SIZE: Males - 21 to 25 inches at the withers and weigh from 75 to 100 lbs. Females - 19 to 23 inches at the withers, 60 to 80 lbs. *One inch & 5 lbs variant is acceptable.

HEAD: The head should be large or broad, flat across the skull, giving a squared appearance. It should also be medium length, well-muscled throughout but heavily muscled in males with pronounced muscular cheeks

FAULTS* small head or narrow head that doesn’t fit the body’s composition . Unnoticeable muscle around the jawline.

EYES: Medium in size and of any color. Almond-shaped to round. All colors, including marble are acceptable. Asymmetrical coloring of the eyes will also occur and should not be penalized.

FAULTS* Cherry eye, ectropian, entopian, distichiasis, and crossed eyes.. No pigmentation on either or both eyes is considered a severe cosmetic fault.

MUZZLE: Medium length should be 2 inches – 3 inches (ABBBs with larger and robust heads are allowed to have an extra .5 inch of length) square , broad, with a strong well muscled under jaw. The length of the muzzle of the ABBB is roughly 30 -35 percent of the overall length of the head. The chin is well defined and must not overlap the upper lip or cover it. Black pigment lining the lips is preferred but not an essential.

FAULTS* Pendulous lips, long and narrow muzzle. Any dog that exhibits difficulty breathing while in the ring.

BITE: The ABBB has a complete set of 42 large, evenly spaced, white teeth. A definite undershot, ¼ to 3/8 inch is ideal. Teeth should not be visible when mouth is closed. Broken teeth is also acceptable. Scissor bite is acceptable but not preferred.

FAULTS* Overbite, wry mouth (crooked bite from angulation of the upper or lower jaw), visible teeth when mouth closed. Extreme undershot. Tiny, missing, or rotten teeth.

NOSE: Full pigment of black or liver is ideal. On black nosed dogs the lips should be black with some pink allowed. The nares should be open enough to breathe freely. Anything less of 50% pigment is considered a cosmetic fault after the dog is 3 years old (Adult Class).

FAULTS* Extreme dry nose or irritated nose. Closed nares.

EARS: Rose-ears, medium-size, to half-perked with forward roll, carried close to the head. We do understand that Alapahas ARE a working breed so cropping is acceptable but natural is highly preferred.

FAULTS* Natural full erect ears, Bat ears, rose ears without a forward roll, semi pricked ears, button ears. Minor cosmetic fault for docked ears.

NECK: Muscular, medium in length, slightly arched, tapering from shoulders to head, with a very slight dewlap allowed. Evenly muscled, and well tied in with the front legs.

FAULTS* too short or long, overly thick, lack of girth, profound dewlap, or a weak neck.

CHEST: The chest should be deep and moderately wide, deep with a well sprung ribcage giving the appearance of power and athletic ability. The front should be straight, well balanced, and proportioned properly.

FAULTS* Narrow, barrel chested, or excessively wide.

SHOULDERS: Very muscular with wide sloping blades; giving the appearance of athleticism first and power second. The front should be straight and well balanced, so elbows are not bowed out at maturity. Straight line from shoulder to pad.

LOIN AND BACK: The withers forms the highest part of the back that slopes downward slightly toward the loin which are imperceptible arched and strong. The belly should be well shaped and tightly muscled with the rear part of the thorax should swing in a pleasing curve (tuck-up). A slight Roached back is acceptable.

FAULT* Receding Back, Sway Back, Camel or Roached Back, a back Line that’s too high in the rear, excessively long or too narrow back, poor tuck up.

BODY: The Alapaha is broad, robust,, straight, and well-balanced. The chest should not be narrow or excessively wide or should the elbows be angled out or pulled in.

FAULTS* Excessively over proportioned. Too narrow of a body.

HINDQUARTERS: Very broad and well muscled and in proportion to the shoulders. Hips narrower than shoulders; well muscled, thick, strong, and moderately angulated.

FAULTS* Narrow or weak hindquarters, bowed legs, cow hocks, open hocks, and weak pasterns.

LEGS: Strong and straight. Front legs should not set close together nor far apart. Rear legs should have moderate angulation. FAULTS*Excessively bowed in or out at the elbows. Lack of visible angulations of the stifle on rear legs.

GAIT: balanced and smooth, powerful and unhindered implying agility with ease, ground covering strides, showing strong driving action in the hind quarters with corresponding reach in front. The rear legs should propel, with power, the dog forward, not merely follow along behind. As speed increases the feet move toward the center line of the body to maintain balance . The legs should not travel excessively wide. Ideally the dog should single-track effortlessly. The top line remains firm and level, parallel to the line of motion. All legs move parallel to the direction of travel. Back legs right feet should never cross in motion.

FAULTS* Any suggestion of clumsiness, tossing and/or rolling of the body, Front or rear legs moving too close, touching, or crossing, side winding, short or stilted steps, twisting joints, pacing, paddling, or weaving.

FEET: Moderate size and medium length toes, well arched and close together. Pasterns should be upright, straight, and strong. Dew Claws are acceptable.

FAULTS* Faults: Splayfoot (crooked toes).

TAIL: The tail should be long enough to reach the hocks tapering to a point. The tail should be strong extension of the spine and thick at the root, should be powerful in movement.. The tail is carried over the back when excited or walking. Dogs with docked tails and or a kinked tail are still acceptable in any show ring, but not preferred.

FAULTS* Corkscrew tail. Kinks at the base of the tail. Points deducted for docked and kinked tails

COATS: Short, close, glossy and stiff to the touch with soft undercoat.

FAULTS* missing hair, long hair especially on the tail, calluses, extreme dry hair.

COLOR: The preferred color pattern is 30% to 70% percent color with patches of white.. The colored patches may be any shade of merle or brindle, solid blue, black, chocolate, red , fawn, seal, or tri-colored . An all white dog is acceptable, but care must be taken to ascertain that there are no genetic defects (i.e. deafness, blindness or problematic skin).

FAULTS* Points deducted for “Solid colors” and “solid whites” since they are not preferred in the breed and considered to be cosmetic faults.

DISQUALIFICATIONS: Cranks, or screw tails. Overly aggressive towards the judge. The Alapaha is intelligent and should be aware that the judge is not threatening in any way.. The Handler should have full control of the dog.

DEGREES OF FAULTS: A cosmetic fault is one of a minor nature. A fault not specified as cosmetic has to do with structure as it relates to the animal’s overall movement abilities. In a show or other evaluation, the dog is to be penalized in direct proportion to the degree of the fault. Any fault which is extreme should be considered a serious fault and should be penalized by the deduction of points appropriately. Attributes other than cosmetic listed in the standard all relate to the dog’s movement which do include but are not limited to agility, endurance, leverage, biting, and heat tolerance.

* Spayed or neutered dogs can be shown in their own category*

* Any 6 month or older Male that has only one testicle can be judged but CANNOT move on to Best of Class.