Country of Origin: Italy

UTILIZATION : Companion dog

FCI'S CLASSIFICATION : Group 9 : Companions and Toys Section 1 : Bichons and related Breeds Without Working Trial

Brief Historical Summary
Its origins are confused with those of the Maltese, because its distant ancestors are the same little dogs mentioned in Latin by Aristotle (384 - 322 BC) under the denomination of "canes melitenses". Already known in the Roman era, the Bolognese appears most especially among the very appreciated gifts which were made during a whole era by the powerful of that world. Cosimo de Medici (1389 - 1464) brought no less than eight to Brussels as gifts to as many Belgian noblemen. Philipe II, king of Spain from 1556 to 1598, after having received two as a gift from the Duke d'Este, thanks the donor in writing saying "that these two little dogs are the most royal gifts one can make to an emperor". Bolognese are represented in paintings of Titian, of Pierre Breughel called le Vieux and Goya.

General Appearance
Small size, stocky and compact, covered with a pure white coat, long and fluffy.

Important Proportions
Square built, the length of the body being equal to the height at the withers.

Behavior-Temperament
Very serious, generally not very active. Enterprising, docile, very much attached to his master and his entourage.

Head
Of medium length, reaches 1/3 of the height of the withers. Its width, measured at the level of the zygomatic arch is the same as its length.

Stop
Rather accentuated.

Cranial Region
The skull of slightly ovoid (egg-shaped) shape in the sagital direction and rather flat in its upper part, has rather convex sides; the protuberances of the frontal bones are well developed. The longitudinal axes of the skull and muzzle are parallel; the frontal furrow is slightly accentuated and the occipital protuberance slightly marked. The length of the skull is slightly more than that of the muzzle.

Facial Region

Nose
On the same line as the topline of the muzzle; seen in profile, its foreface is on the vertical. Is large and must be black.

Muzzle
Its length is equal to 2/5 of the length of the head; the topline of the muzzle is straight and the sides of the muzzle are parallel, so that the fore part of the muzzle is almost square. The lower orbital region is well chiselled.

Lips
Upper lips being very developed in height, they do not cover the bottom lips, and the bottom profile of the muzzle is determined by the lower jaw.

Jaws
Normally developed, with top and bottom arches perfectly adapted.

Teeth
White, evenly aligned, with strong and complete dentition. Articulation of incisors as scissor bite; pincer bite tolerated.

Eyes
Set on an almost frontal plan; well opened, of superior to normal in size. Eyelid opening is round; the eyeball must not be prominent; the white of the eye is not visible. The rims of the eyelids must be black, and the iris of a dark ochre color.

Ears
High set, they are long and hanging, but rather rigid at their base, so that the upper part of the external ear is detached from the skull, giving thus the impression of the head being larger than it really is.

Neck
Without dewlap; its length is equal to the length of the head.

Body
The dog being of a square construction, the length of the body, measured from the point of the shoulder to the point of the buttock bone is equal to that of the height at the withers.

Top Profile
The straight profile of the back, and that of the loin, slightly convex, merge harmoniously in the line of the croup.

Withers
Not very prominent from the top line.

Chest
Ample, let down to level of elbows, with well sprung ribs, the height reaching almost half of the height at the withers.

Brisket
Point of sternum very obvious.

Croup
Very slightly sloping; is very wide.

Underline
Following the profile of the sternum, then rises slightly towards the belly.

Tail
Set in the line of the croup, carried curved over the back.

Limbs

 

Forequarters
Considered on the whole, they are perfectly straight and parallel in relation to the median plane of the body.

Shoulders
The length of the shoulder blades is equal to 1/4 of the height of the withers; in relation to the horizontal, they are slanting and are near the vertical in relation to the median plane of the body. They are well free in their movements.

Upper Arm
Well joined to the body, of an almost equal length to that of the shoulder, but less slanting.

Elbows
They are on a parallel plane to the median plane of the body.

Forearm Its length is equal to that of the upper arm; follows a perfect vertical direction.

Pastern Joint & Pastern
Seen from the front, they continue the vertical line of the forearm - Seen in profile, the pastern is a little bit slanting.

Forefeet
Oval shaped, with well cushioned dark pads and very hard black nails.

Hindquarters
Considered on the whole and viewed from the back, they must follow from the point of the buttock bone to the ground a perfectly vertical line - they are parallel to each other.

Upper Thighs
Their length is equal to 1/3 of the height of the withers. They are slanting from top to bottom and back to front and perfectly parallel to the median plane of the body.

Lower Thighs
Is longer than the upper thigh.

Hock
The tibia-tarsal angle is not very closed.

Hocks
The distance from the point of the hock to the ground is slightly less than a third of the height of the withers.

Hindfeet
Same characteristics as the front feet, but less oval.

Gait-Movement
Free, energetic, with a noble and distinguished head carriage.

Skin
Well taut and welded to the body all over, the visible mucuous membranes and the third eyelids strictly pigmented black.

Type of Hair
Long all over the body, from head to tail, from the topline to the feet. It is shorter on the muzzle. Rather fluffy, thus not lying flat, but in flocks; never forms fringes.

Color
Pure white, without any patches nor any shades of white.

Size & Weight
Height at withers : males 27 to 3n cm, females 25 to 28 cm, Weight: from 2,5 to 4 kg.

Faults
Any departure from the foregoing points constitutes a fault which when judging must be penalized according to its seriousness and extension; the same goes for squinting (strabismus.)

Serious Faults
Accentuated convergence or divergence of the upper longitudinal axes; convex muzzle (Roman nose)-prognathism, if it alters the outer look of the muzzle - size under 25 cm and more than 33 cm in the males and under 22 cm or more than 32 cm in females.

Disqualifying Faults
Undershot mouth - depigmentation of the nose-nose of any other color than black-bilateral depigmentation of the eyelids-wall-eyed-tail less-shortened tail whether natural or artificial-any other color than white -patches and flecks.

Note
Males should have two apparently normal testicles fully descended into the scrotum.