The Australian Terrier breed of dog is a small, sturdy, medium-boned working terrier, rather long in proportion to height with pricked ears and a docked tail. Blue and tan, solid sandy, or solid red in color, with a harsh-textured outer coat, a distinctive ruff and apron, and a soft, silky topknot. Australian Terriers are sound and free moving with good reach and drive. Their expression is keen and intelligent, their manner spirited and self-assured. The head of an Australian Terrier is long and strong. The length of the muzzle is equal to the length of the skull. Expression - Keen and intelligent. Eyes - Small, dark brown to black (the darker the better), keen in expression, set well apart. Rims are black, oval in shape. Faults: Light-colored or protruding eyes. Ears - Small, erect and pointed; set high on the skull yet well apart, carried erect without any tendency to flare obliquely off the skull. Skull - Viewed from the front or side is long and flat, slightly longer than it is wide and full between the eyes, with a slight but definite stop. Muzzle - Strong and powerful with slight fill under the eyes. The jaws are powerful. Neck - Long, slightly arched and strong, blending smoothly into well laid back shoulders. Topline - Level and firm. Body - The body is of sturdy structure with ribs well-sprung but not rounded, forming a chest reaching slightly below the elbows with a distinct keel. The loin is strong and fairly short with slight tuck-up. Tail - Set on high and carried erect at a twelve to one o'clock position, docked in balance with the overall dog, leaving slightly less than one half, a good hand-hold when mature. Shoulders - Long blades, well laid back with only slight space between the shoulder blades at the withers. The length of the upper arm is comparable to the length of the shoulder blade. The angle between the shoulder and the upper arm is 90 degrees. Faults: Straight, loose and loaded shoulders. Elbows - Close to the chest. Forelegs - Straight, parallel when viewed from the front; the bone is round and medium in size. They should be set well under the body, with definite body overhang (keel) before them when viewed from the side. Pasterns - Strong, with only slight slope. Fault: Down on pasterns. Dewclaws are removed. Feet - Small, clean, catlike; toes arched and compact, nicely padded turning neither inward nor outward. Nails - Short, black and strong. Hindquarters are strong; legs well angulated at the stifles and hocks, short and perpendicular from the hocks to the ground. Upper and lower thighs are well muscled. Viewed from behind the rear legs are straight from the hip joints to the ground and in the same plane as the forelegs. Faults: Lack of muscular development or excessive muscularity. The outer coat of the Australian Terrier breed of dog is harsh and straight, approximately 2½ inches all over the body except the tail, pasterns, rear legs from the hocks down, and the feet, all of which are kept free of long hair. Hair on the ears is kept very short. Undercoat - Short and soft. Furnishings - Softer than body coat. The neck is well furnished with hair, which forms a protective ruff blending into the apron. The forelegs are slightly feathered to the pasterns. Topknot - Covering only the top of the skull, it is of finer and softer texture than the rest of the coat. The Australian Terrier breed of dog comes in blue and tan, solid sandy and solid red. For the blue and tan, "blue" is dark blue, steel-blue, dark gray-blue, or silver-blue. In silver-blues, each hair carries blue and silver alternating with the darker color at the tips. Tan markings (not sandy or red), as rich as possible, on face, ears, underbody, lower legs and feet, and around vent. The richer and more clearly defined the color, the better. For a blue and tan, the topknot should be silver or a lighter shade than the head color. For sandy or red Australian Terriers, any shade of solid sandy or solid red is acceptable, the clearer the better. For these dogs, the topknot should be silver or a lighter shade of body coat.