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| Update February 2011 | |
| Head, Eyes & Ears | Head to be short & broad, Muzzle of good width & rounded at the nostrils. |
| Eyes to be large, bright and bold and set with good width between. | |
| Ears to be large and drooping, and set with good width between. | |
| Body Shape | To have short, cobby body; thick-set, with good width across shoulders. |
| To be fit and of good substance, with plenty of firm flesh covering shoulders. | |
| To have good size appropriate to age. | |
| Coat Appearance | To stand erect from the body, being thick and even in length to give an overall ‘puff-ball’ appearance, with sufficient density that the skin is not visible without parting the coat. |
| To be between 5 and 7 cm in length in the adult cavy. | |
| Belly coat to be wavy, well-covered and shorter in length than on the rest of the body. | |
| To have chops of length appropriate to age. | |
| Ideally to have longer hairs, known as ‘horns’, over the ears. | |
| Coat Feel | To be soft, plush and of good density. |
| Presentation | To be clean, free of grease and unmatted. |
N.B. Any Full Standard for this breed is likely to be based on those for: The Rough Longhair breeds.
The Swiss is a rexoid, semi-longhaired cavy whose coat stands erect from the body to give a ‘puff-ball’ appearance.
The Swiss is inclined to moult at regular intervals, from the shoulder backwards. Accordingly, those in ‘mid moult’ have longer coats around the rump than on the rest of the body. They should not be shown during the moulting stages.
Some Swiss possess a rosette on the forehead. This usually fills out and disappears by 5 months of age. However, Swiss should not be shown with any visible rosette.
Swiss must be shown on a board. A brush or comb may be taken to the judging table in order to ‘tidy up’ the cavy after handling.
Swiss may be shown in any colour or combination of colours.
Wash 2: Designed by Simon Neesam for the British Cavy Council © 2009