Nose 

is a prominent feature, narrow in keeping with muzzle, any colour acceptable. Head 

presenting a graceful appearance, with alert expression. Lips tight and thin. An 

ideal crest begins at the stop and tapers off down the neck. Long and flowing 

preferred but sparse acceptable.

Head and Skull Description
Slightly rounded and not apple domed and is elongated like a stretched circle. 

The cheeks are lean similar to Saluki’s head and not bulging like a Staffy.

Every thing about the head speaks of elegance. The stop is slightly pronounced, again 

similar to an Afghan or Saluki and not like a Rottweiler or a Mastiff. The head when 

viewed from above should form a wedge. The cheeks flow into the muzzle without any 

real or pronounced demarcation line. Wrinkles will occur on the skin especially 

around the mouth, but not over the skull or around the cheeks. The head must appear 

balanced and the measurements reflect that. A short skull with a long muzzle makes 

the head look unbalanced and it is the same with a short muzzle and a long skull. 

The muzzle is tapered underneath in much the same way as a Doberman. It must never 

be chopped away underneath so that it appears top heavy around the nose or sniped. 

The nose is prominent and is clean cut and well defined. It is not overly large or 

overly small and should blend into the muzzle. Any coloured nose is acceptable but a 

bright pink nose on a black dog is a little odd. Self-coloured is the usual 

requirement with the darker dogs having the black nose and the reds, creams and

browns having the lighter nose.
The lips are tightly fitting around the mouth, loose flews are unacceptable, as 

is heavy padding around the mouth and this detracts from the lean and elegant head.

The expression should be alert, don’t forget this dog is a little hunter by nature 

and a sullen, stupid, resentful or a bored looking dog is not typical.

Eyes; 

So dark as to appear black. Little or no white showing. Medium size, almond in shape. 

Set wide apart. 

Ears Set 

low, highest point of base of ear level with the outside corner of eyes. Large 

and erect, with or without fringe except in Powderpuff where drop ears are permissible.

The ears of a Crested should not stick out sideways as this detracts from the alert 

appearance of the dog The ear is set erect on the head with the ideal ear starting 

level with the outside corner of the eye and ending almost level with the inside 

corner of the eye. They are large, small ears are not correct. Erect ears are 

sometimes found on Powderpuffs but drop ears are permissible and usually more common 

in Australia

Mouth;
Jaws strong, with perfect regular scissor bite, i.e. the upper teeth closely 

overlapping the lower teeth and set square to the jaw 
The jaws are quite strong for such a little dog and this again reflects the hunting 

nature of the dog. 
The mouth of the Hairless and the Powderpuff are totally different. 
Both are required to have scissor bites but teeth are sometimes scarce in the mouth 

of the Hairless. The gene that modifies the coat also controls the teeth, therefore 

do not expect a normal looking canine mouth
The upper canines are forward pointing more like a cat and lower ones are thick tusks. 
Where there are teeth present in the front, they should set in a scissor bite. Gaps 

appear where premolars and molars are missing. The teeth are sometimes loosely set 

in the jaw and are lost or do not grow at all. Powderpuffs always have regular teeth 

and full dentition. 

 Neck Lean; free from throatiness, long and sloping gracefully into strong shoulders. 

When moving, carried high and slightly arched.

Think of elegance and this will give you an idea about the neck of a Crestie. There 

should not be any saggy skin on the neck, it should be tight fitting and smooth to 

touch. The neck is long and flows into the shoulder. There should not be any break 

in the flowing line from the head to the shoulder. The neck is carried up and with 

a proud arch to it, reminiscent of an Arab horse.

Forequarters Shoulders clean, narrow and well laid back. Legs long and slender set 

well under body. Elbows held close to the body. Pasterns fine, strong, nearly vertical.

Toes turned neither in nor out.

The shoulders must not be over muscled or bulging, they are lean, in keeping with 

the rest of the dog. The shoulders have an approximate 45.ƒ¿ lay. This type of 

shoulder is essential to prevent a hackney or goose-stepping gait, or a dog with no

 reach. The elbows should be in line with the point of wither. That is to say a 

vertical line drawn through the point of wither should bisect the elbow and continue 

to the bumper pad. The legs are long and slender but should not be weak or under 

muscled. They should sit well under the body and should not flap at the elbow. 

Pasterns are fine but strong and nearly vertical they should not bow or appear 

down on pastern. This can be deceiving in the light of the extreme hare foot, 

which can make the pastern look down.

Body;

Medium to long. Supple. Chest rather broad and deep not barrel-ribbed. Breast 

bone not prominent. Brisket extending to elbows, moderate tuck up. 
The dog is not as long a ratio as a Bassett and dogs that are too long look 

unbalanced, however common sense must prevail here and extremely long bodies on 

short legs are not what we are looking for. The chest is broad but not with large 

muscle. The chest seen from the side extends to the elbow a dog that is shallow 

here cannot have the required tuck up and presents a level underline. The chest 

while well sprung is not rounded like a barrel. The appearance of the fore chest 

is flowing and smooth with everything blending throughout the dog’s body. 
Hindquarters Rump well-rounded and muscular, loins taut, stifles firm and long, 

sweeping smoothly into well let down hocks. Angulation of rear limb must be such 

as to produce a level back. Hind legs set wide apart. 
Think again of the elegance an Arab horse. He must have the strong muscles to drive 

his hindquarters but he does not rise over the rear. The loins are tight and not too 

short as the dog is agile and can turn fast. The stifles are long and firm to propel 

to dog along without losing the level back. The angulation is best described as 

moderate to well angulated. Straight stifles will produce a rising rear end and 

choppy movement. 
                            

Feet;

Extreme hare foot, narrow and very long, with unique elongation of small bones 

between joints especially in forefeet, which almost appear to possess an extra joint. 

Nails any colour, moderately long. Socks ideally confined to toes, but not extending 

above the top of the pastern. Feet turning neither in nor out.The word here is extreme.

It is a very odd looking foot to find on a dog. It is almost a hand and can be used 

as such. They are very good at climbing vertically and using their feet to reach 

things. The nails a rather long for a dogs foot but do not expect the nail to be 

excessively worn down as the shape of the foot prevents this. Socks can be sparse 

or heavily furnished and usually extend to the top of the pastern. The feet should 

face forward and not turn or roll.

Tail Set high, carried up or out when in motion. Long and tapering, fairly straight, 

not curled or twisted to either side, falling naturally when at rest. Plume long and 

flowing confined to lower two thirds of tail. Sparse plume acceptable

The tail will rise when the dog moves out, the more enthusiastic the dog the higher

 the tail appears to go. The tail should not be curled like an Afghan or twisted like

 a Pug. The tail extends to the hock when at rest. The tail can curl slightly over the 

back if the dog is very alert.
Again we see the maxim that a sparse coated dog is NOT to be penalised if it is a 

good representative of the breed.

Coat 

No large patches of hair anywhere on body. Skin fine grained, smooth, warm to 

the touch. In Powderpuffs coat consists of an undercoat with soft veil of long hair,

veil coats a feature. 

The skin of a Crestie should feel like expensive kid leather. There can be a marked 

colour change from summer to winter, with the dog becoming paler during the winter 

months. Puppies will also change, as they grow, with the pup being born all pink and 

ending up a solid colour. Course rough skin is not typical, sometimes skin blemishes 

appear especially on adolescent dogs but these are transitory in nature. The coat of 

the Powderpuff is very difficult to explain the coat should have lift, it is not like 

a Silky Terrier coat that lies close to the body, and it is definitely not a short 

woolly coat like a Bichon. The undercoat should be long enough to just hold the outer 

coat away from the body. The outer hair should be soft and silky and appear to float 

especially when the dog is moving. I believe the term “Veil Coat” applies more to the 

movement of the coat which should float like a veil than the idea that the coat is see

 through. 
Much argument has gone on as to whether the skin should be seen through the coat and I

 am sure this will go on forever more. I will leave it in that I consider the coat 

should be dense enough that no areas of skin should show, but not so heavy as to look

 like an Afghan Hound. Underneath this coat, the body of the Powderpuff should not be 

different from the body of the Hairless. The only difference is in type, either Cobby

 or Deer.


 

Photo with permission from Martine of Crestairs Chinese Crested Canada.

Gait/Movement Long, flowing and elegant with good reach and plenty of drive.

Elegant is the only word that should describe the light airy movement of the dog. 

The front legs are lifted fairly high and pushed forward. It is not a hackney gait

 as there is good reach nor is it a Shepherd gait as the head is carried up. 

IT IS DEFINITELY NOT A PONY ACTION. The action is not choppy or short stepping. 

It should flow along with no exaggeration either fore or aft.. Drive behind should 

be powerful and the muscles of the hindquarters and the angulation and flex of the 

stifle should be able to provide this.
The biggest mistake we see made in judging Cresteds is the rewarding of goose-stepping

 dogs. The drive is good but the shoulders are not and the front goes up and down. 

The dog is propelled by its rear and may as well not have front feet. 

Please remember this dog is not a carriage pony and that high stepping action is wrong. 

Photo of Puff with kind permission of Vickie Bridle Mohawk Kennels Victoria 
  

Size
Ideal Height Dogs 28-33cms or 11-13 ins
Bitches 23-30cms or 9-12 inches

 Kind permission Narelle Robinson Qld

Faults
Any departure from the foregoing points should be considered a fault and the 

seriousness with which the fault should be regarded should be in exact proportion 

to its degree. 
Note
Male animals should have two apparently normal testicles fully descended into

the scrotum