The original of this book is in the Cornell University Library. There are no known copyright restrictions in the United States on the use of the text. http://www.archive.org/details/cu31924073870572 CORNELL UNIVEBSITV LIBRARY 3 1924 073 870 572 Production Note Cornell University Library produced this volume to replace the irreparably deteriorated original. It was scanned at 600 dots per inch resolution and compressed prior to storage using COil/llU Group 4 compression. The digital data were used to create Comell's replacement volume on paper that meets the ANSI Standard 239.48-1992. The production of this volume was supported by the United States Department of Education, Higher Education Act, Title II-C. Scanned as part of the A. R. Mann Library project to preserve and enhance access to the Core Historical Literature of the Agricultural Sciences. Titles included in this collection are listed in the volumes published by the Cornell University Press in the series The Literature of the Agricultural Sciences, 1991-1995, Wallace C. Olsen, series editor. THE DOG BOOK The Dog Book A Popular History of the Dog, with Practical Information as to Care and Management of House, Kennel, and Exhibition Dogs; and Descriptions of All the Important Breeds. BY JAMES WATSON Illustrated from Photographs, Paintings, and Rare Engravings NEW YORK Doubleday, Page & Company 1909 CONTENTS— C»nrinB(rrf CHAPTER V — PAGE 69 Buying a Dog: The Value of Pedigree — Knowledge of Earlier Generations Needed — Start on Equal Footing with Successful Breeders — Pur- chasing a Show Dog — Good Dogs Costly — Selecting a Puppy — A Good Word for Dog Dealers. CHAPTER VI — PAGE 81 Early Spaniels and Setters: The Spaniel — ^The Setting Spaniel — ^The Individual Fields of the Setter and the Pointer — The Three Breeds of Setters: English, Irish, and Gordon. CHAPTER VII — PAGE 105 The English Setter: Naworth Castle or Featherstone Castle Setters — Edmond Castle Setters — Lord Lovat's Breed — The Southesk — - Strains of the Earl of Seafield — Breed of the Earl of Derby and Lord Ossulston — Lord Ossulston's Black Setters — Breeds of Lord Hume, Wilson Patten, and Henry Rothwell — Mr Lort's Setters — ^The Welsh or Llanidloes Setter — The Laveracks and Their Breeding — Stonehenge on the Laveracks and Llewellyns — Early Importations of Laveracks — Pride of the Border's Progeny — The Era of Mr. Windholz and the Blackstone Kennels — The Dark Days of the "Tennessee Setters" — Return to the Correct Type — Pedigree in Field Trial Dogs — Doctor Rowe on the Llewellyns — Points of a Good Setter. chapter viii page 147 Training of a Field Dog. chapter ix — page 159 The Irish Setter: The History of the Irish Setter — Its Existence Before the Nineteenth Century — Mr. Laverack on the Qualities of the Irish Setter — Stonehenge's Excellent Description — Controversy of 1 866 on the Colour of Old Varieties — The La Touche Setters — Dr. Jarvis on the Field-trials Successes of the Breftd in England and America — Views of Dr. Davis and Mr. B. L. Clements — Elcho and his Descendants — Past and Present Conditions of the Breed in America. C01>iTENTS— Continued CHAPTER X — PAGE 195 The Gordon Setter: Correct Facts Regarding the Sale of the Gordon Castle Setters in 1836 — Colour and Early History — The Collie Cross — Improbability of the Gordon Setter's Irish Origin — ^The Duke's Intimate Connection with English Sportsmen — ^Attempt to Change the Type in America — Present Condition of the Breed in America — Points. CHAPTER XI — PAGE 217 The Clumber Spaniel: How and When the Breed Reached Clumber — First Known as the Duke of Newcastle's or Mansell's Spaniels — Colonel Hamilton's Reference to the Breed — Record of the Variety Under its Modern Name — The Clumber in America — Points. CHAPTER XII — page 229 The Sussex Spaniel: The Passing of the Sussex — The Rosehill Strain — The Sussex in America — Points — Descriptive Particulars. chapter XIII — PAGE 233 The Field Spaniel: A Modern Type of Dog — Mr. Jacobs's Newton Abbot Kennel and his Successful Breeding — ^The Sussex Introduced in the Old Black Strains — Mixed Cocker and Field Spaniel Lines in England and America — Show History of the Breed. chapter XIV — PAGE 247 The Cocker Spaniel: The Name not Originally Indicative of Size — Divis- ion and Colours of the Spaniels a Century ago — Mixed Types of Cockers Before the Introduction of the Obo Strain — ^Wonderful Success of Obo II. as a Sire and his Transformation of the Variety — Mr. Willey's Enterprise and Successes — ^The Canadians One Time Led in the Production of the Best Cockers — Black Duke's Intro- duction and his Career — ^The Swiss Mountain Kennels' Many Good Dogs — Change in the Standard and the Steady Decrease in Size — Mr. W. T. Payne's Good Work for the Parti-colours — The Mepal and Brookdale Kennels and Their Present Competitors. chapter XV — PAGE 265 The Norfolk Spaniel: An Excellent All-round Worker on Land or in Water — Origin of the Name — ^No Connection with the Duke of Norfolk, whose Spaniels were Toy Black and Tans. viii CONTENTS— Conlinued CHAPTER XVI — PAGE 271 The Welsh Spaniel or Springer: Not Entitled to be Considered as Specially Restricted to Wales — The Old Type of Leggy Spaniel Common Throughout England. chapter XVII — PAGE 273 Irish Water Spaniel: A Striking Dog Devoid of Ancient History^ — The First Description Found in a Scotch Book — Mr. Justin McCarthy's Development of the Variety — Its Introduction into America and Early Popularity — Reasons for its Decline — Present Conditions of the Breed as a Show Dog. chapter XVIII — PAGE 281 The Pointer: The Probable Origin Traced to a Dog of the Tracking Hound Type — Its Sudden Development Throughout Europe and in England Inconsistent with any Claim of Spanish Origin — Shooting Flying Called for .the Use of the Hound Dog that Already Stood and Showed Where the Game was and it Became the English "Pointer" — Gay's Poetic Reference to the Pointer in 1711 — Major Topham on the Ancient Use of the Pointer to Find the Hare for Coursing — ^The Russian Pointer or Setter — Colonel Thornton's Use of the Foxhound Cross and His Remarkable Dogs — Black Pointers and Dwarf Varieties — The Pig Pointer Slut — Breeding Throughout England Preceding the Show Period — Remarkable Prepotency of Price's Bang in Producing Show and Field Dogs and Forming the Pointer of To-day — History of the Breed in America — ^Westminster Kennel Club's Early importations — ^The Graphic Kennels Era — The Phenomenal Beaufort — Peculiar Judging Methods before the A. K. C. was Started — Success of the Westlake and Mott Kennels — The Pointer in the Field and its Recognition Enforced by the Dexter-McCurdo Combination and the Dogs They Produced. CHAPTER XIX — page 319 The Retriever: A Dog More Adapted to English than American Shoot- ing Methods — Probable Relationship to the Chesapeake Bay Dog, through the Labrador — Descriptions and Points of the Curly and Wavy Coated . CONTENTS— Continued ix CHAPTER XX — PAGE 325 The Chesapeake Bay Dog : A Breed of American Development — ^Tra- ditions Regarding its Origin Point to the Labrador Dog — The Standard Badly Framed — Mr. Pearson's Opinions — Descriptions and Scale of Points. CHAPTER XXI — page 333 The Dalmatian: Ticked Dogs Known in Egypt in Ancient Times — Early Descriptions and Pictures of English Dogs Called for Marks now Declared Incorrect — A Descendant of the Hound Family — Re- quirements in Judging the Dalmatian. chapter XXII — page 343 Rough-coated Collie : A Distinct Type of Dog of Unknown Origin — Illustrations Dating from i8oo Show Same Characteristics — The Name of Gaelic Origin — Introduction of the Collie into England with Birmingham as Headquarters — Mr. Charles H. Wheeler's Description of Historical Dogs — The Show-bred Collie as a Worker — History of the Collie in America — Eclipse and Rutland Impor- tations — Success of the Chestnut Hills Kennel Followed by Mr. Morgan's Winnings — Prof. Bohannan's Table of Collie Sires — The Western Breeders' Rivalry and its Good Results. chapter XXIII — page 369 The Smooth Sheep Dog: A Distinct Dog from the Collie in its Origin — The Common Farm Dog or Mastiff Called the Cur, a Name ofGood Repute in Olden Days — "Cur" not Derived from the Shortened Tail and not an Abbreviation of Curtail — A Breed whose Claim for Quality is not Properly Recognised — Well Adapted for Work in This Country. chapter xxiv — page 379 The Bob-tailed Sheep Dog: Claims as to this Breed Being an Old One not Warranted — Erroneously Supposed to Have Been the Shep- herds' Dog, which was Smooth — Probability of its Originating from Importations of Rough-coated Russian Setters — The Furore of a Few Years Ago Led to Many Importations. — The Mistake of Favouring Large Dogs who Tire Readily. X CONTENTS— Continued CHAPTER XXV — PAGE 387 The Bulldog: One of the Outcomes of the Common Dog of England, Which Went by the Name of Mastiff — Akin to the Alaunt of Spain Which Assisted at Bullfights — Mr. Arthur Merritt's Recollection of an English Bull Baiting — The Bulldog of 1800 — Bill George at Canine Castle — Bulldogs of 1855-60 — Turton's Crib and the New Type Dating from the Appearance of His Son, Monarch — Early Bulldogs at New York Shows — Mr. John E. Thayer's Importations — Later Supporters of the Breed —Good Work of the Bulldog Club— Mr. Joseph B. Vander- grift's Short but Brilliant Career — ^The Chibiados Incident — Difficulties Attending Breeding — Condensed Standard and Scale of Points. CHAPTER XXVI PAGE 401 The Terrier: An English Production, the Result of Selection for Specific Purposes — Ranked with Hounds by Caius — Description, When Translated, of French Bassets Doing Duty for English Terriers from 1560 to 1800 — Blome's Suggestion for Breeding Terriers — ^Taplin Divides the Varieties by Colour and Coat — Barlow's Illustration of Rabbiting — ^Varieties Depicted from 1790 to 1850 — ^A Very Early Use of "Terrier" by a French Writer — Sporting versus Non-sporting Breeds. CHAPTER XXVII — PAGE 415 The Smooth Fox Terrier: The White Dog Began with Colonel Thorn- ton's Pitch — "Peeping Tom's" Reminiscences Regarding Early Show Dogs — The First Class of Fox Terriers Shown in England , in 1862 — Copy of the Catalogue Entry — EngUsh Exhibitors at Boston in 1878 — Mr. Rutherford's Early Connection with the Breed — Mr. Thayer's Liberal Importations Followed by Mr. Belmont's — Description of the Then Prominent Dogs — Large Entries of Good Dogs Made Twenty Years Ago Compared with the Present Time — Mr. Gooderham Takes the Field and Entries DecUne — Mr. Farwell's Strong Sabine Combination — The Warren Kennels' Success with American-bred Dogs — Standard and Scale of Points. CHAPTER XXVIII — PAGE 43S The Wire-haired Fox Terrier: An Older Breed Than the Smooth Terrier — Prominent as a Leading Variety in Paintings by Well- known Artists — Kept Back by the Popularity of the Smooth CONTENTS— ConlinueJ xi Dog — First Recognised at New York Show in 1883, but Made Slow Progress — What Mecrsbrook Bristles Did for the Breed — Major Carnochan's Prominent Importations — ^The Success of Hands Up — Mr. Knowle's Selwonk, and Mr. Harley's Wan- dee, Kennels. CHAi'TKK XXIX — I'AGi; 441 Thk Airf.dai.k: Origin of the Breed — Not Generally Known in England Till 1880 — Hardly . Recognised in America until 1898 — Ex- liibitors Who Established the Breed and Their judicious Impor- tations — Rapid Growth in Popular Esteem and in Breeding — The Airedale Described — Scale of Points. CHAl'TER. XXX — I'AGii 449 The Bui.i. Terrier: Recognised by Name in England About 1820^- Pierce Egan's Introduction of the New Breed — Sir Walter Scott's Tribute to Camp — Mr. Dole's Start in the Breed — ^Those Who Came to His Support —The Present Prominent Exhibitors — ^The True Bull Terriers Described — Scale of Points. CHAI'TEK XXXI — PACK 457 Black and Tan Terrier: Early Description of Its Exclusive Character- istics — ^The Large or Manchester Variety — First American and Canadian Importations — Mr. Lever the First Systematic Sup- porter of the Breed — Dr. Foote's Long Connection with the Rochelle Dogs — Now an Almost Exclusively Canadian Dog. CliAl'TER XXXII -I'ACI-: 405 Bedi.inc;"I(>n Terrier: A Close Relative of the Dandic Dinmoiu — Never Popular in America -Their Reputation for Gameness — A Breed of Extended Pedigrees. CHAI'TER XXXm - I'A<:K 469 Irish Terrier: Probable Connection with the Wolfhound — ^Thirty Years Ago They Were a Mixed Lot — ^The Old-time Dogs of Mr. [amison — Erin, and Graham's Famed Winners — ^The "Taneous" Head and the Whiskers Craze — Fooling the Moneyed Americans — Faking and Trimming Discussed — Milton Dro- leen, the ".American Erin" -Mr. Pirn's Recollections of Dogs up to i8gi — Changes in Type — ^The Tendency to Increase in Weight — Present-day Sires in England — ^The Breed in America xii CONTENTS— Cnftixtt*./ and the Early Exhibits — ^The Roll of Merit in Later Years — Debut of Masterpiece — Mr. Brooks and Mr. Martin Lead as American Breeders — Mr. Adams' Meteoric Connection — ^The Standard Discussed. CHAI'TBR XXXIV — PAGE 495 Dandie Dinmont Terrier: A Breed We Owe to Sir Walter Scott — James Davidson's Connection with the Variety — Poor Support from Exhibitors in America. CHAPTER XXXV — PAGE 501 Skye Terriers: Probably the Oldest Variety of Terrier — Referred to by Oppian at the Agasseus — Early Show Dogs Mainly Drop- eared — ^"American Skyes" Usually Poor Yorkshires — ^A Dog not Well-suited for a Hot-weather Country. chapter XXXVI — PAGE S07 Scottish Terrier: Not the Scotch Terrier of the Dog Books Before 1880 — First Known as a Variety of Skye Terrier and Claimed to be the Genuine Type — Stonehenge's Curt Opinion of the New Terrier — ^The Aberdeen Terrier and the Fight for a Name — Ups and Downs in America Till Dr. Ewing Started the Scottish Terrier Club — Mr. Naylor the Pioneer — Success of the Wankie Kennels — Present Lead of the Craigdarroch Kennels. chapter XXXVII — PAGE 515 Welsh Terrier: The Old English Rough Terrier Under a New Name — ^Mr. Prescott Lawrence Imports the First Pair in 1888 — Very Poor Support Till 1901 When a Club Was Organised and the Breed was Started Properly — What the Welshman Looks Like. chapter XXXVIII — PAGE 521 Boston Terrier: An American-made Breed and How It Was Started — First Known as the Round-headed Bull and Terrier — How the Name Was Changed to Boston Terrier — Rose Ears and Straight Tail Correct in 1894; Cropped Ears and Screw Tail the Proper Thing in 1895 — Bulldog versus Terrier Type — ^The Screw or Broken Tail a Deformity — Weight is Now the Promi- nent Question — Mr. H. Tatnall Brown on the Four Prominent Sires — ^A Standard for Present-day Type. CONTENTS— Continued xiii CHAPTER XXXIX — PAGE S3S The Great Dane: Buffon's Description — The True Descendant of the Molossian Dog and the Alaunts — Illustrations from 1450 to 1750 — Height of the Early Danes, and Opinions of Gustav Lang and Rawdon B. Lee — Francis Butler and Prince Shown to Queen Victoria — Germans Introduce the Breed in America — Prominent Show Dogs from 1880 to Date — ^The Leading Large Dog of the Country — Desirable Points of Conformation — Descriptive Particulars. chapter XL — PAGE 549 The Mastiff: Meaning and Origin of the Name — French Mastiffs not Connected Except by Name and Its Application — ^Van Dyck's Large Dogs not Mastiffs — Caius's Description and Grouping of Mastiffs — Bewick's Mastiff and Its Copies — The Baiting and Fighting Mastiffs by Howitt — Landseer's Alpine Mastiff — Buffon's Dogue de Fort Race — All Mastiff Pedigrees Trace Back to Danes, Alpine and Thibet Mastiffs, and a Few Unknown of the Howitt Type — Pedigree of Wallace's Turk and What It Leads Back to — The Lynne Hall Mastiff — Luckey's Start, a Thibet Mastiff — The Thompson Line Equally Vague — Crown Prince and His De- scendants — The Breed in America, Its Popularity Twenty Years Ago and Present Low Status — Standard and Scale of Points. CHAPTER XLI — PAGE 573 The St. Bernard: What the Dog's Real Duties Are in the Alpine Passes — ^A Much Mixed Race at the Hospice — Improvement First Due to Swiss Breeders and Then to English Cultivation — ^The Leasome Castle Mastiff or St. Bernard — Landseer's Dogs of St. Gothard — Queen Victoria's St. Bernards — The Breed in England — General Lafayette's Present of Dogs to J. F. Skinner — ^The High-water Mark of the Sir Bedivere Period — Present Status of the Breed — Standard and Scale of Points. chapter XLII — page 589 Th^ Newfoundland: A Modern English Development from a Mixed - Lot of Common Dogs of Various Colours, Coats and Sizes. chapter XLIII PAGE 593 The Hound Family: Lieut-.Col. Hamilton Smith's Researches — Old Egyp- ,tian and Assyrian Representations — Hunting Hounds in Couples xiv CONTENTS— C»»ri»«*«ri»B/\^^gggatx<|.^^saagia^i3i^^yiiM|^i^ 1 '■ ^ ' 1:^ \ V %^'J! ^ (i^ li^^^^P^E^^^lpi^ THE MOLOSSIAN DOG NEAR ATHENS Photograph of the reproductioD in plaster now at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Central Park, New York Early History of the Dog 21 the Greeks, 652 B. c, wherein dogs are shown attacking cavalry horses, they having been taught to pin them by the hams. Pertaining to this period there is at the Hermitage, St. Petersburg, a silver vase, most beau- tifully decorated with an Iranian hunting-scene. One dog has attacked a wild boar, and there is another most beautifully outlined dog of boar- hound type. Greek art has supplied many dogs for illustration, but there is little diversity, which is surprising, considering that there were a fair number of varieties by that time. We have the greyhound type in plenty, a moderate- sized dog as depicted by the Greeks, as well as the molossian already re- ferred to. At the Metropolitan Museum in Central Park will be found a replica of the mural tablet at the tomb of Korallion, wife of Agatha, at the Dipylon gate, Athens. This lady is represented facing left and sitting, while facing her in a low relief is the figure of a man whose costume extends to the ground, and showing against the bottom of this flowing garment is a small dog looking anxiously up to its mistress. The head of the dog is a good representation of Pomeranian type, while the body is well covered with a tufty coat. Here again the difficulty of showing a Pomeranian coat might have been sought to be overcome by making it more like a poodle's coat. This dog was apparently very common, for in " Die Attischen Grab- reliefs," Alexander Conze, Berlin, 1900, Vol. H., there are about twenty representations of toy dogs, the great majority being the same small Pome- ranian type, showing more or less coat. The Cypriote collection at this museum also provided another new dog. This small model has all the look of a spaniel. The tail and feet are missing, but the head is perfect and also the body. From the wealth of coat, the low feathered ears and the expression, this dog appears to be most characteristically a spaniel. In this collection there are also two small stone carvings of a greyhound catching a hare, which seem to form a com- panion pair. Onp of the Greek type of small greyhound dogs also appears in stone, and was found at the side of a sarcophagus which has at one end in bas-relief a dog of similar type and in the same position. It might be that this was a favourite dog of the deceased magnate. The statuary of Rome at the Metropolitan Museum runs vety much on the Greek order of dogs, but there is also the hound-eared dog, and on one small relief of a youth training a horse there is a very handsome dog which looks larger than the average of these greyhounds, and shows more 22 The Dog Book of the boar-hound. Diogenes is represented with one of the hanging-eared dogs much resembling a pointer in general character, and on a silver plate are two dogs, one a greyhound and the other a hound. Ganymede is shown with a dog sitting by his leg, the dog having a studded collar such as Chaucer described : "Aboute his char ther wenten whyte alaunts. Twenty and mo, as grete as any steer, To hunten at the leoun or the deer And folwed him, with mosel faste ybounde, Colers of gold, and torets fyled rounde." One thing could not be overlooked in examining these representations of Greek and Roman dogs, and that is that they were of the same average size, excepting only the molossian; and in this case, as the dog was a monumental one, there is no possibility of determining the size of the original in life. The dog with the youth may also be excepted. We have then at the Metro- politan Museum over half a dozen dogs of this greyhound type, and taking the men as being five feet eight inches high in life, we may estimate these dogs at about eighteen inches in height. A six-foot man measures twenty inches to his knee-pan ; and with these statues taken to represent men some three inches less, and not one of the dogs standing higher than the men's knees, makes them about the height stated. Compared with the youth and the horse the dog shown on that cast does seem taller; but what is desired to be shown at present is that, in order to accomplish more than the native dogs when pitted against beasts in the arena, there was no need for the dogs from Britain (particularly the one described as the Celtic greyhound) to have been what we should now call gigantic or very large. We may lay it down as an axiom that no animals of even semidomesti- cation will attain the same growth when running wild, and that at the present time all domesticated animals bred with care are larger than at even recent periods. It is the same with well-kept men. It is customary to think of knights who fought in armour in European wars as veritable giants, but when the Hon. Grantley Berkeley and a titled friend of his wished to par- ticipate in the Eglinton tournament, held some sixty years ago, they could not find in any armoury in England a suit of armour into which they could squeeze. True, they were six-footers, but so we thought must have been those doughty knights who met in tournaments of old. Travellers also mis- lead us by using similes quite out of place. The first visitors to Australia Early History of the Dog 23 wrote of the dingoes as being of the size of mastiffs. Other instances of this exaggeration in description have already been mentioned, and we had better discard them as fanciful and look at things rationally, and as far as possible take illustrations from life in place of statements. The Assyrian dogs might have been thirty inches high, and that was likely higher than those of Egypt. The shoulder-height of the ordinary gentleman's dog of Greece and Rome was twenty inches. The late Colonel Stuart Taylor had for many years a standing oflFer of one thousand dollars for a dog of thirty-four inches, and did not withdraw it till he had measured the St. Bernard "Rector," which he would not buy on account of its con- dition, coupled with the pleading of the owner's wife. These are facts and are strongly in contrast with the frequently quoted statement in Goldsmith's "Animated Nature," that the Irish wolfhounds were four feet tall. That four-footer, if he was ever measured, must have been tested with "Harry Reed's tape." The explanation of this remark is that on one occasion a sporting authority of that name had to referee a jumping competition in which a man had undertaken to clear a certain distance. Reed was paid to make the man lose by "faking" the tape. Fortunately for the man, Reed, in place of inserting an extra foot in the tape, cut one out, and when it came to measuring the jump, it made a difference of two feet in the man's favour over what was intended. For years after that when there seemed anything queer with regard to a measured distance in sporting matters in England, some one would remark that they must have had Harry Reed's tape, and most assuredly many dogs even to this day have been measured with that article in the home kennels. Research on the American continent has not yielded anything very definite, there not being the counterpart of the Egyptian or Assyrian monu- ments or the contents of palaces or tombs to ransack. Fossil remains are at best very indefinite, and geologists tell of "true dogs" without being able to say much more than what we read of the lake-dweller's marsh-dog. It takes very little harking back to get to prehistoric times even in the oldest parts of America — only to the conquest in the sixteenth century — so that we have no knowledge as to the age of the mummy remains recovered from Colombia and the west coast of South America. If we only knew something about the dates, it would be more interesting as to the dogs found in those despoiled tombs. Reiss and Stubel in their handsomely illustrated "Necropolis of Ancon" give one plate to dog-skulls, and in the accompany- 24 The Dog Book ing brief explanatory text say that one is something of the turnspit order, another collie-like, and the third somewhat like a bulldog or pug, these being presumably the three types they recognised. From our investigations at the Museum of Natural History we found a good deal beyond that unsatisfactory summarising, and the information made the lack of dates the more to be regretted. There are two complete dog mummies, unswathed and put in a sleeping position. They are very much dried out, particularly the larger one, which is in "poor condition," to borrow a dog-shower's phrase. The first examined was apparently undershot — at any rate we made the memorandum in our notebook " ( i} undershot," and this prior to having seen " Necropolis of Ancon." The query was used because of the doubt as to whether the extremity of the nose had not shrivelled up in drying out and caused the retroussi shape. The teeth were exceedingly large and the dog must have been a hard- fighting customer, if his pluck was in keeping with his teeth. The head was of ordinary size to suit the dog, which, to judge from the measure- ment of eight inches from elbow to extremity of toes, would make him out a dog of about thirteen inches at the shoulder and probably weighing about twenty or twenty-two pounds. The coat on this dog was very much plain "yellow," with but little if any red in the colour. It was short on the head, ears and legs, and ran to an inch and a half on the body and had a harsh, stiff feeling. The tail was tucked between the hind legs, but was plainly shown as far as the hocks, and was club- or wolf-like in shape with longer hair than on the body, and from its shape it was prob- ably carried down. The ears were small and with forward-falling tips like a collie's. Whether that was their original position in life is a question it is not possible to answer definitely. They looked natural enough and very neatly carried. It is more likely that they were button ears like a fox- terrier's than pricked and now broken down. The skuU measurements were two inches from nose to eye, and the same from corner of eye to ear. Mummy number two was so large as to force the question as to its being a dog. The evidence was forthcoming in a disjointed leg-bone and foot, which quite settled the matter. The fore-legs could not be measured, nor the head, but the leg-bone detached and minus the foot was good six inches and the shank-bone was also six inches — a rather peculiar proportion, for a six-inch shank-bone is more in keeping with the lower leg-bone of some four inches. This dog must have been eighteen inches at the shoulder. Early History of the Dog 25 and a shank-bone of six inches is in keeping with a terrier of fourteen or fifteen inches, so that this particular dog must have been very straight in hind-legs. Two well-preserved skulls with coat in good condition were also seen, the ears not being on, as the skin had been severed immediately in front of the ears in each case. The first head had a lighter-coloured and longer coat than either of the mummies. The teeth were small, almost like first puppy- teeth, but the canines were of fair size and showed slight wear. The muzzle was somewhat blunt, but the teeth were perfectly level. The length from eye to end of nose was two and one-half inches. The second head was quite distinct in several respects, and showed quite a lot of character. The skull was moderately wide with a well-carried-out fore-face, the type being of the fox-terrier order. The length from eye to teeth, the nose being miss- ing, was two and a half inches, and over all the head was probably seven inches. The teeth were strong and sound. The colour was a warm red- brown, almost a maroon shade, with a narrow blaze up the centre and a flick of white where the tan-spot is over the eye of a black-and-tan terrier, and white along the lips to the cheeks as with the tan on a black-and-tan. We presume these were the dog's original colours, but we have never seen a dog so marked with white, and it was a very peculiar body colour. The half-dozen skulls also showed much difference in type. The lower jaws in each case were missing, and in most of them only some molars were still in the upper jaws. Two were from Colombia, one of ordinary appear- ance, but the other a beautifully shaped one, quite Italian greyhound in the fineness of the lines. Each head was five and one-half inches actual meas- urement of bone. From another section of the coast came a distinctly different skull. Across the only two molars left in the jaws, massive strong teeth, it measured two and one-half inches, and the length of skull was only four and one-half inches. Peluchucco yielded two medium-shaped skulls in a good state of preservation, and from Charassani came one of marked difference. Across the molars from outside to outside the width was but one inch and three-quarters, while the length of head-bone was six and one- half inches. The profile was very striking, there being not the slightest semblance of stop, but a perfectly flat head drooping slightly to the occiput — a miniature Russian wolf-hound head. From the size of the teeth it was the head of a mature dog. Taking these relics as a whole, coupled with some fragmentary bone 26 The Dog Book remains, we are safe in saying that there were no large dogs in that section of South America, but that they ranged from twelve to eighteen inches in height, and varied in type from the square-fronted, possibly undershot jaw, to the extreme of the borzoi and the fineness of the Italian greyhound. It is much to be regretted that nothing more definite than "before the conquest" can be learned as to the possible date of the existence of these dogs, as it is the most interesting of all the "exhibits," bringing us into actual touch with the dog and not looking at him through the eyes of a conventional painter or sculptor. Of the dogs in Central and South America when first visited by Euro- peans we have sufficient data to prove that there were several varieties. Columbus found dogs in several of the West India islands; Alonso Harara found domesticated dogs in New Granada, and Garallasso in Peru; Fer- nandez describes two breeds, one of which is called the Alco or Michua- caneus, and by the natives Ytzcuinte Porzotli. The name as given us at the Museum of Natural History was Itz-Cuintli; the other breed was the broad- footed Alco, said to be the carrier-dog of the country. The native name was the Techichi, or Chichi. The fat alco was early described as without hair, resembling what the old recorders called the Barbary dog, undoubtedly the hairless dog of Turkey. They said that this fat alco was eaten by the inhabitants. We have been told that the hairless dog was an importation of the sixteenth century, but he is somewhat of a cosmopolitan and is to be found in China, South Africa, Turkey, and Mexico. The Chihuahua dog, we fully believe, is one of the oldest breeds of dogs and is unique as a Mexican production. With regard to the orifice in the centre of the skull in the Chihuahua, there is in Mivart's "Monograph of the Canidce" an illustra- tion of a Japanese spaniel skull with a similar orifice at the junction of the four quarters of the skull. In speaking of the dogs of Central America, Mivart expressed the opinion that they might have been bred from wild species of the new continent or been brought from Asia by man at some remote period. With regard to the latter suggestion, it must not be over- looked that the dogs of Asia in ancient times, of which we have any informa- tion, were much larger and altogether different from those found among the Peruvian mummies. So also of the wild dogs. BufFon, in " Hist. Gen. des Antilles," Paris, 1669, says, "Those belonging to the savages of the Antilles had the head and ears very long and resembled a fox in appearance." Again he says: Early History of the Dog 27 "There are many species which the natives of Guinea have named Dogs of the Woods (Chiens des Bois), because they are not yet reduced, like our dogs, to a state of domestication, and they are thus rightly named dogs, because they breed together with domestic races." Colonel C. Hamilton Smith, whom we have already quoted in connec- tion with the wild dogs of India, wrote also from personal observation of South American dogs: "The semidomesticated dogs of South America are sufficiently tamed to accompany their masters on the hunt in the forests, without, however, being able to undergo much fatigue; for when they find the sport not to their liking, they return home, and await the return of the sportsman. In domesticity they are excessive thieves and go to prowl in the forest. There is a particular and characteristic instinct about them to steal and secrete objects without being excited by any well-ascertained motive. They are in general silent and dumb animals, and in domestica- tion others learn a kind of barking. . . . The native Indians who have domestic dogs of European origin, invariably use the Spanish term Perro, and greatly promote the increase of the breed, in preference to their own, which they consider to be derived entirely, or with a cross from the Aguaras of the woods, and by this name of Aguara it is plain, throughout almost all the interior of South America, that the whole group of indigenous canines is understood." In addition to the common dog of the North American Indians, there seems also to have been a distinct variety in Florida which was called the black wolf dog, and Colonel Smith was of the opinion that it came from a cross of the Newfoundland dog and the common Indian dog, which he called Lyciscus Cagottis, and placed in the same genus as the prairie wolf, Caygotte being the Mexican Spaniards' name for the Indian's dog. Colonel Smith also put all the Aguara dogs into a group under the name of Dasicyon, with the divisions of D. sylvestris, the dog of the woods; D. canescens, the hoary aguara, and D. antarcticus, the Falkland Islands variety, and D. Fulvtpes, the dunfooted aguara, which is a short-legged foxy-looking animal. This terminates the history of the dog up to the period at which he assumes breed characteristics. From here on the subjects must be treated specifically by varieties, each under its own heading, as a distinct member of the large and wonderfully differing family of the dog. Missing Page Missing Page Missing Page Missing Page A SMALL DOG IN TERRA COTTA HAVING A DECIDED SPANIEL-LIKE APPEARANCE Cypriote collection. Metropolitan Museum of Art, Central Park. New York VIEW FROM THE OFFICE UOOR AT THE EAST END Showing the niain terrier r I tlie lon^ pass.i'j^eway Kelwrcn the ilouMe r^w of kcnncli for largt-i the doorway un thu left admits to thi; covered or bad-ivc-ather i THE "stall" system OF KENNELLING Showing the movable slattiid kctinel hnttom and tlie foot bi.ard renujvetl for ihe purpose of cleaning the kenntls; also Lleaned kennels open and ready tor the doi:s MR. GEORGE S. THOMAS' KENNELS AT HAMILTON, MASS. CHAPTER II The Dog in the House Of any beast none is more faithful found. Nor yields more pastime in house, plain, or woods, Nor helps his master's person, or his goods. With greater care than doth the dog or hound. — ^Molle. iJN selecting a dog for the house there is ample scope for choice according to the conditions under which the animal can be kept. The first consideration for an owner is as to what accommodation he can give his dog, for there is a vast difference between a city flat or home, and a country- house, where unlimited liberty can be given the pet of the household. For a city dog give preference to something of moderate size, even the smaller toy dogs, though setters or pointers do very well, if fancy runs in that direc- tion. Anything large, such as a St. Bernard, mastiff, great Dane, or the heavily coated dogs, had better be left out of the question, unless fancy is imperative for one of those breeds. Terriers are good for the house, pro- vided moderation in feeding is exercised, for they are apt to eat too much, and a fat-laden terrier is an eyesore to any person who likes to see a dog as he should be in the way of condition. Heavily coated dogs are better avoided for the reason that the process of the annual shedding of coat is a prolonged one, and it is impossible to prevent the falling coat from attaching itself to carpets, rugs, or anything upon which the dog lies. Still another reason is, that during this long process of shedding and then awaiting the coming of the full Coat the dog does not look his best, and a house-dog should, like its owner, be fit to be seen by company at all seasonable hours. Having decided upon the dog that is most satisfactory to please indi- vidual fancy and the accommodations of the home, the next question is, what to do for the animal when it arrives. If the dog is to be the property of any member of the family in particular, it is well to allow that one to attend solely to the unpacking or receiving the newcomer. Dogs are, as a 29 30 The Dog Book rule, prone to look upon such a person as a special master, and attach them- selves accordingly, though of course, there are exceptions, and puppies and young dogs call for more individual subsequent attention than do grown dogs who have had experience in recognising and obeying a master. Give water at once, more especially if the dog has come from a distance, or the weather is warm. Feeding is a secondary consideration, and may with advantage be preceded by a short run on the chain, followed by a light meal on the return to the house. No question is more frequently put by one who has not previously had a dog than how to feed it, and no question is easier to answer. Any clean food that the dog will eat is in the main satisfactory. Beware of the man. who insists that meat must be avoided, for meat is as much a necessity as with ourselves. Like a good many things it can be abused, however, and when a dog decidedly refuses to eat anything but meat it will be well to give him nothing until he is willing to take mush and milk for breakfast, or a din- ner of bread and vegetables with gravy. If a child were permitted to choose its own meals, it would subsist largely on cake and ice-cream, but it would not starve itself if those dainties were denied and good plain bread and but- ter substituted. Neither will the dog injure itself or go too long without food, though it may refrain for quite a time, fasting not being so much of a hardship as with ourselves. There is no better or more suitable food for the house-dog than table scraps, the meat being cut fine enough to prevent its being specially picked out and the rest left. Mix this with bread and mashed vegetables, moistened with gravy or soup. Dogs are much better out of the dining-room, except in the case of a thoroughly trained one that will not beg for food. Puppies should always be excluded and food taken to them — preferably out of doors, or to some certain place always used for this purpose, so that the dog will learn that this and this only is its feeding-place. Have a dish of clean water there also, and if you wish to oblige your many advisers, you can put a piece of sulphur in the dish, or if you have not that handy, a stone will do as well, for neither is soluble in water. Sulphur is good for the dog, but it needs to be administered in another way. Take equal parts of sulphur and mag- nesia, mix thoroughly and put in the evening meal for a week as much as will cover a dime, and then discontinue. This will cool your dog off in the summer time. For anything smaller than a fox-terrier reduce the quantity one-half. Sulphur is also good for outward application for cuts, wounds. The Dog in the House 31 or sores; our almost universal remedy for these being crude petroleum and sulphur mixed to the consistency of thick cream. Stick-sulphur, however, is of no more use than a stone. How often to feed a dog depends upon age and weather. As we feed children oftener than we do ourselves, and we eat more in winter than in summer, ^o, too, in the case of a puppy of two months old, feed it at least five times a day — the last meal late in the evening, and the first as early as possible in the morning. In another month or so drop off the late meal, extending the time between the day meals. At the age of five months three meals a day should suffice, and in another month or so, if it is warm weather, a morning and night meal will be ample. Here again we must be governed by considerations of the breed and the individual. Some breeds you want as large as possible, while others should be of moderate size, and still others are better when as small as possible. To make a big man, it is of no use to stint the boy until he is eighteen years of age and then stuff him. His best growing age is past then, and so it is with a St. Bernard or any dog whose growth we wish to be as large as possible — collie, setter, great Dane, and others in the same category. Keep a dog of this kind grow- ing continuously from the time he leaves his dam till he is a year old, espe- cially so in the case of the larger breeds, as they are slow to attain full height, whereas collies, setters, and the like have pretty well reached their growth at ten months, after which they mature. Terriers and such as can be made too large by over-feeding should be brought to three or two meals a day sooner than large dogs. Toys it is better to feed with non-stimulating food than to limit the meals too much. Use cereals with a smaller quantity of meat, or rice and fish, the idea being not to grow a dog devoid of shape, as will be the case if it never has a full meal. For these small breeds the toy-dog biscuits are very useful when fed plain or with a little soup or gravy, there being meat enough in them for ordinary use. The exercise of a little judgment in this regard is the best advice that can be given. One should always remember that he is injuring his dog more by getting him fat than by cutting out the meat in his dish, and having him smell and leave his food. He will eat when he is hungry. Some will get along on almost nothing. We once had an Irish terrier that we took to Southport show, in England, where she was given equal first in the variety class, the judges being two well-known gentlemen. One of them, either the late Mr. Lort or the late John Douglas, said: "You would have won, 32 The Dog Book sir, if your terrier had not been so fat." We said that it was impossible to keep her down and that she had but one biscuit a day. "Show it to her, show it — don't let her eat it!" On the other hand, with some dogs one might almost shovel the food into them and then they would never be more than passably fat, for, like ourselves, it is not the heaviest eater that is the stoutest person at the table. To keep a dog clean requires washing or brushing, or both. The less washing the better, and unless the dog is a white one and looks dirty or smells a little doggy, stick to the brush as long as possible. There are many dog brushes, just as we have a variety of dogs' coats. Collies, setters, and those with a good quality of coat will do well enough with the better sort of dandy-brush, such as is used in the stable. The fibres are long enough and coarse enough to penetrate to the skin and clean that well. Then for a top polish the bristle-glove or the brush with the flexible leather and strap-back will answer admirably, polishing the coat and thoroughly separating it, so that it shows to the best advantage. The finer and shorter the coat, the finer the brush that may be used, until it comes to the long-coated toys such as those of the Pomeranians, spaniels, or Yorkshires. For Pomeranians a special brush is made, with good length of bristles and not all the same length; for Yorkshires, a fine bristle and a rounded front. As to the Yorkshire terriers such as we see at shows they are quite unsuitable for the house, as they have to be kept in the most artificial manner so as to grow and preserve the coat as we see it on exhibition specimens. The toy spaniels are different, however, their coats being of moderate length, of more substance, and not so liable to break when being brushed. In all long-coated dogs be par- ticular to comb or brush the coat thoroughly at the back of the ears, and also about the hind-quarters, for it will otherwise become matted. When it is deemed necessary to wash a dog, use the best quality of soap, whether special dog-soap or toilet-soap. The strong common soaps take the polish from the coat, and it will take a day or so to come on again. Use plenty of water, regulating its warmth according to the breed of dog and its ability to stand cold water. If the dog is not averse to the bath, begin at the head and lather well, being as quick as possible in the operation and doing it thoroughly. If you are using a carbolic soap or any flea-killer of strong quality, follow immediately with a plain soap lather and wash out. Have ready another bath or sufficient water to refill the one being used, and let this be colder than the first — with more than the chill off. and The Dog in the House 33 for strong dogs in the summer-time let it be cold water. It is preferable to put the dog in the empty tub or bath, and let an attendant pour on the clean water from a jug or water-pot while you rinse out the coat with both hands so as to remove every particle of the soap. On large and hardy dogs you can use the lawn water-pipe. This cooler bath not only cleans out the soap, but to a great extent prevents colds. As it takes considerable time to soap large dogs with a cake of soap and get a good lather, it will be found more convenient to shave the soap and dissolve it in warm water, using this either by laving it on with the hand as needed or pouring it along the back and rubbing the lather down the sides. Some dogs object to being washed, but no matter how fractious they may be, a little patience and firmness never fails to quiet them. In such cases wash the body first, and when they are quieted do the head. Let them know that they must submit, and they will. The toys are more likely to be the worst, but as they know the ashamed tone of voice very well, hold the little rascals down by their forelegs and talk to them seriously. If on letting go one of the legs a toy dog does not struggle, tell him what a nice little dog he is, and he is very certain to behave himself. If he does not, then repeat the process till he does. Now comes the hardest part of the process, the drying. Here again weather and the variety of the dog create differences. A good, hardy ter- rier in the summer-time is a very different thing from a toy in the winter. Having thoroughly rinsed all soap from the coat, empty the bath, and placing the dog in it or some place where the drip from the coat will not damage anything, squeeze as much of the water out as you can, running the hands the way of the coat and down the legs, squeezing the foot. After that take a sponge and go over the coat in a similar manner. If the dog is not long-coated so as to get snarled, the sponge may be rubbed up and down in the coat and will be found to absorb much of the water. The next proc- ess is rubbing with a towel, and this should continue till the coat is well dried, more particularly in cold weather, and in the case of delicate dogs, or of those which cannot be liberated for a smart run in the warm sunshine on account of their being prepared for show. This point will be treated later. You cannot err in drying the dog well, so do it thoroughly and in the case of toys use dry, warm towels, thereafter applying a warm brush and the hands till no trace of dampness remains in the coat. In the country in sum- mer time, when one has a good lawn on which to let a dog run, the sun and 34 The Dog Book breeze will assist materially in the drying process, though one must use judgment, for some dogs are almost too delicate for this exposure unless the weather is exceedingly favourable. There is no question that strong soap will take the polish off a dog's coat, but it is perhaps not altogether that. If a person takes a very warm bath, or washes his face in hot water, there is a very decided subsequent feel- ing of dryness about the skin, which is not the case when cold or tepid water is used. The hot water of itself takes away the natural tone of the skin, and it must have a similar effect upon the hair of the dog, hence the advisa- bility of using as cool water as the conditions will permit. Cleanliness in the house is the great essential in the house-dog, and it is very natural for a purchaser to insist upon its being guaranteed. Some people will do so readily, but others will not give a guaranty with a dog, and for a very good reason. They say, and with truth, that to a person ignorant of dogs the assurance that the dog is house-broken will cause it to be imposed upon to its possible serious injury, and the cleaner the dog the greater the likelihood of its being imposed on. Such a seller will say: "I will not guarantee this dog as house-broken, but I will tell you that he has been in my house for some time and has not misbehaved. He is always given a good run the last thing at night and liberated the first thing in the morning; and during the day he is allowed to go out whenever he seems desirous of so doing." A dog will conform to almost any habit desired, but the responsibility of respecting the requirements of the dog falls as much on you as on the dog. No puppy is house-broken, for that is a matter of education, and hence a young puppy is better kept out of the house and permitted only to come in occasionally and never before he has had a good run, if he has been sleep- ing. Once in the house, he must be watched and put out the moment there is any indication that it is advisable or necessary, and kept out till it is safe to admit him. Of course the puppy is sure sooner or later to misbehave, and then without the least delay he must be shown what he has done, scolded, and put out-of-doors. Any further mishaps must be punished by switching; but never punish unless you can at once associate the punishment with the reason for it, otherwise he does not know what it is for. Sooner or later the puppy will learn to let you know that he wishes to go out, and whenever he makes a move to the door let him out. He soon learns that he can get out if he wishes. The Dog in the House 35 There are those who will train dogs for up-to-date flat use and accustom the puppy to use a box. Where a dog has once made use of a place, he is prone to return. Accordingly the puppy, on being brought home or taken from his travelling-box, should be put into a shallow box with sawdust on the bottom of it, and kept there till he may be allowed to run about. If the box is then left as it is and he can get into it unaided, he will likely tumble into it in his wanderings, and the smell of the sawdust will induce him to make use of the place again, and thus the habit is acquired. Very elaborate sleeping-baskets are furnished for house-dogs, with mats, rugs, or dainty cushions. These are well enough for the tiny drawing- room pet, but are out of place for a terrier or anything larger. For such a dog we recommend a plain box. It may be made of hard wood or of any wood painted and varnished if desired, but not upholstered. Have it of a size to enable the dog to lie comfortably, and on the bottom put a layer of paper — newspaper, plain wrapping-paper or, if one is fastidious, a piece of fancy paper. Tar-paper may be used in the summer-time if the smell is less objectionable than fleas. A dog will lie as comfortably on a piece of paper as on a feather cushion, and a new bed costs nothing, while a dash of boiling water around the box will kill any vermin. Keeping a yard-dog seems to be in many cases an excuse for never letting a dog off the chain. If a little exercise is thought necessary, it is attained in some cases by adding an extra length of chain strong enough to hold an ox! A very simple way to give a dog exercise on the chain is to hang a strong wire in such a manner that, with a chain of ordinary length attached to a ring on the wire, the dog can get into his kennel. The other end of the wire (supposing one end to be attached to the building near which the kennel is placed) is to be fastened to anything convenient — another building, a tree or post far enough away to give the dog a good run from one end to the other. If one end is attached to a tree or post, put it higher than at the other end. Then at a distance far enough from the post to prevent the dog from going around it, fasten another piece of wire, which pass through an eyelet fixed lower down on the post and pull tight — the long wire may have a little slack to permit of this. You will thus stop the ring from coming further than is wanted. Have the wires so stretched that, if possible, one end of the run will always be in the shade, and do not forget in winter to turn the kennel to face the south, putting a piece of sacking over the entrance and a good bed of straw inside, on top of an old news- 36 The Dog Book paper. Do not think any less of your watch-dog than did those old Iranians of whom you may have read in the chapter on the ancient history of the dog. Kennel Dogs When it comes to the kennelling of a small lot of dogs or the going into the business of exhibiting dogs on a large scale, we enter into a very different phase of the subject, calling for more or less outlay and systematic care, according to the number handled. Still, we have as the paramount features the three essentials — cleanliness, food, and comfort. We place them in that order, because when a number of dogs are kept together, cleanliness is the most important of all, and every effort must be put forth to keep the dogs clear of disease and infection. Food is a close second to cleanliness, as per- haps three-fourths of what is called mange is the result of stomachic trou- bles caused by injudicious feeding. The skin is in a measure a thermometer, telling us that there is excessive heat inside, and it will not get into a normal condition until the inside heat is reduced. Thirdly comes the comfort and extra appearance of the kennels. Can we do better than introduce the subject with the poet Somerville's instructions ? They are as follows : "First let the kennel be the huntsman's care, Upon some little eminence erect, And fronting to the ruddy dawn; its courts On either hand wide opening to receive The sun's all-cheering beams, when mild he shines, And gilds the mountain tops. For much the pack Roused from their dark alcoves delight to stretch And bask in his invigorating ray. "Let no Corinthian pillars prop the dome, A vain expense, on charitable deeds Better disposed — For use not state; Gracefully plain let each apartment rise. O'er all let cleanliness preside, no scraps Bestrew the pavement, and no half-picked bones. "Water and shade no less demand thy care; In a large field the adjacent field enclose There plant in equal ranks the spreading elm, Or fragrant lime; most happy thy design If at the bottom of thy spacious court, A large canal fed by the crystal brook, From its transparent bosom shall reflect Downward thy structure and inverted green." The Dog in the House 37 The object of placing the kennel on a slight eminence is to secure drainage. At any rate it should not be built in a hollow, or the dogs will always be liable to rheumatic and other troubles, induced by dampness and cold. Having selected the location, the next thing to do is to decide upon what is wanted. If the kennel is a modest one of half a dozen terriers, which the owner is to look after himself, a suitable structure would be one of twelve feet square, with an elevation of six feet at the eaves and about eight feet in the centre. This will admit of a centre passageway of as much as four feet in width, and three four-feet-square divisions on each side, or enough to accommodate from six to nine terriers or anything up to setter size. Light can best be obtained by having tilting windows at either end, and these also afford necessary ventilation from the sheltered side in winter or with a clear, through draught in summer. In most kennels the indoor compartments are boarded up for about four feet between the kennels, but we have tried with success good wire-netting, and the dogs seem quieter and more comfortable than when in solitary confinement. Certainly with the netting there is less accommodation for vermin in crevices and cracks. The kennel looks lighter and airier and thus gains in appearance. Of course the netting must be small enough in the mesh and stout enough to keep quarrelsome dogs apart, but there is not so much anxiety to get at one another among terriers who see each other all the time. The com- partment doors should either open inward or slide to one side, and for two reasons : not taking any passage space, and never giving way when pushed against by the dogs. We prefer the sliding-door set to run down a slight incline and catch when it runs down. The sleeping-bench should not be too high, and must be entirely detached, so that it can be taken out, washed with some parasite-killer and sun-dried. Bedding is unnecessary in sum- mer, and in winter it is better to have boxes inverted on the sleeping-benches, part of the front being taken off and a strip of sacking nailed along the top front to drop down in excessively cold weather. Such a box, if put on the summer sleeping-bench with a layer of paper beneath the straw, makes as comfortable a sleeping-place for a dog as can be provided, and obviates the need of a fire for anything but sensitive dogs. No matter what lumber is used for the sides and roof of the kennel, you cannot get too sound and too good material for the flooring. This ought to be put down to be as tight as a drum and with just the least little bit of incline in the laying of it, so as to have it dry quickly when washed. How 38 The Dog Book to have the water run off has, of course, to be decided by the individual case as to where it had better be got rid of. No division partition should come down so close to the floor as to prevent the clear flow of water over the whole floor. The outside arrangements for such a kennel should be a piece of ground on each side and, if possible, at the further end. With the end-piece it will be possible to give side-yards of eight feet to the first and second divisions on each side, and turn the dogs in the third kennels into the yards at the end. When we come to the large kennel of dogs for breeding or exhibition purposes, we have a case which presents quite as much difi^erence as exists between the family horse and the stable of race-horses. A competent kennel man is now an essential, and so long as he knows his business and keeps his dogs in good condition, it is much better not to interfere with him. So also, if he is the right sort of man, when he sees his employer wishes a thing done in a certain way he will do it, for there are many ways of managing a kennel, and any one will give satisfaction if the dogs are well cared for and kept healthy. It is quite possible to keep a greater number of dogs by making an en- largement of the small kennel just described, or by building more than one. The latter is preferable, for with a large number of dogs isolation becomes a possible necessity, and the cooking should be kept separate at any rate, even if there are no patients to be cared for. All of that is merely a matter of detail and possibilities as governed by circumstances and the wishes of the proprietor. There is yet another system, which is being adopted more or less in its entirety, and which for want of a better name may be called the "stall" system of kennelling. It is the adaptation to the kennel of the method in which horses are kept. The stall is the horse's restricted' apartment for resting and sleeping, while for exercise he is ridden or driven. The most complete kennel of this kind we have visited is that of Mr. George Thomas, at Hamilton, Mass., and a description of it will explain how one may be built, or it can be used as a model in part or as a whole. The building was in part originally the horse stable, but has been so entirely remodelled as to be practically a new building. First, at the right hand or eastern end of the building you enter the office, a conveniently fitted up room for the con- duct of the business, letter-writing and the reception of visitors. To your right, as you enter, is a door leading to the kennels, and like all the other The Dog in the House 39 internal doors it is double and slides (as do nearly all of them), so that no matter if a dog gets loose, it is confined to the one room. Passing through the doorway we enter the first of the kennel rooms. Here a door facing leads to another long kennel, while one to the left-hand admits to the rainy- day, covered exercise-yard. The door in the left-hand corner gives access to a room at the back of the office for the use of the men. One cannot help noticing the perfect floor of narrow, light-coloured wood, which is scrupu- lously clean and as perfectly fitted as a piece of cabinet work. The inside fittings of this room resemble nothing more closely than the lockers of a rowing or athletic club with wire-fronted doors for ventila- tion and drying purposes. Each of these lockers or stalls is divided from its neighbours by a matched-board partition, and they are mainly thirty-six inches deep by twenty-six inches wide, though a few are slightly larger. They are meant to accommodate one dog, although two are put together when there is a lack of space. The bottom of the stall is about eighteen inches from the floor — a height convenient enough for terriers, as they can jump it without trouble. If you take out the straw you will find that the removable bottom is not tight, but has spaces between the narrow strips. The object of this is to allow whatever dirt the dog takes into his kennel to sift through the straw and these spaces to the floor, so as to form no breeding- place for vermin of any kind. It will be noted also from the photographs that the fronts of these stalls do not go down to the floor, but are so arranged that by the removal of a board at the bottom the floor can be swept as often as may be necessary to remove such dirt as sifts through the spaced floors of the stalls. The farther kennel is in part the same, but it is meant for larger and heavier dogs, and more conventional in having a bench and floor space. Here also we find the same excellent flooring that can be thoroughly cleaned and allows of no lodgment of dust or dirt. Disinfectants are used but little, reliance being placed upon the frequent washing and scrubbing with dis- infecting soft soap and hot water, and upon good ventilation. The latter is secured by having a strip of swinging-windows running the entire length of the kennel and opening at the ceiling, so that all the foul, heated air is liberated when the windows are opened. The method of exercising is as follows: When the men turn out at seven o'clock, the dogs are sent into one of two adjacent acre-fields, and it is surprising how many terriers are thus allowed at liberty together at this 40 The Dog Book kennel. We have counted over forty of all sorts, from Airedales to Bostons, playing and romping together with the men only within hearing as they set about cleaning the kennels. It takes a good hour to do the rough work of cleaning up, and to put the kennels in order for the return of the dogs, which are watered and lightly fed. The men then have breakfast, and after seeing that everything is perfectly clean and shipshape, each of the helpers starts out with from four to six terriers and takes them for a good hour's run through the pine woods. These are close by the kennels and afford splendid exercise-grounds with the flooring of dry pine-needles on which to run. When the roads are in good condition, a run is given there by way of variety. In this way all the dogs which require special amount of exercise get it, and on their return are watered and put in their.stalls, any mud being wiped off them and the friction of the straw and the spaced flooring of the stall doing the rest in the way of keeping the dog clean. By the time all the dogs requiring it are given this running exercise, such as the terriers (except Bostons) and sporting dogs, it is necessary to set about the work preparatory to feeding, and at six o'clock the dogs have another run in the field, whereupon each lot as called is fed, till all are in their stalls again. Finally, just before the men retire, the dogs are allowed a few minutes in the covered side-yard, and then are sent to bed for the night. It may be supposed that this exercising of the dogs entails an excessive amount of labour. True, there is a good bit of work, but the dogs are always clean and neat and take plenty of exercise when they are out, being on the scamper all of the time. On the other hand, there is not half as much cleaning of kennels, and the absence of vermin and all disease is a far greater recompense. The dogs are speedily kennel-broken, and if one wants liberty he lets the kennel-man know. We have seen a moderation of this stall system at the kennels of Mr. Gooderham, whose kennel manager, Charley Lynden, is famed for the con- dition in which he shows his smooth fox-terriers. Such of the dogs as are to be shown are kennelled separately in large boxes in which there is a sleep- ing bench. Enough of the door is cut out at the top to allow the dog to sit with his head through the hole. It is a rather comical sight when there are a dozen heads sticking out of as many boxes in a row. The important thing to note in this boxing is to get the hole high, so that the dog will stretch up in place of crouching to look out. We had recently to devise plans for the accommodation of about a The Dog in the House 41 dozen terriers which could not be turned in together like a lot of setters or collies. Separate kennels were a necessity, although it was quite possible to have the dogs together in pairs without permitting them to test each other's game qualities. The basis of operations consisted of a well-built disused poultry-house, fifty feet long, about thirty feet of which was clear of obstructions, and a large barn divided by a good partition; between the stable portion and what had presumably been the coach-house end. Economy was desirable, as length of occupancy was problematical, and we proceeded to make as useful a copy of the most elaborate and expensive kennels as we could devise. The poultry-house from between the car- penter's bench shown at the left-hand lower corner and the still remaining chicken-pen at the farther end we divided into four pens, each slightly over six by nine. The uprights along the passageway side are sunk through the brick floor, but with the exception of the foot-wide board on the near side of the first division all boards are slightly clear of the floor to permit of free flushing or sweeping. The doors slide or are pushed to the side on rollers, and the passageway is always kept clear. The lower portion of the wire partitions is half-inch mesh, while the upper three feet is ordinary two-inch poultry netting. The latter we propose changing for four-foot netting slightly stronger, and clearing it to a strip or board at the top. Some dogs can clear the five feet or climb up the netting. The floor of the house is of brick, but we had found that dogs running in and out of the housie to the outside inclosure brought in dirt which clung to the bricks and made the floor very hard to clean. We therefore concluded to make a false bottom of strips, and this was done as follows: Three pieces of scantling were put down lengthwise in an inclosure and, the strips having all been cut to an equal length, two were nailed down to keep the scantlings steady and equi- distant, and the whole floor then laid down as seen in the photograph. Finally the floor was sawn into three snug-fitting sections for easy removal. It is a mere form to sweep the floor daily, and about the only dirt that accu- mulates below the strips is in the section nearest the outlet to the yard. This is taken up twice a week and the entire floor once a week and scrubbed with disinfectant. The sleeping-boxes are old travelling-boxes, and in winter a strip of sacking is nailed along the top, sufficient depth being allowed to cover the opening. There is rather too much window in this house for cold nights, and we propose getting up some light frame covered with sheathing- paper, perhaps, and hinged so that it can be easily raised or lowered into 42 The Dog Book place and fastened at night. Two of these windows, which are hothouse sash and slide open, will admit enough light, and three might thus be covered permanently during the winter and give less trouble than the suggested swinging covers. The raising and lowering of the doors to the yards is controlled by the cords shown in the photograph as extending to the passage- way above the height of the wire netting. Previous to altering the interior of this house we had already put up a six-foot-high outside inclosure, sixteen by forty, with a ten-foot reserve at the far end for the chickens which might arrive. The cash outlay for two rolls of netting and lumber for that was about eleven dollars. The labour was home talent. The house altering was put into the hands of a carpenter, and in his bill of forty-eight dollars some extra work and material was in- cluded pertaining to a tennis-court whi6h probably offset the first outlay for the outside work, and our reckoning is that the whole business cost fifty dollars, but that of course is only alterations to the original house. The barn photograph shows an adaptation of the ideas of Mr. Thomas and the box arrangements at Mr. Gooderham's kennels. The boxes were the travelling-boxes the dogs came across the Atlantic in. Two were cut with holes like those at the Toronto kennels, but this was abandoned because the dogs kept continually barking, mainly at each other, while it was found that dogs shut up entirely were quiet. It will be noticed that the boxes are placed on strips of four-inch stuff, and the strip in front is placed sufficiently far back to admit of the sweepings of the box to fall in front of it through an opening about two inches by six, cut in what is, as they lie on their backs, the bottom of the box. Every morning when a dog is Uberated his box is swept clean, and at the left-hand corner of the front of the second box from the left may be seen the sweepings from that box. When all are cleaned the floor is swept with a broom and the business is complete. No dogs are kept continually in these boxes, but are changed with the dogs in the other kennels, or liberated into the large top floor of the barn during the day, and all have two good long walks and runs daily. Their advantage as sleeping-boxes is unquestionable, for the dogs are quiet and therefore sleep well. Another Americanism in the way of working out ideas suitable for the necessities of the case is seen in the Russian Wolfhound kennels of Dr. De Mund at Bath Beach. The most of Dr. De Mund's dogs are kept at Saddle River, N. J., with Mr. Nichols as partner in charge, but a few are The Dog in the House 43 always at Bath Beach, and during the late summer a litter of six was most successfully reared. The thing to be provided for was summer shade, and this was effected by roofing-in a good-sized portion of the yard, which had, at the kennel end, a cement floor. One view of the kennels shows the sleep- ing rooms at the rear of the roofed-in section, and close to the door at the left or coach-house end is a large tank with running water, and from this tap the hard floor can be thoroughly washed and cooled ofi^ with ease, the floor sloping to a centre drain. Another view of the entire length of the kennel inclosure shows a very essential thing for the comfort of the dogs, and that is the large, slightly-sloping elevated platform. Below this the dogs can dig into the cool earth and enjoy life with the thermometer up in the nineties, while if the sun is comforting they can bask and blink on the warm top. The idea Dr. De Mund had in mind when he built his kennel was to make it available also for winter, and to this end he had it so arranged that sections can be fitted all along the coach-house end and along the drive, while that facing the exercise inclosure and having the best sun exposure is inclosed with a good deal of glass to admit the sunshine. The view of the kennel yards at the Saddle River establishment is conventional in the arrangements, and only diff^ers from the majority in the size of the yards, a much needed thing with dogs as large as wolf-hounds. As may be imagined, the kennels of Mr. J. Pierpont Morgan near Highland Falls, N. Y., are built with the substantiality and good taste characteristic of that gentleman. We find here a combination of kennel and living house, for the manager resides upstairs. The approach from the public road is to what is really the rear of the kennels. A flight of steps leads up to the living rooms, and a door at the bottom is one of the entrances to the kennels. The ground floor of the central section is used for an office and reception or exhibition room, with storage, bath-rooms and kitchen in the rear portion. The two wings are similar in their ground-floor arrangements. Entering at the door at the foot of the steps the visitor finds himself in a passage terminating in doors at either end, and with three doors facing him. The door to the right leads to the reception-room, that to the left is an exit to the driveway shown at the rear end in the first photograph, while those facing lead into three large kennels each fitted with a wide sleeping-bench the length of the room. Collies are kept in company, 44 The Dog Book very few showing antipathy to kennel mates, and it is much better so to keep them. The first photograph shows the front exterior arrangement. Each of these rooms opens on a cement-floored, sloping yard, with a brick inclosing wall, surmounted by a substantial wired erection. The centre and wider door along this row admits to the wider yard facing the centre section. There is a corresponding wide door at the office front, and here dogs are boxed for transit to shows and put on the conveyance standing at this wide central gate. The farther or western section is a replica of the eastern, except that a kennel-man's room is provided for upstairs, with easy access to the kennel floor. Facing the driveway along the kennel fronts, as seen in the first photograph, is an irregular triangular inclosure into which the dogs are turned for exercise; shown in the second photograph. Of course this is by no means their sole exercise, for, as at all large kennels, some of the help are perpetually taking out two or three dogs for a run. In addition to this kennel there is another plainer one a little distance to the rear, where the matrons and some of the puppies are kept. There is nothing there that is uncommon : a row of kennels under one roof, each with one or two dogs, and opening each on its own small yard. A neatly-arranged kennel is seen in the photograph of Mr. Samuel Unter- myer's collie home at Yonkers, N. Y. Internally it is well finished and has the usual sleeping-bench in each kennel, a passageway running the full length of the building. Outside we have a much more substantial inclosure fence than is customary, and it certainly gives a finished appearance. The slope of the kennel-yards is a desirable feature, and the rising board walks to the entrance-doors are good feet-cleaners. The kennels of Dr. Knox, of Danbury, for his bloodhounds are the most novel we have ever met with. The guiding principle is that of the barn- builder who arranges for the live-stock in the "cellar." The kennel is built of stone and is banked on the wintry-blast side to the height of the rear wall. The entrance is around the corner to the left of the photograph, and the arrangement of the interior is shown in the second photograph; five roomy kennels, with cement floor sloping to a gutter in the centre, and leading to a drain at one end. The entire front of each kennel is a swing- ing gate. The sleeping-box is in two parts— the bottom and six-inch sides for the straw, and over this an upper box fits like a tall cover and in this is cut the entrance. By this plan it is possible to have an open sleeping- bench for summer use, or a covered one for winter. The Dog in the House 45 Management Toy dogs, especially Yorkshires, have to be kept almost entirely on the box plan of confinement and with added precautions against injury to coats. These long-coated toys sleep on the boards, for that is not a hard- ship to a dog, and many a dog sleeps on top of his box in preference to lying on the straw provided inside. But with dogs whose value and success at shows depend so much upon the length and fine quality of a coat, the plain wooden floor is necessary. So also is the enfolding of the hind feet in linen bandages covering the toes and preventing them from tearing the valuable hairs by scratching. Some fanciers use a dressing of oil to keep the coat from getting into a tangle, but those most successful in this country do nothing but carefully brush the Yorkshire daily, or even twice a day. Toy spaniels and Pomeranians being stronger in texture of coat, do not call for quite as much care, but still it is wise to use the linen boots on the hind feet, and of course the daily brushing is absolutely essential. We have seen no toy kennels so perfect in appointments as those of the Swiss Mountain Kennels of Germantown. The toy kennel as shown is in one of the house rooms also used as an office, so that as a rule some one is about all the time. For exercise the sloping lawn in front of the pre- revolutionary house, so typical of the Germantown district, is neatly wired off from the carriage driveway to the left and along the fence in front of the house, the lawn being kept closely trimmed at all times. The slope to the fence makes the drainage perfect, while in the event of rain the extended porch to the right, shown in the photograph as under an awning, is used for exercising. The whole porch or veranda is wired to keep the little fellows either on or off as may be desired. With toys more than any other breed of dogs, perhaps, "eternal vigilance is the price of success." An Outdoor Kennel Perhaps the most unique kennel is that Dr. Foote recently had at New Rochelle, consisting of rows of empty kerosene barrels and about thirty yards of galvanised wire strung from a tree behind each barrel to a tree in a parallel line. About twenty dogs were so kept summer and winter, the barrels being sheltered from the sun by the evergreen under which it was placed, and a sack over the entrance in winter being all that was necessary 46 The Dog Book for the occupants, which were mainly fox-terriers, smooth and wire-coated. Dr. Foote's black-and-tan terriers, of which breed he was a leading exhibitor at that time, were not constitutionally strong enough to stand that style of kenneUing in the winter. This is simply carrying out the method of chain- ing a dog to an overhead wire as suggested for the watch-dog, and applying it to a number of dogs. In this case there was the starting-point of two rows of trees a suitable distance apart. Such is not always available, nor perhaps is there space enough to be had, hence an inclosure with a kennel for the dog is usually the only available plan. If left to the carpenter, he will build a kennel on the plan adopted by the original carpenter and handed down as an heirloom unto this day. Some years ago we had some kennels made to order as illustrated. They were in three sizes, being meant for cocker spaniels, terriers, and still larger for collies. All were on the same plan, the object being to afford the dog shelter and allow of easy cleaning. It is also a good one for bitches during whelping. The advantages of such a kennel, in addition to the easy cleaning, is that in winter it is very comfortable, as there is no direct chilling wind on the dog. If the dog simply wants shelter, he lies in the open front- less space, and in summer the end door may be removed entirely so that he can use either place he likes. We found, however, that with time the re- movable end shrank somewhat and was not held securely by the turn-buttons, hence we suggest either the common hook and eye screw or to sink the door and use small bolts with auger-holes through the front and rear into which the bolts may be shot. Feeding Nearly every large kennel now relies to some extent upon one or other of the several makes of dog-biscuits, and that the demand for this convenient form of food has grown very much of late years we have good evidence in the greater number of firms engaged in supplying the needs of dog owners, whether of small or large kennels. Usually in large kennels biscuits form the morning meal, and for the main meal of the day, given in the evening, food is cooked and fed cool or cold. Stale bread mixed with soup or meat; mush made of various condiments in which meat is either mixed and cooked together, or the mush is subsequently mixed with the soup and meat, forms this main meal of the day. It may also consist of broken biscuits, dry or The Dog in the House 47 soaked in water or soup, with or without added meat. So that it will be seen that there is a variety of methods for feeding. No matter what the material is of which the mush is made, there is one absolute rule which must be followed, or the dogs will soon get out of shape: that is, thorough cooking. What the grain is or what meal may be used is, in our opinion, of far less consequence than the most thorough cooking. For two summer seasons we made the night meal of stale bread, mixed variously with milk, buttermilk, soup, and soup and meat. The first sum- mer we used ordinary stale bread got by the barrel. The dogs kept all right till the end of August, and then there was trouble. We should say that a variation was made in the evening meal by using broken biscuits soaked in soup or with a little meat added. The next year we decided to try oven-dried stale bread, fearing that perhaps some of the ordinary stale bread had become mouldy and had thus affected the dogs. The result was the same: dogs were all right until September, and then almost the whole kennel went wrong. We decided against bread as the staple for the third summer and tried broken rice as the main food, adopting after several trials a home-made jacket-cooker con- sisting of a deep tin pail which sinks to within three inches of the top in a straight-sided galvanised-iron wash-tub. Perhaps one of those galvanised- iron ash-holders might answer the purpose. With this combination the meat can be cooked in the jacket-boiler while the rice-mixture is boiled in the pail. This third year the dogs did well all through, but were rather poor in flesh. Late in August we added half rolled oats, but there was little im- provement in condition, and in October, thinking that our bHe noire, corn- meal, might be ventured, we mixed equal quantities of rice, rolled oats and ground hominy, and the beneficial result was at once apparent. The dogs put on flesh and thrived wonderfully, and so far as we are concerned we have solved the problem of feeding cooked food and keeping clear of skin troubles. Our main reliance is in the perfect cooking, and for that purpose rice in the mixture is very essential. On one occasion we even had uncracked oats put in by mistake, and tried that with some misgivings, but it cooked quite as soon as the rice, and when that is soft and fully swollen one may depend upon corn-meal or hominy being done, too. The latter, unless thoroughly cooked, will in a month set a kennel of dogs scratching themselves to pieces. Whatever meat you get, have it clean and sweet. Kennels in a farming country can generally procure a cow or horse, and so long as the meat keeps 48 The Dog Book sweet it is all right. With city kennels meat is an item that tells. Country kennels also get milk at a cheap rate, as a rule, and it should be known by all dog-fanciers that exhibitors of rabbits are strong believers in milk for putting a polish on the coat of their exhibition animals, so when procurable it may well be added to the kennel bill of fare. There has perhaps been more discussion as to milk for dogs, particu- larly puppies, than anything else in the dietary line. Some hold that milk is a fruitful source of worms in puppies. The fact is, that there is milk and milk. Warm milk from the cow is a very different thing from cold skimmed- milk, and even the best of cow's-milk is radically different from the milk of a bitch. Mr. A. J. Sewall, the London veterinarian, who makes dogs a specialty, has recently drawn the attention of English dog-owners to this difference in these milks, and he gives the following analysis of the two: Cow's milk. Bitch's milk. Water 87.4 66.3 Butter 4.0 14.8 Sugar and soluble salts 5.0 2.9 Casein and insoluble salts 3.6 16.0 When, therefore, you weaken the milk by skimming it, think of how the poor puppy must gorge itself in order to get the necessary nourishment in order merely to live, let alone thrive. In place of weakening the cow's milk it should be enriched, either by concentration in the way of boiling and thus evaporating the water, or by adding eggs. It is remarkable how closely eggs and bitch's milk agree in analysis, they being practically the same with the exception of the lack of sugar in eggs. Now, if one appreciates that he is substituting milk for eggs and milk, or in some cases skim-milk for eggs and milk, he will not be surprised at his puppies going wrong. A puppy has a small stomach, and what it gets from its dam is very rich food. Then, if left to herself the dam would, as soon as her flow of milk fell off, disgorge half-digested meat, and this the puppies would eat. Their food would be almost entirely half-digested meat, if she could get it, and it is thus seen how radically wrong it is to suppose that poor milk will by itself do for dogs — especially young, growing animals. Mr. Sewall's suggestion ■\ ; \ f ' T-i'^' * '- ^ J i* rf* < < . 5- J O 2 o § o z •^ Aa arrangement of sleeping boxes, especially adapted for a non-healed kennel in very cold weather. Also a good preventive of noise at night An economical fitting--up of a chicken house, embracing the principles of cleanliness, guod ventilation and comfort for the terriers kept here THE BORTHWICK KENNELS, HACKENSACK, N. J. The Dog in the House 49 for strengthening milk is to add to each pint of good cow's milk two and a quarter ounces of cream and two and a half ounces of powdered casein. Mix in that order and stir thoroughly till the casein is dissolved. Only about a third of the quantity of ordinary milk one' would give a puppy is needed when this concentrated milk diet is used. CHAPTER III Exhibition Dogs BEGINNER, or the ordinary onlooker when dogs are being judged, seeing that a good many of the ribbons go to a select number of those who are showing dogs, is apt to conclude that it is impossible to win against these success- ful showers. The disappointed exhibitor, chagrined at want of success, is apt to attribute it to the connivance on the part of the judge and the men who win so many prizes. But what has the disap- pointed exhibitor done to deserve success ? Consider the fact that he feeds his dog till it is more fit to win at a fat-stock show; that he brings it to the show " in the rough " — perhaps with a lot of old dead coat still on it. An immense blue bow is tied to its collar, and when he is asked to walk his dog around the ring, he has to drag it through the sawdust because it does not know how to follow on the chain. On the other hand, the successful owner or kennel-man has educated his dog to show himself to the best advantage. It has been early taught to wear a collar and has been accustomed to the chain. Every day perhaps he has been led into a counterpart ring, his handler having a few little dainty pieces in his pocket. Then the youngster, if a terrier, collie, or Great Dane, is set to face his handler, who gives him a piece of meat and keeps him in expectation of more. The dog has to go through this little act so often that he is alert when he is led into the ring at a show; all his mind is on the good things he is going to get a nibble of. The result is, that the dog is full of life and animation. Then, too, he has been groomed daily, the old coat was taken off weeks before, and with every attention to his condition of flesh, he is put down " fit." Not only is it a case of merited reward to the dog, but also to the man at the other end of the chain, just as much as the trainer of the winner of a great event on the turf is deserving of praise, where horses are said to be "in the pink of con- dition." Another point is that these experts know where their dog is wrong, for much as it may surprise some very confident owners, there has never been a SI 52 The Dog Book perfect dog seen yet, of all the many hundreds of prize-winners. When one knows where his dog is deficient, he is not likely to put that deficiency more prominently before the judge than he can avoid. Whereas, if the dog is particularly good in any feature, you may depend upon it, that is what the judge is most persistently invited to gaze upon. A man who does not know where his dog is wrong is likely to be unknowingly doing it all the harm he can by the way in which he is allowing it to stand. One of the first things a puppy should be taught is to follow on lead; and this should begin with the putting on of a collar. Let the youngster wear that for a few days until he ceases to pay attention to it. Sometimes a puppy that is full of play and life will almost take naturally to the lead, and others are very slow to learn. In the latter case try persuasion, remem- bering that the best- way to a dog's heart is down his throat. Get a few pieces of meat and drop your end of the lead. Then offer the puppy a piece of meat, and it might be well to have him hungry for this lesson. He will come sooner or later for the meat, so keep moving about and giving it in small scraps, then take off the lead when you have done. Try this again the next day, and when he has become so accustomed to the lead as to race about with it on, take hold of it and feed him as before walking about. If he balks, stop at once and get him to come naturally to you for the meat. Associate the lead with some pleasure and not with a punishment in the case of timid dogs. Also from time to time feed him with scraps when on the lead and so prepare him for showing. Even if dogs have not all to be shown as terriers and on the alert, like spaniels for instance, yet there is the association of the lead with a pleasure and the dog is livelier. Bear in mind that no dog should rely on past record to win, any more than a racehorse does, but ought to win on its merits as shown, and herein condition plays a prominent part, if the judging is done by a capable man, in a proper manner. Hence it behooves every owner, particularly of a good young dog, to show him on the first occasion in as perfect condition as possible. It is better to wait till a later show than to give him a set-back to begin with. In order to do justice to the dog, provided he has been broken to the lead and is bright and lively, and will show off to advantage, attention must be turned to having him in good bodily condition. This should not be delayed until close to the show, but must be attended to during some two months prior to the proposed time of exhibiting. Exhibition Dogs 53^ Go over the dog carefully and get rid of any old coat that may be still on him. An Irish water-spaniel, for instance, carries a lot of dead, faded coat, and this should be removed by combing and with the fingers. It is not intended in any way to advocate the plucking of a bad-coated dog and the imposing of a naturally woolly-coated dog by getting him in right shape just once a year. Some bring into the ring a dog so manifestly barbered as to not deceive a blind man, though the judges too frequently fail to see the plain marks of the clipper and singeing. It is, however, perfectly legitimate to remove the old coat in early preparation, as an assistance to nature. In the case of terriers which have a rough coat, and yet should not be shown shaggy, the coat may be at its full, but would not naturally be cast for some weeks. To take that already loose coat off two months before a show is perfectly legitimate. If it is not done, the dog will not get rid of it for several weeks, and the new coat will be too short at the time of the show. In the East, if we have a wire-haired terrier shedding in November, he may be allowed to do it naturally, aided only by the daily grooming with the brush. Thus he will be ready for the spring shows of February and last till April, when, unless he is a very good-coated dog, he will go off and call for a good deal of attention. A collie is a dog that very little can be done for, as his coat cannot be forced to any appreciable extent. In the East he is too long at low-water- mark in coat, and if he is casting his coat might as well be given up for a show that is not in the near future. That is one great difficulty connected with the showing of long-coated dogs. With smooth terriers, pointers, and Great Danes this difficulty does not exist, and it is simply a question of put- ting them into bodily condition. The matter of the first preparation of the coat having been attended to, it is a good plan to give the candidate an aperient. It will do no harm if this takes the shape of a vermifuge, serving the double purpose of clearing the system together with getting rid of internal parasites, which are a fruitful source of annoyance in conditioning dogs. After that comes the daily work of grooming, giving plenty of brisk exercise and feeding well. The exercise will give a good appetite, and it is more advisable to respond to this by a more liberal allowance of meat than to give more food in the dish. Dogs that are supposed to work or to be fit to race have to be shown with good, hard muscle, hence we have more faith in the playful half- hour of sharp running when liberated from the shut-up kennel than in the 54 The Dog Book dawdling about all day in a kennel-yard in the belief that the latter is muscle- building exercise. This applies also to the prolonged road-walking on the lead. There is a good deal of the artificial in all this, but it is no more artificial than any other preparation for a competition, and it is the neglect of this preparation which has caused many an avoidable defeat. It sometimes occurs that a dog declines to eat as much as is necessary, and hence will not put on flesh. Tape-worm should then be tried for, and if a good vermifuge properly administered to the dog after a preparatory fast is not productive of satisfactory results, it is likely that the dog is one of the kind known as a "bad doer." These dogs are very difficult to get right, for while they will eat one day very well, they are off their feed for a day or two afterward. Some proceed to dose such a dog with arsenic and strychnine, but these conditioners are bad things to resort to as a starter, and it is much better to get some tonic pills. There are none better than the following: Quinine, 12 grains; sulphate of iron, 18 grains; extractof gentian, 24 grains; powdered ginger, 18 grains. This is sufficient for twelve pills. As two may be administered daily, a sufficient quantity may as well be ordered at one time. To aid digestion give a pinch of pepsin or a little nux vomica in the drinking water with the food. When the dog will not of his own volition eat the desired quantity of food, it becomes necessary to improve the quality, and raw scraped beef, beaten eggs, and anything else he will eat must be provided. That is the customary way to treat a "bad doer," but never when pos- sible to avoid it do I administer medicines in my own kennel, and I have always adhered to the method of the late Sidney Smith, famed in connection with St. Bernards. I called once at his house in Leeds, England, and seeing a dog under the table in the parlor, asked what he was doing there. "Oh, we are cake-feeding him." That expression being a new one, I asked what it meant. Then Mr. Smith told me that when they had a dog that was hard to condition and would not eat enough, he was brought into the house and a supply of cakes was kept on the table from which he was fed all day long. A dog, even when not hungry, will feed from the hand, almost to oblige his owner; and when he has had all he will take of cake, will eat something else. Taking it in small quantities in this manner, the appetite does not get cloyed, as is the case with a hearty meal. This is a method I have tried successfully on dogs that were hard to condition. ■ In order to know what your dogs are doing at the trencher, it is well Exhibition Dogs 55 to feed each one separately. There is a great difference in dogs, some feed- ing nicely in company, others refusing to eat unless alone, while there are some that will only " eat jealous " — that is, they will keep on eating to deprive another dog near-by — not one that will fight, however, but one just hungry and plucky enough to show anxiety to get his turn at the dish. A dog that runs from one dish to another driving the others away, must be excluded from company and fed by himself. While there is no objection to feeding well-behaved dogs together, the better plan is to feed individually, so as to note appetites. As a final accelerant, if it is advisable to put an extra polish on the dog, there is less harm in the following than in the pure Fowler's solution of arsenic. Take equal quantities of decoction of yellow-bark and compound tincture of bark, giving from half a teaspoon to two teaspoon- fuls, according to size of dog, in a little water twice a day, and into this drop from four to eight drops of Fowler's solution of arsenic. Administer this regularly for three weeks prior to the show, and the benefit of the treatment will be manifest in the appearance of the coat. Having, let us hope, got your dog or dogs feeling "like fighting cocks," the week preceding the show, it becomes a question as to washing prior to shipping. If the journey is short, and the dog has merely a one-night trip to the show, washing, if done at all, should be done some three, or at least two, days before shipping. I say, if done at all, as it is not essential for some dogs, if they have been properly groomed and cared for, and in some breeds it is detrimental to the coat, especially those which are required to be wiry-coated. All such dogs are but moderate in length of coat, and the brush and hand-glove should have been used enough to have a clean coat with a good polish on it. But when we come to breeds that are soft in coat or call for a coat showing length and bulk, such as the collie, a good wash is advisable and makes a vast difference in the quantity look of the coat. Use the very best soap, plenty of water no warmer than is absolutely necessary, rinse most thoroughly, and dry by first taking off all water possible by squeezing and with the sponge, then dry with towels. Use warm ones as the coat begins to dry, but finally use your hands, drawing them the way of the coat in short-coated dogs, and in collies and borzois, whose coat is a standing-out one, do it both ways, with the coat and the reverse, until there is not the slightest feeling of dampness. This hand-rubbing is a great polisher, and if the washing has been unavoidably delayed, it may be im- proved upon by rubbing on the hands an infinitesimal quantity of fine oil. 56 The Dog Book Only the very slightest quantity is advisable, and one should rub the hands together well, so that there is merely the feeling of oil. Then touch the coat lightly all over and gradually rub it in more completely in the same man- ner as the coat was dried by the hands. The English Kennel Club holds that this application of oil is faking, but that club has a habit of straining at gnats and swallowing camels. Polishing the coat to give it its natural appearance is a vastly different thing from using dyes or colouring materials to give the dog an appearance it has not naturally, or from the outrageous trimming which the very legislators themselves pass over when they are acting as judges. One of them even went the length of recently stating over his signature that the trimming of the dogs he had judged was shameful, but that it should not be left to the judge to take any action. If he is not the very man above all others whose duty it is to examine the dogs and pass upon them, then who is ? If possible, have your dogs arrive at the show before the opening day, if they have more than a short trip. Even with an eight-hours' journey a morning start is to be preferred, and a good night's rest is needed before the morning of the judging. It makes a wonderful amount of difference in the snap and life of the dog, if he is journey-wearied when in the ring. Early arrivals also get best places for their boxes, and can generally find a quiet corner where they can be got at easily and their dogs are comfortably sleep- ing in their boxes the night before the judging. After that it depends upon the individual dog, for some are just as much at home and sleep as well on the bench as in their boxes, and that kind need not be worried about so much the night before the judging. By the time you have arrived at the show you ought to know your dog very well— how he feeds and how he looks best. A dog a bit long in the back or legs must not be shown unless he has a feed inside him sufficient to counteract that defect as much as possible. Such dogs are apt to be delicate feeders, and if fed a hearty meal too soon, there will be no coaxing them to eat and fill out at the right time. It is better in such a case to give little or nothing till the right moment. By that time bread and milk will likely be acceptable and is a good filler out, for the dog will usually eat it freely. For that reason the refrigerator milk is rather too cold and had better be poured out of the bottle and allowed to stand in the pan to get the chill off, or other- wise warmed. If more food is needed than the dog will take of the bread and milk, have a little chopped meat and mix in the dish, gradually increasing Exhibition Dogs 57 the quantity as he stops eating until he has had all that is necessary. As the effect of this meal is at once apparent in the shape of the dog, it should not be given until it is assured that the class will be called at once. It will also be necessary to see to the coat. If the dog has become fouled and dirty on the trip, washing may be necessary, but if the brush will suffice, try that. If the dog is not foul, but simply somewhat dirty with "clean-dirt," as the children say, there is a better plan, and that is the use of powdered magnesia. There are special preparations, but that is good enough; it is procurable everywhere and it is cheap. Stand the dog on a newspaper^ — put on a box if he is not a large dog — take a handful of the magnesia and rub it well into the coat. When you brush it out, as you must, it will leave the coat clean, and really the white will be almost whiter than that of the washed dog, besides having the luster on it. Bear in mind that this is a very different thing from putting black on a black-and-tan terrier where nature has put tan hairs, or the rubbing of a red composition on an Irish terrier that is not dark enough in shade. This is a custom not alto- gether unknown in England, where a very prominent — in fact, about the most prominent — exhibitor has been disqualified for seven years. The punishment is not too severe by any means, and now if the trimmers are only dealt with in a similar way, some good may be done. Returning to the magnesia, we may say that there is hardly a fox- terrier shown but is so treated before being taken into the ring. The same thing may be done to the white legs and frill of the collies, or for any kind of white dog. However, be sure to have it completely brushed out before showing; finishing off with the hand-glove. Your terrier is now ready for the judging. With collies and dogs required to show coat, it is advisable to over- come the heat and dryness of our dog-show halls and the sun-heat of our summer and fall shows by getting up an imitation Scotch mist or a sample of English rainy days. Two hours before your collie is likely to be called up for judgment, take him off the bench and rub a wet sponge or towel up and down his coat. Do not make him dripping wet, but have him well dampened through the coat. Let him shake himself, and put him back on the bench. The dog has to dry out and no more in order to be at his best, so keep one eye on your dog and the other on the ring. If he is not drying out quick enough, use a dry towel or take him off the bench and walk him about or turn him into the exercising-ring to run about. If you have timed 58 The Dog Book your work properly your dog will enter the ring with each hair individualised, "like quills upon the fretful porcupine," while his unattended neighbour with his dry coat hanging flat to his side will be at a decided disadvantage. This dampening of the coat is more particularly necessary in the black-and- tans, for as a rule their coats lack the substance and the stand-out quality of the sables. We are now at the stage where the class may be called within a few minutes. There are certain things that are better attended to in the exer- cise-ring than in the judges' ring, so take your dog there for a few moments, or at least walk him around for a little so that when he gets into the ring you can command his undivided attention. If you have a real good dog, one that will "stand a lot of picking to pieces," get into the ring as soon as you can, for while the judge is awaiting the announcement, "All in, sir," he will be looking about, and the more he sees of your good dog the better he will like him. Also, if your dog is inclined to be timid, let him get accus- tomed to his surroundings, and with such a dog do not omit to take something in your pocket that he will take interest enough in to enable him to forget that he is a little afraid. Never pull such a dog about or scold him, but humour him as much as possible. A judge can always tell when a handler is doing his best for such a dog, and will give the exhibit time to come to himself. Remember above everything that the dog is on exhibition and not you, and it is your place to show him to the best advantage. The judge may perhaps find that he is wide in front, but that is no excuse for your letting him see nothing but those straddling forelegs. Try him with the nice out- line and the good back your dog shows. On the other hand, if your exhibit is a bulldog and his strong suit is a naturally wide front with straight legs, have the judge admire that all the time if you can, for it is his business to detect any defect behind and not yours to show it conspicuously. If you are having your photograph taken and have a scar on one side of your face, you naturally turn your other cheek to the camera, not for the purpose of deceit, but to present a good appearance, or your best side. So it is in dog- showing: present the best side to the judge and minimise as much as possible the drawback of the scar or blemish. Do not keep your dog at attention all the time, for just when the judge happens to turn your way, as likely as not your dog will want a change, or is taking interest in something else, and you must shape him up again. Exhibition Dogs 59 Watch the judge, and when his back is turned or he has put you in the corner after a satisfactory inspection of your dog, let doggy be at ease. If you are not yet picked out for a mark of some kind, never lose track of the judge. As his eye travels your way, have your dog ready in his best possible pose, standing square on his legs, not struggling to get at other dogs, or back on his haunches looking up at you too much. That looks all right to you, per- haps, but the judge may have him all out of shape from his point of view. Many make the mistake of trying to show dogs of one breed as they do of another breed, whereas there are certain characteristics pertaining to each variety which should not be overlooked. In St. Bernards, mastiffs, greyhounds, hounds, setters and pointers you want no particular keenness in expression, and the elevation or lifting of the ears is a detraction in the case of the first two breeds, the look of size in skull and dignity in expression being lost. In setters, pointers and hounds, the shape of the skull is spoilt by ears too high on the head, they being required, in their cases, to hang well down and close to the side of the head; in greyhounds and wolfhounds the symmetry is spoilt very much by a pricked or lifted ear, even admitting that the Russian fanciers speak of the horse's ear as proper. Nothing that detracts from appearance can be beneficial — even if for fancy's sake some call it proper. Terriers, prick-eared and cropped-eared dogs call for a keen or a smart look, and should have all encouragement to hold their ears well up if pricked or cropped, and smartly and with a keen look of the eyes in the case of natural-eared terriers. So also with the collie and his semi-erect ear when at attention. It is usual to get the collie to "throw his ears" by throwing something on the ground a short distance in front of him, but this calls for judgment. Some dogs carry a rather high ear, and in such a case do not throw too far ahead, but so that the dog will look rather more down in front than ahead. Of course, in the case of ears not quite high enough, have the dog look up slightly if possible, or well ahead. In spaniels the one great char- acteristic is a tail carried down, yet it is very common to see even spaniel men of prominence holding their spaniel's tail slightly elevated instead of leaving it alone. Some foolish showers will, in the case of a spaniel short of lip, keep drawing the attention of the judge to this defect by pulling the lip down and holding it so. Such a course is merely saying to the judge that the dog is defective there. The less one handles a dog in the ring the better, as a rule, but some 6o The Dog Book judges seem to be at the mercy of handlers who put a dog in a fancy position he cannot assume naturally, place each foot of a setter in a particular place, hold his head just so, and then his tail straight. Now, if any man has ever seen a setter hold his tail stiff and straight naturally, he has seen a curiosity. The setter has a sickle- or sabre-carried tail, but we have got so used to this conventional fashion that we must now have the setters' tail pulled straight out with a string when having them photographed, whereas in that sup- posedly natural easy standing position nine out of ten setters would carry a curved or down tail. Like the ladies, we must perforce bow to the decrees of fashion even in dog-showing! CHAPTER IV Management of Shows ^M preference to discussing the merits or demerits of shows we will simply say that we owe the excellence in conforma- tion of the dogs of the present day to shows, and give a few hints as to show management. It is our firm conviction that the best-managed show is that in which responsibility is concentrated. A committee of three good men is preferable to anything larger. A large committee only enables interested owners to work in a friendly judge, whereas the selection of a judge by a majority of three men gives a far better chance for merit alone to speak. We do not believe in the salaried superintendent having anything to do with the selection — not even to communicating in any way with a prospective judge. At the committee's request he may submit suggestions, but there is far too much evidence, or has been, that superintendents' selections are made in part with an eye to future benefits for themselves by their selecting leading officials of other clubs, who in return reciprocate by engaging the superin- tendent to manage their shows or to judge. That is one of the evils of show management, and an equal one is permitting judges to pass upon each other's dogs at the same show. Have the club secretary hold all communications with prospective judges, and in making selections endeavour as much as possible to get out of any beaten path that has been followed at preceding shows. A new man is tried, proves successful, and immediately he is in demand at a number of shows. Committeemen would do well to mark how often their con- templated judge has been out of late, for the more frequently that has been the case the more limited becomes his support, for dogs beaten under him are kept at home, whereas a new man causes owners to try again. This same over-worked man will do to try at a show six months later, or in a widely different part of the country. Look out for popular men who have had a rest and will attract entries of winners and defeated alike. In drawing up the premium list do not aim too high : more shows have 6i 62 The Dog Book been wrecked by offering an extended prize-list than from any other cause. Not all cities can repeat the New York prize-list, for it has a five-dollar entry fee and an admission charge of a dollar— which turns more money into the treasury in one day than many shows take in during an entire week. Because Smithport has an entry of twenty dachshunds, do not imagine that Blankville can give seven or eight classes for that breed. That show will likely get dogs enough to take every firs prize and only receive one entry- fee per class, losing perhaps forty dollars on the breed. What is wanted is a classification warranted by the run of dogs in the section of the country from which the main bulk of the entry is to be looked for. It is not necessary to cater entirely to the professional handler, who will threaten not to make an entry unless his dogs are specially provided for, nor is it essential to pay them for bringing dogs; to say nothing of its being eminently unfair to other people. The professional handler is a neces- sity to the owner who cannot attend in person, but he is not so in any way to the show managers. Some of them make demands which should never be considered for a moment. Successful local owners bring in more money at the gate than "foreigners" or circuit-chasers. Where there is poor prospect of entries for certain breeds, either put one or two affiliated breeds together or drop them and let the miscellaneous class suffice. A committee can throw more money away In five minutes' work at the premium-list than makes the difference between a paying and a losing show, so be careful to be liberal only where there is every good pros- pect of support. A clause stating that where any class is guaranteed such class will be opened, or if but one class for dogs and bitches Is given, that a division will be made if a certain number of each sex is entered covers the ground fully, and no would-be exhibitor can then reasonably complain of a small prize-list. It must be strongly impressed upon committeemen, secretary and super- intendent that they should make themselves thoroughly familiar with the requirements of the American Kennel Club, If they are members of that club. There are not many things to look out for, but they involve fines if overlooked. A great deal of time and labour can be wasted in office work, and I knew that when I undertook to manage a show at Philadelphia in 1884. The plan I then adopted was also carried out when I had charge of shows for the Keystone and Philadelphia Kennel Clubs, and as I wanted no exclusive Management of Shows 63 copyright on the plan I made it public for the benefit of others whenever possible. The first thing necessary is an index — one of two pages to the letter will suffice for all but the largest shows. Rule it as follows : across the open two pages, as one will not be sufficient: BNTRY FORM NO. OWNER AND ADDRESS Rob Roy Kennels, Englewood, N.J. Boston Terrier Oarsman, 73,073 March 2, igo2 J. Bonders WINNINGS Cracksman Fannie $1,500 Get one of those files which when closed permit the papers to be turned over for ready reference or an intermediate paper to be removed. Have a receipt-book for the acknowledgment of entry-fees and number each receipt. These are all that are needed for the purpose of present and future record of the show, and you proceed as follows after having distributed your premium-lists and entry-forms to all likely exhibitors. The first entry-blank received you mark as number one in the left-hand corner of the form, and taking your receipt-book you fill out number one as a receipt for the money received with number one entry, and so on with each entry-form and receipt. An entry without a remittance should never be numbered and filed, but put on one side to be attended to later, for the stub of the receipt-book has to agree with the cash turned over to the treasurer. Having sent the receipt for the money, the next process is to take the index, turn to the initial of the owner's surname, and copy the entry as shown above. Three columns are now left without entry, those giving the number of the dog in the catalogue, the prize-money won, and the space showing the receipt for that money. When these are filled in this book, the receipt-book and the entry-forms are the complete record of the show. 64 The Dog Book In preparing the copy of the catalogue for the printer, if help sufficient can be secured to divide the work and have it done quickly, it is better to write out each entry on a separate slip, just as they are on the entry-forms, taking care to put at the top of the slip the number of each class and a con- traction sufficient to specify the breed, such as "St.B." for St. Bernard. When a dog is entered in more than one class, put a check-mark on the slip of the first class entered in order to denote further entries, and do the same on the slips of the duplicate entry or entries. Having finished the writing of these slips, which are, of course, all mixed up as to classes, they are now sorted out by class-number and beginning with Class i, proceed to number each entry-slip. You will now find the advantage of having marked the duplicate entries, for you can arrange them in order at the head of each class and follow with the numbers of new dogs. This is a convenience that calls for little trouble, and it saves time at the judging, when it is most valuable. If possible, have some capable man read over the copy before it goes to the printer, and by a "capable man" we mean some one with a fair knowl- edge of the names of owners and dogs, and, if possible, of pedigrees; for nothing looks so careless as a catalogue full of stupid blunders in deciphering the various writings on entry-forms. Time spent on seeing to the correct- ness of the catalogue 'is a good investment for the credit of the show. Send out the identification tickets and number tags so as to reach owners in good time. Benching and feeding is now so generally in the hands of the Spratt's Co., that little need be said as to the making of benches and the feeding, but if benches have to be made on the spot, I offer two suggestions which were picked up at the Seattle and Portland shows of 1904. A strip of one-foot poultry-netting was run flat along the top of the centre back of the benches, the edges being tacked down on the stall partitions, thus preventing a dog from climbing up and fighting the dog on the back bench. The other novelty was a small swivel snap fastened to the back of the bench above the straw, which is more convenient for use than the cus- tomary ring attached to the bottom board. Checking the dogs on arrival at the show is a tedious affair with us, involving a hunt for the owner's name in an index. This is not always done correctly, and seems to be of little use otherwise. A very simple and most convenient plan is to prepare a large sheet of paper with ruled columns Z i Z -3 TIMID AND AFRAID TO SHOW HERSELF MR. \\. H. SAXKV TRIES HIS HANI) A I\ U SHE DUES BETTER LOOKING AT HER OWN HANDLER, MR. JOE LEWIS 'doesn't LOOK LIKE THE SAME DOG" SHOWING A BEAGLE Management of Shows 65 in which the numbers appear and the dogs' numbers can be quickly checked off on that. The board to which the checked record is affixed can be hung at the ring side to be referred to at once for an absentee. The dogs can also be checked out in the same way by striking a different-coloured mark through the number. An attendant should have charge of dogs arriving by express prior to the opening day, in order to have them watered, fed and exercised. As to the work of feeding, and attending to the cleaning of the building, that is very well understood everywhere. Still there are several ways in vogue. That at Boston to our mind is much the best plan. One person has entire charge of the feeding. He has a trolley on which there are a supply of clean dishes and a large tub of food. Starting at number one he goes through the entire show with remarkable celerity. He has a long slip of paper on which are put down the numbers of all dogs the owners of which prefer to feed their dogs themselves. Two men go with him, and as one pulls the trol- ley the other fills the dishes and puts them in the stalls, the work being done at a slow walking pace down one side of an aisle and back on the other side. By the time the last dog has his feed-dish, it is time to start at the beginning again and take up the used dishes and untouched food. No dishes con- taining food are in this way allowed to remain in the stalls or under the benches. The plan followed at some shows to curtain the benches below the line of stalls is a bad one, and at one I attended recently everything was thrown or swept under the curtain and left throughout the time the show lasted. It was no wonder that the last two days the help was kept busy sprinkling the aisles with disinfectant! Clean the stalls out every morning, put in clean straw, sweep the aisles as frequently as there is any need, and at least twice a day, taking all sweepings outside the show-room imme- diately. Get a disinfectant that is not worse than the original smell, and use it no more than is necessary. The broom is the thing to employ as far as possible in place of disinfectants. Little need be said about the conduct of the ring, for the superintendent, if no one else, will know that judges' books and stewards' books are necessary and should be prepared beforehand. The outside steward, if there are two, should use a catalogue in preference to the numbered slips from the stewards' book. The catalogue can be worked from with a better under- standing than the mere numbered slip. At far too many of our shows one 66 The Dog Book class is judged and then the next is sent for, in place of having some one on the outside getting in readiness the class ahead. Often more time is lost in getting classes into the ring than in placing the dogs. Modern judging customs call for a large-numbered card slipped over the arm with an elastic, or fastened with a string in some simple manner. This number corresponds to that of the dog held by the man with the card, and enables spectators to know something of what is going on — that is, providing the ring-steward sees to it that the winning numbers are posted on the ring bulletin-board, which is a most essential feature of an up-to- date show. It was my experience to be one of many called upon to decide specials at a show held a few years ago, when, owing to the lack of all-around knowl- edge on the part of the majority, specials for the best dog and best brace, and such as best owned by a lady or best local, went very much astray. The result was that I advocated in the kennel press that special judging of this nature should be given to the best all-around judge on the staff of the show. It is gratifying to say that this is now becoming the custom, and it has given much satisfaction. Of course, this judge has to accept the regular class-judging, and must not reverse what has already been done by any of his associates. The special-prize judge should not, however, be the same indi- vidual that may have officiated at shows held immediately prior. Exhib- itors are entitled to a change, for there is plenty of room for difference of opinion in this class of specials. The judging being finished, it is necessary now to mark up the winnings on the index record book, and this is done from a correctly marked catalogue. After which the record book is turned over to the treasurer, who, according to the custom at American shows, posts a notice specifying at what hour on the last day he will be in attendance to pay off the prizes. Those present at the show in charge of the dogs then sign opposite the names of the owners on the index-book for the money won, and when this is done the business between exhibitor and show is finished, except in the case of checks to be sent to those not represented at the show. Last of all comes the passing the dogs out on the closing night, and shipping back those which have been received by express, which are matters of detail calling for no instructions. During the past two seasons summer shows have become exceedingly popular, and as the expense is far less than at the more pretentious spring Management of Shows 67 and fall indoor fixtures, they promise to increase in number and do great good to dog interests. At shows held last summer there were entries of over five hundred dogs and not one of them had under two hundred and fifty dogs, this number calling for two points for champion honors in winners classes, five hundred calling for three points. These shows are better when of but one day's duration, and the outlay is thus reduced to a minimum, as benching, feeding and other expenses are not always incurred. The Wissahickon Kennel Club show uses the stalls and stabling inclosure of the Philadelphia Horse Show Association, the proceeds of the show being devoted to a local charity. Judging is done in the open, in large roped rings, of which there are half a dozen or more placed at various parts of the grounds. The Ladies' Kennel Association of Massachusetts had its show at Brain- tree at the New England Kennel Club country-house, and had the benching of that club at its disposal. The Ladies' Kennel Association of America held its show at the Mineola Fair-grounds and the dogs were benched on regular Spratts benching in two of the fair buildings and judged in the open. The Brooklyn Kennel Club held a one-day show at the Brighton Beach race-course paddock, the dogs being accommodated in the stalls around the paddock, and the judging being done below the trainers' private stand. The Ladies' Kennel Association and the Bryn Mawr shows of 1903 had large tents, the former show being held on the grounds of the late Mr. James L. Kernochan at Hempstead, L. L, and the latter at the grounds of the Byrn Mawr horse show. At the L. K. A. show at Hempstead, regu- lation benching was used, but at Bryn Mawr dogs were pegged down to wires laid in rows in the tent, while a number were simply chained to the fence of the show ring. It was all very simple, and a show on the lines of one or other of these can be held at any place where there is an inclosure. Water is about all that it is necessary to provide for the dogs in addition to a little straw in the case of its being called for. Less than one bag of dog-biscuits was used at the Wissahickon one-day show, though if a two-day affair is planned, feeding is then a necessity and comfortable accommoda- tions for the night must be provided. Prize money is not expected at these shows, so we do not see so much of the circuit-chasers or the fanciers who only look at the money end of the business. This is all the better for the amateur, who, after all, is the back- 68 The Dog Book bone of shows, and as a rule gets but little for his money at the circuit shows. Here he has a chance, and local interest is aroused by the success of neighbours and friends, while friendly rivalry causes the purchase of better dogs and brings here and there a new enthusiast into view. Some of these blossom into prominent fanciers and add to the success of the large shows in the spring and fall. CHAPTER V B uyiNG A Dog OW to buy a dog is as difficult a question to answer ofFhand as to tell a person what dog will satisfy him. With the general custom in America of worshipping the fetish of pedigree in animals — ^while holding that the man must be guaged by his individual merits — it is difficult to get any person to consider the purchase of any dog that has not a number of champions in his pedigree. If he has that, you can dispose of the veriest scrub that ever lived. Pedigree has a value, but you must know the history of the dogs of the day and the most prominent of the past generation or two to enable a proper conclusion to be drawn. From a pedigree it is possible for one of the initiated to form an opinion as to what might be expected of the dog in certain characteristics and which of these characteristics he might perpetuate. It has but little to do with the future excellence of the puppy beyond the fact that a dog of good breeding has a better chance of being good-looking than one bred from scrubs. To understand this it is necessary to state that there are few breeders of prominence who do not lay stress upon some particular point in confor- mation. With one it is head, with another it is "front," another must have a good coat, and so on. An expert fox-terrier judge would make but little mistake at an English show in picking out the Redmond, Vicary or Powell entry, all of which is in keeping with what Youatt tells us about the two sheep-breeders who purchased some pure Bakewell ewes and rams, and although there was not a drop of outside blood introduced into the flocks, they became entirely different in type within a few years, each breeder making his selections along a line of his own. Then again we find every now and then a sire that is particularly good in giving to his progeny some much wanted characteristic, such as the ability of the late Finsbury Pilot among collies to give heavy coats, while the sparse-coated collie Ormskirk Galopin was noted for heads. And it is along this line we find the value of pedigree, for an inbred Galopin 69 70 The Dog Book should be a pretty good headed dog, while one strong in Finsbury Pilot blood should be good coated, or in breeding from dogs bred that way we may expect such results. But that is not what pedigree means to the American buyer and for his purpose the form might as well be filled up at random, with Toms, Dicks and Harrys, and Marthas, Janes and Betsies, especially if you can put "Ch." before any of the names. To him it is a pedigree, to the man who knows it is a piece of paper. It is this class of buyers that write for two puppies, not related, and start breeding dogs to win prizes with, because these puppies trace to some champions within a generation or two. Such a buyer and breeder produces pedigrees, not winners. We were at the Bir- mingham show of 1879 and chatted with the late William Graham, to whom we owe the excellence of the present-day Irish terrier. He had had a very successful time with his dogs, and swinging his stick in the direction of the row of dare-devils, he said " Some men show pedigrees; I show dogs and take the prizes." We were among the former at that show, Vero Shaw in his report saying that the pedigree was worth more than the dog; and there are thousands of that sort bred annually and from the very best dogs we have, for it is only the very top skimming of the cream that become cham- pions of record. It is a matter for the greatest regret that this pedigree foible is sup- ported by the government and restrictions imposed which show that the responsible official has not the slightest knowledge of dog matters or how dogs rate themselves; dog-show records taking the place of cattle pedigrees. We will give a late personal experience. Having been intrusted with the purchase of a number of dogs abroad that could win prizes here, a very thorough search through Ireland and England was made and a dozen bought. I do not think I asked as to the pedigree of a single one. I was buying winners, not pedigrees, and knowing that good pedigrees are made by good dogs and not vice versa, I bought the dogs and then set the seller at work to get the pedigrees perfected to .suit the Washington requirements. To do this occupied nearly three weeks, and it was necessary to expend over thirty dollars to have past generations supplied with stud-book numbers. Two pedigrees could not be so furnished, not that there was anything un- known, but the sire of these dogs was out of an unregistered dam, though as he was about the most famous dog in England and has more living descend- ants than any dog of his breed, his full pedigree is perfectly well known and has been given over and over again. The owner filled out a blank, but the Buying a Dog 71 Kennel Club would not give a registration because this owner had been suspended and had not the right to register ; and the dam being dead, she could not be sold to any one having the right to register. Fortunately these were cheap dogs and the duty correspondingly light, but on the same steamer with them came two or three pick-up dogs of no breeding, and they passed in on payment of one or two dollars. If worthless curs were not admitted, then there would be some semblance of reason in present rules, but for them the door is held wide open, and the stringency is put on the man who pays hundreds of dollars for a dog worth having. To buy good dogs as per government regulations it is only necessary to write for pedigrees and buy the dog having the one that reads best, but if that is done the buyer might as well make up his mind that if he ever does show his pedigree dog he will find that he is beaten out of sight by men who bought good dogs and then thought of the pedigree. But, the reader asks, if pedigree amounts to nothing, how are we to buy for breeding purposes, for instance ? We have already said that pedi- gree is valuable, and it is an essential in the case of purchasing for breeding, but we again repeat that if the buyer does not know something regarding the dogs in the pedigree, either personally or from reliable information, one string of names is as good as another to him. Here is a case in point as shown in the following Irish terrier pedigree: Sire King's Masterpiece Dam Koerchion King Killarney Lily Kaiseriioo,C. Kindle K aiser Kindle r Balmoral Bill \ Saintfield Midge Red Idol KrifFel Ch. Breda Mixer Red Inez Red Idol KrifFel Ch. Breda Mixer Red Inez Breda Dan Balmoral Fan Red Idol Shankill Violet Red Ire Breda Iris Ch. Breda Mixer Knoxonia The Irish Ambassador Breda Vixen Ch. Bachelor Breda Florence 72 The Dog Book According to the United States government test the Irish terrier that owns that pedigree is practically a mongrel, because in two generations it has but one ancestor with a stud-book number; since being imported, however, the sire, King's Masterpiece, has earned a number by his show successes, but the others are still mongrels according to the United States government test. The seeker for champions in the pedigree discards it because he only finds Breda Mixer and Bachelor, and they are too far back. Now we will put it before the man who knows. "I see a Knox bred one. Knox has done quite a bit of good breeding in his time and they seem to come better right along, but that is to be ex- pected of course if the man knows his business; and inbred, too, and in the fashionable way. Did you ever notice how many good ones are by a son of a dog that gets good ones, out of a daughter I No ; well, study that up a bit and get hold of a series of letters by Professor Bohannon of the University of Ohio on that subject. He shows some wonderful results in racehorses and in dogs from that system of breeding. In this case you have a son of King bred to a sister of King. "Why, man, you have a wonderful pedigree here. I have never seen anything like it before: full of Breda Muddler blood or what made him, and not once is he mentioned. Here you have King's sire Kaiser out of KrifFel, by Breda Mixer who got Muddler, and Kaiser's sire Red Idol was out of Breda Iris the dam of Muddler. Then King's dam Kindle is a full brother in blood to Muddler, for Red Inez was a sister, if not a litter sister, to Breda Iris. "All that is repeated below in the pedigree of Koerchion, King's sister. Do you know how KrifFel's dam Knoxonia was bred .? No; well, she was a Knox anyway, and we can take her as all right. King's Masterpiece is a half-brother of our Celtic Badger, I see, for his dam is Killarney Lily. I met a man the other day who had lately been at Belfast, and he told me of his visiting Mr. Knox and spoke of his dogs very favourably. He liked King very much; and I remember his saying that it was little wonder that Badger and this Masterpiece, which he also saw, were good ones, for Killarney Lily was one much above the average. From the way he spoke of her she must be a very nice one. "If I remember rightly you won a couple of times with this bitch, but she did not strike me as one that would go on much further as she then Buying a Dog 73 was. I know, however, that if I owned her nothing would induce me to part with her until I had tried her as a brood bitch. If she does not prove a good one, then there is no value in a pedigree." It must also be very distinctly borne in mind that while it is perfectly proper to buy a bitch with a pedigree which will bear such an investigation as the foregoing and be approved of by an expert, it is quite a different thing in a dog. No one with any knowledge of the subject will breed to a dog merely on pedigree, unless as an experiment in the case of one much inbred to a thoroughly tested strain. The vast majority of good dogs have been bred from sires individually good; so when it comes to the purchase of a dog he must be excellent as an individual, and that must take precedence over pedigree, for as we have already said, a good dog makes the pedigree good, and not the other way. Continuing with the same pedigree as the text, the fact that we find in it so many of one person's breeding, and he a successful breeder, is a great indorsement of it. Such a person is all the time selecting which of his best to keep and getting rid of the unsuitable or what is no longer needed in his kennel. By this process the quality of the breeding stock of the kennel is gradually improved and becomes more reliable in producing. Type becomes more consistent, and in process of time we have a strain established which can be relied upon to produce good ones in greater proportion than is the case in most of the rival kennels. Let us suppose for a moment that we are considering, for instance, organising a car-line. No one in his senses would suggest that a start be made with a dinky mule-car and by a series of changes finally arrive at an up-to-date electric plant. Business is not conducted that way, but in view of the many improvements continually being introduced into the car service a most thorough investigation is made so as to avoid mistake in getting the result of the best thoughts and experiments on the subject. The line when it is opened is thereby furnished in the most up-to-date manner possible and starts on an equal footing with the improved service of the old reorgan- ised horse-cars and cable-cars. And that is just what the person intent upon entering the field as a competitive breeder must do if he desires success. Discard all idea of beginning at the bottom with puppy purchases and "champion pedigrees," but look carefully over the results of the shows and note who are the men who have bred the winners. Having found that out do not make the mistake of purchasing puppies, for out of the many litters 74 The Dog Book that this man may have in the course of a season he is unlikely to keep more than one or two from any litter, and then gradually disperses these as he sifts out the best for home keeping. If then you buy puppies you get what are his cast-offs. Our advice is to begin where he is at by getting such of his brood matrons as he will spare; and if they have already been bred you are starting your kennel on a level with him so far as his judgment goes m deciding upon the mating. The purchase of a dog may well be left alone, for it is a drawback to have but one, it not being probable that he is suitable for a variety of matrons, and it is much better to be entirely untrammelled in seeking the best possible sire. A good enough dog to place at the head of a kennel costs a great deal of money, and it is not only more advisable on the score of suitability to go outside, but more economical as well. If the intention is to purchase a show dog, then there are two plans to suggest. One is to buy a dog that is making a good record, but it will be found to be somewhat expensive to do so, unless the owner has an idea that his dog is going off and has another to supply its place. Now to buy a dog that is going off is the very thing that must be avoided by all means. It is the most unsatisfactory experience a beginner can have., to buy a dog that has won a number of prizes and then find that he can do so no more. The buyer is apt to think, if he does not actually say, that the change of ownership has all to do with the change in the dog's position; but that is hardly fair, for young dogs especially change materially and begin to show faults which soon put them back in the prize-lists. The seller probably paid for his experience in detecting the signs of a dog going wrong, and if the dog is being honestly shown the buyer has every opportunity to form his own conclusion, as to the dog's future. The second plan is to pick up a dog with a possibility of improving, or that has not been shown yet and looks like making a winner. If the pur- chaser can do this of his own knowledge he needs no coaching, but the likeli- hood is that he does not know sufficient to warrant his undertaking the task, and in such a case the only thing to be done is to get some one of experience to act for him. There is one thing such a buyer must remember, and that is that good dogs cost money and are not to be picked up as bargains except by those who have expert knowledge. No one expects to purchase a lot on upper Fifth Avenue, facing Central Park, for the price of one below Fifty-ninth Street, nor to get a stylish park-horse or a two-ten trotter for the price of a grocery wagon puller. Yet when it comes to dogs the same people Buying a Dog 75 gasp at any price over about twenty dollars. To get a dog capable of win- ning at New York in any of the fashionable breeds there would be little chance of succeeding for less than five hundred dollars, while in some breeds that amount would not be sufficient. Others not so fashionable are not so expensive. When it comes to a dog capable of winning at shows where the tip-toppers are not competitors the price suggested may be halved or even quartered and a very satisfactory dog obtained. The reason being that we have so few shows here that a dog of the first class sent on circuit stops all others from winning; and as it is the winners that cost money, the price of such dogs double up quickly compared with those they can surely defeat. The large majority of buyers are, however, in search of a puppy to bring up as a pet or house dog, and the main consideration is good health and an absence of any disfigurement. If it is of a large breed, then the largest- and best-boned one is the likeliest to hold the lead in size, providing he is properly reared. Heads grow longer and thinner in foreface as puppies develop, and as that is wanted in but few breeds a head with plenty of bulk before the eyes is recommended as the one likeliest to fill out without weak- ness. The size of the ears is in many breeds an important point. Where the ears are erect, then the smaller and neater the better. If not to be carried fully erect the very small ear is to be avoided, for a small-eared collie, for instance, is most likely to get them fully erect eventually. So much depends upon the breed that the selection is to be made from, that general directions can hardly be given upon many points; and if the buyer has no personal knowledge to guide him the better plan will be to place himself in the hands of the vendor, and if there is any difference in price between the puppies accept that as the guide and take the high-priced one, for the man who fixed the prices has had every opportunity to form the best judgment as to the choicest. It is far too prevalent an idea that to do business with a dog-dealer is to invite oneself to be robbed. We have had personal knowledge of a very large number of those who make a business of buying and selling dogs, and have investigated officially and personally many cases of alleged fraud on their part, and in the majority of cases found not the slightest reason for the charges made. In others, where there was a conflict of testimony we have always found the dealer more willing to make an honorable settlement than the buyer, and in the few cases of positive swindling the American 76 The Dog Book Kennel Club took such speedy action as to give a lesson to all that there must be no "dishonourable conduct in connection with dogs." The penalty for that is disqualification, and that carries with it disqualification of all dogs passing through the hands of the disqualified person and the refusal to register them in the official stud-book or allow them to be shown if it is known that they were the property of the disqualified person. It is a very severe penalty, and as it practically kills off the best part of a dealer's business they are as a class very careful to deal fairly. We have seen the most ludicrous things done by purchasers of dogs. More than once we have known of a dealer sending quite a nice white bull terrier to a purchaser only to have it returned with the demand that one with brindle markings be sent, and charging all sorts of things because such a poor dog had been sent. Of course the vendor was only too happy to make such a change and please such a knowing customer, who doubtless let it be fully known how he was too sharp to be swindled by a dealer and had made this particular one come to time in quick order. Dealers are not nomads, but it will be found that nearly every one, in the East at least, has occupied the same premises for years, or if a change has been made it has been for the better. Rogues cannot do this, for not only is the Kennel Club court open to all without a cent of expense, but the power of the police and the United States post-office can be invoked to good purpose, so that there is very good evidence in this permanency of location to say that the dealer in dogs is entitled to be above suspicion as much as any other man of a similar number of years' standing in business. Q H l-l » 2 z H H Is. Z a o Q .0 o X U Bl m K U H g S Bi o X g W > u X ob Z =: H Z a X ■< H h CHAPTER VI Early Spaniels and Setters O give a complete history of the Enghsh Setter, without mixing with it a great deal of information regarding the various family connections of the breed, is so impossible that we have decided to give one comprehensive intro- ductory chapter regarding the spaniels, beginning with their earliest history and concluding with the splitting up of the family into the various sections of setters and spaniels. This will embrace a period of some four hundred years, during which the dog first known as the spaniel subsequently, in one branch, became the setting spaniel, then the setter, and finally became divided into the three breeds of setters as we know them to-day. The Duke of Northumberland, son of Queen Elizabeth's favourite courtier, the celebrated Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester, and his second wife, Lady Douglas Howard, whom he is said to have married in 1578, is erroneously credited with having been the first person "that taught a dog to sit in order to catch partridges," as we shall show very clearly. Even those who have in late years given this authoritatively, at the same time quoted from "Of Englishe Dogges," written six years after the duke's parents were married, in which the netting of partridges is fully described, showing but little investigation on the part of the editors, who permitted this and kindred errors to receive their endorsement. Caius, who wrote this old book, called them setters, but they could not have been so styled in common, and setting spaniel and setting dogge they continued to be called until the net went out of fashion about 1800. The Spaniel Our first knowledge of the spaniel is obtained from the work of the French count, Gaston de Foix, who in 1387 wrote his book called "Livre 81 82 The Dog Book de Chasse." This was translated into English by the Duke of York about 1410, and his version was given the title of "The Master of Game." He added a little to the original, but left the portion we will quote from as it was. Gaston de Foix lived in the South of France and was a great man in his time — one of the feudal monarchs with large estates and an immense revenue with which to maintain his kingly hospitality and take part in the wars of his times. He also followed the chase and owned hundreds of hounds of all kinds, and was therefore a man who had knowledge of what he was writing about. Living as he did close to the borders of Spain, we can accept without cavil, what some recent writers have thrown doubts upon, that the spaniel owes its name to that country; but whether it origi- nated there or whether it was bred from dogs which came with the early migrations from the East, will never be known. In our "Early History of the Dog" we mention having found in the Cypriote collection in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, a small terra-cotta model of a dog bearing a resemblance to the spaniel, but that would not indicate anything by itself. It may not be a spaniel, and even if it is, the original might have been brought to Crete. Besides which we have so altered and improved these old "Spaynels" that, beyond being descendants of these old-timers, there is no connection at all between the setters and spaniels of to-day and the dogs Gaston de Foix wrote about. For what we know of the latter, and also all information obtained from "The Master of Game," we owe to the splendidly performed task of William A., and F. Baillie-Grohman, who have lately published a copy of this quaint old English book with a parallel-column modern English version. This present- day volume is not a copy of any single one of the several manuscript copies of the book, either in English or in the original tongue, but the accepted best copy has been compared with others, and the result is the correction of errors which crept into the various manuscript copies, and the giving us a perfect copy of what was the original but now lost manuscript dic- tated by the old French sporting nobleman. Chapter Seventeen of "The Master of Game" is devoted to spaniels and their nature, and is as follows: "Another kind of hound [the word dog was not then in general use] there is that are called hounds for the hawk, and spaniels, for their kind came from Spain, notwithstanding that there are many in other countries. And such hounds have many good customs and evil. Also a fair hound for the hawk should have a great head, a great Early Spaniels and Setters 83 body, and be of fair hue, white or tawny [Gaston de Foix did not use the word for tawny, but 'tavele,' meaning speckled or, as we might say, pied or mottled], for they be the fairest and of such hue they be commonly the best. A good spaniel should not be too rough, but his tail should be rough. The good qualities that such hounds have are these: They love well their master and follow them without losing, although they be in a crowd of men, and commonly they go before their master, running and wagging their tail, and raise or start fowl and wild beasts. But their right craft is of the par- tridge and of the quail. It is a good thing for a man that hath a noble goshawk or a tiercel or a sparrow hawk for partridge, to have such hounds. And also when they are taught to be couchers [Gaston de Foix says ' chien couchant'] they are good to take partridges and quail with the net. [This was written nearly two hundred years before the time of the Duke of North- umberland.] And also they are good when they are taught to swim and are good for the river, and for fowls when they have dived, but on the other hand they have many bad qualities, like the country that they come from. For the country draweth to two natures of men, and of beasts and of fowls, and as men call greyhounds of Scotland and of Britain [Gaston de Foix wrote 'Bretainhe,' which many philologists consider as meaning Brittany, but the Duke of York made it Britain, and in one manuscript it is rendered 'England and Scotland'], so the alaunts and the hounds for the hawk, came out of Spain and they take after the nature of the generation of which they came. Hounds for the hawk are fighters and great barkers if you lead them ahunting among running hounds, whatever beasts they hunt to they will make them lose the line, for they will go before now hither now thither, as much when they are at fault as when they go right and lead the hounds about and make them over-shoot and fail. Also if you lead grey- hounds with you, and there be a hound for the hawk, that is to say, a spaniel, if he sees geese or kine, or horses, or hens or oxen or other beasts, he will run anon and begin to bark at them, and because of him all the greyhounds will run to take the beast through his egging on, for he will make all the riot and all the harm. The hounds for the hawk have so many other evil habits, that unless I had a goshawk or falcon or hawks for the river or sparrow hawk, or the net, I would never have any, especially there would I hunt." The last five words are an addition of the Duke of York's, so that the description is that of Gaston de Foix; with that exception and the possible change from "Brittany." 84 The Dog Book Still another authority upon the widespread use of the net for part- ridges is no less than Martin Luther. This eminent reformer was in 152 1 kept, for his own safety, a prisoner by the Elector of Saxony at Wartburg, and although we have not succeeded in getting chapter and page for the following quotation, it is from a thoroughly reliable source, for all other quotations we have been in a position to verify have been absolutely ac- curate. "I was," wrote Luther, "lately two days sporting in the country; we killed a brace of hares and took some partridges, a very pretty employ- ment for an idle man! However, I could not help theologizing amidst dogs, missile weapons and nets; for I thought to myself, do not we, in hunting innocent animals to death, very much resemble the devil who by crafty wiles, and the instrument of wicked priests, is seeking continually whom he may devour ? " The Setting Spaniel The second English book on sports of the chase is the " Book of St. Albans," as it is called, attributed to Dame Juliana Bernes. "Spanyells" are mentioned, but with no description, and we can pass to the first real dog book in the language. Yet it was originally written in Latin, having been .prepared by Dr. John Kays (Johannes Caius), the founder of Caius College, Cambridge, for the use of the naturalist, Conrad Gesner, who had asked him for information about "such dogges as were ingendred within the bor- ders of England." Dr. Kays, or Caius, as he is generally called, published this Latin book about 1570, and after his death it was translated into English by his friend and admirer, Abraham Fleming, and published in 1576. Fleming assures his readers in a laudatory preface that Dr. Caius spared no pains to procure all possible information and then to reduce his facts to the smallest proportion. The second part of his "discourse" is devoted to dogs used in fowling — by which was meant the taking of all manner of birds — and these dogs he divides into two kinds, those used on land and those that found game on the water. To the dog used with the net he gives the specific name of Setter; those used in hawking, he says, are called dogs for the falcon, pheasant or partridge, but that the common sort of peo- ple call them all spaniels. The third division of this section is devoted to the water spaniel or finder. The entire section is not so long that it cannot be given in full and permit readers to judge for themselves of the dogs men- Early Spaniels and Setters 85 tioned. We may state, however, that this use of the word setter to denote the dog used with the net was not followed by later writers, so that it cannot be allowed as a specific and accepted name at that period for the dog which eventually became known as the setter. Two hundred years later the " setting spaniel " was still in use for the net and called by that name, while the term setter was coming into general use for the dog employed in a similar manner with the gun. We will now give the extract from Dr. Caius "Of Englishe Dogges." The feconde Section of this difcourfe. Of gentle Dogges seruing the hauke, and first of the Spaniell, called in Latine Hispaniolus. Svch Dogges as ferue for fowling I thinke conuenient and requisite to place in this seconde Section of this treatise. These are also to bee reckoned and accounted in the number of the dogges which come of a gentle kind, and of those which serue for fowling. There be two / The first findeth game on the land 1 sortes ^l The other findeth game on the water ) Such as delight on the land, play their partes, eyther by swiftnesse of foote, or by often questing, to search out and to spying the byrde for further hope of aduan- tage, or eke by some secrete signe and priuy token bewray the place where they fall. The first kinde of I .pj^^ Hauke such serue I. The Seconde, I The net, or, traine The first kinde haue no peculiar names assigned vnto them, saue onely that they be denominated after the byrde which by naturall appointment he is allotted to take, for the which consideration. c L 11 J f For the Falcon 1 Some be called I ^^^ pheasant \ and such like Dogges, l^j^^ Partridge ) The common sort of people call them by one generall word, namely, Spanielis. As though these kinde of Dogges came originally and first of all out of Spaine, The most part of their skynnes are white, and if they be marcked with any spottes, they are commonly red, and somewhat great therewithall, the heares not growing in such thicknesse but that the mixture of them maye easely be perceaued. Othersome of them be reddishe and blackishe, but of that sorte there be but a very few. There is also at this day among vs a newe kinde of dogge brought out of Fraunce (for we Englishe men are maruailous greedy gaping gluttons after nouelties, and couetous cormorauntes of things that be seldom, rare, straunge, and hard to get). And they bee speckled all ouer with white and black, which mingled colours incline to a marble blewe, which bewtifyeth their skines and affordeth a seemely show of comlynesse. TTiese are called French dogges as is aboue declared already. 86 The Dog Book The Dogge called the Setter, in Latine, Index. Another sort of Dogges be there, seruiceable for fowUng, making no noise either with foote or with tounge, whiles they folio we the game. These attend diligently vpon theyr Master and frame their conditions to such beckes, motions, and gestures, as it shall please him to exhibite and make, eitlier going forward, drawing backe- ward, inclining to the right hand, or yealding toward the left, (In making mencion of fowles my meaning is of the Partridge and the Quaile) when he hath founde the byrde, he keepeth sure and fast silence, he stayeth his steppes and wil proceede no further, and with a close, couert, watching eye, layeth his belly to the grounde and so creepeth forward like a worme. Wlien he approacheth neere to the place where the birde is, he layes him downe, and with a marcke of his pawes, betrayeth the place of the byrdes last abode, whereby it is supposed that this kinde of dogge is called Index, Setter, being in deede a name most consonant and agreeable to his quality. The place being knowne by the meanes of the dogge, the fowler imme- diatly openeth and spreedeth his net, intending to take them, which being done the dogge at the accustomed becke or vsuall signe of his Master ryseth vp by and by, and draweth neerer to the fowle that by his presence they might be the authors of their owne insnaring, and be ready intangled in the prepared net, which conning and artificiall indeuour in a dogge (being a creature domesticall or householde seruant brought vp at home with offalls of the trencher and fragments of victualls) is not much to be maruailed at, seeing that a Hare (being a wilde and skippishe beast) was scene in England to the astonishment of the beholders, in the year of our Ix)rde God, 1564 not onely dauncing in measure, but playing with his former feete vppon a tabbaret, and obseruing iust number of strokes (as a practicioner in that arte) besides that nipping & pinching a dogge with his teeth and clawes, & cruelly thumping him with y' force of his feete. This is no trumpery tale, nor trifling toye (as I imagine) and therefore not vnworthy to be reported, for I recken it a requitall of my trauaile, not to drowne in the seas of silence any speciall thynge, wherein the prouidence and effectual working of nature is to be pondered. Of the Dogge called the water Spaniell, or finder, in Latine Aquaticus seuinquisitor. That kinde of dogge whose seruice is required in fowUng vpon the water, partly through a naturall towardnesse, and partly by diligent teaching, is indued with that property. This sort is somewhat bigge, and of measurable greatnesse, hauing long, rough, and curled heare, not obtayned by extraordinary trades, but giuen by natures appointment, yet neuerthelesse (friend Gesner) I have described and set him out in this maner, namely powlde and notted from the shoulders to the hinder- most legges, and to the end of his tayle, which I did for use and customs cause, that beyng as it were made somewhat bare and naked, by shearing of such superfluitie of heare, they might atchiue the more Hghtnesse, and swiftnesse, and be lesse hindered in swymming, so troublesome and needelesse a burthen being shaken of. This kinde of dogge is properly called Aquaticus, a water spaniel because he frequenteth and hath vsual recourse to the water where all his game & exercise lyeth, namely, water- fowles, which are taken by the helpe & seruice of them, in their kind. And prin- cipally ducks and drakes, whereupon he is lykewise named a dogge for the ducke, because in that qualitie he is excellent. With these dogges also we fetche out of the Early Spaniels and Setters 87 water such fowle as be stounge to death by any venemous worme, we vse them also to bring vs our boultes & arrowes out of the water (missing our marcke) whereat we directed our leuell, which otherwise we should hardly recouer, and oftentimes the restore to vs our shaftes which we thought neuer to se, touche or handle againe, after they were lost, for which circumstances they are called Inquisitores, searchers, and finders. Although the ducke otherwhiles notably deceaueth both the dogge and the master, by dyuing vnder the water, and also by naturall subtility, for if any man shall approache to the place where they builde, breede, and syt, the hennes go out of their neastes, offering themselues voluntarily to the hands, as it were, of such as draw nie their neastes. And a certaine weaknesse of their winges pretended, and infirmitie of their feete dissembled, they go so slowely and so leisurely, that to a man's thinking it were no masteryes to take them. By which deceiptful tricke they doe as it were entyse and allure men to follow them, till they be drawn a long distance from theyr neastes, which being compassed by their prouident conning, or conning providence tliey cut of all incon- ueniences which might growe of their returne, by using many carefuU and curious caucates, least theyr often haunting bewray ye place where the young ducklings be hatched. Great therefore is theyr desire, & earnest is theyr study to take heede, not only to theyr broode but also to themselues. For when they haue an ynklin that they are espied they hide themselves vnder turfes or sedges, wherewith they couer and shrowde themselues so closely and so craftely, that (notwithstanding the place where they lurke be found and perfectly perceaued) there they will harbour without harme, except the water spaniell by quicke smelling discouer theyr de- ceiptes. It will be observed that the common spaniels of that period were the particolours, but what Doctor Caius calls red was probably liver coloured, that having always been a more common colour than red in the spaniel, so that advocates of the lately installed Welsh spaniel will do well not to take Doctor Caius's red and white spaniel as indicative of the early origin of the dog lately given that name. The book was written at Cambridge, and no mention is made of the red and whites as confined to the principality or any section of England; he simply says they were the commonest-coloured dog of all the spaniels. The marbled or blue-belton colour mentioned as from France is in keeping with the note as to Gaston de Foix's description of colour in the quotation from "The Master of Game." Black and tan is also seen to be an old spaniel colour, and therefore not originating in the Gordon setters or their immediate ancestors. Following close upon the time of Fleming's publication we come upon a very excellent book written by Gervase Markham, 1567-1637, a very voluminous writer on sporting subjects. We are not prepared to say that all he wrote was original, for it was the custom to take whole chapters from 88 The Dog Book prior writers and make no mention of the origin. Gaston de Foix was not even original in all he wrote ; the Duke of York made a verbatim translation, with but the slightest mention of where he got his material, and making no distinction between translation and original chapters. Nicholas Cox and others who followed Markham, copied him verbatim without compunction, and while he might have followed the universal custom of his time, there is plenty of evidence to show that much must have been original. It is thor- oughly English in its language and terms and up to date in the instructions as to the gun or fowling piece to be used, as well as the proper ammunition for the birds, or fowls, as everything flying was called. The book we refer to bears the peculiar title "Hunger's Prevention, or the Whole Art of Fowling by Water and Land." All prior books which contain references to dogs, excepting the Caius treatise, aire mainly devoted to hunting and hawking, the three accomplishments of a gentleman at that time being hunting, hawking and a thorough knowledge of heraldry. Indeed, all three called for study and memory, for the different terms of the chase were in- finite. Nicholas Cox as late as 1 700 filled fifteen pages of The Gentleman s Recreation with technical terms. For instance, the hart or red deer had the following names: First year, hind calf, or calf; second year, knobber; third year, brocke; fourth year, staggard; fifth year, stag; sixth year, hart; if it had been hunted by a king or queen, royal hart; if so hunted and had escaped entirely and proclamation made for his return, royal hart pro- claimed. Fowling, outside of hawking, was a minor sport, and Markham seems to have been the first to treat it fully, and certainly was the first to publish a book confined to this particular branch of sport. He follows Caius in the use of the English word "dogge " in place of the Continental "hound." Caius wrote to his friend Gesner, "Thus much also understand, that as in your language Hunde is the common word, so in our naturall tongue dogge is the vniuersall, but Hunde is perticular and a speciall, for it signifieth such a dogge only as serveth to hunt." Markham refers, to three, but gives particulars of but two varieties,, though all are pertinent to the present subject. He treats, first of all, of water fowl as being the more important on account of their greater number compared with strictly land fowl, so we first have the "Water Dogge," a retrieving spaniel. The word spaniel is not mentioned in connection with the dog, but we know that at that time it was a spaniel, the same spaniel Early Spaniels and Setters 89 from which we have the poodle of to-day and dipped in i similar manner, not for fashion's sake, but for work in the water on account of the heavy coat. Markham, however, is particularly severe on the cruelty of clipping in winter, or of clipping all over, saying, "You shall see an ordinary Spaniell, being lustily and well kept, will tyre twenty of these over shaven Curres in the could water." As late as 1800 the water dogs in England were divided into the Great Rough Water dog {Canis aquaticus); the Large Water Spaniel {Cams inquisitor), the name given in Caius; and the Small Water Spaniel or Poodle {Canis aquaticus minor). There is no need to go into the details of the work of the Water-Dogge as given by Markham, at least at the present time, and the description of the dog will suffice: "The Water-Dogge is a creature of such generall use and so frequent in use amongst us here in England, that it is needlesse to make any large description of him : the rather since not any among us so simple, that he cannot say when hee seeth him. This is a Water-Dogge or a dogge bred for the water; yet because in this (as in other creatures) there are other Characters and Formes which pretend more excellencie, and figure a greater height of vertue then others doe; I will here describe as neere as I can the best proportion of the perfect Water-Dogge. " First, for the Colour of the best Water-Dogge, allbeit some (which are curious in all things) will ascribe more excellency to one colour then to another, as the Blacke to be the best and hardest, the Lyverhued swiftest in swimming, and the Pyed or Spotted Dogge, quickest of scent; yet in truth it is nothing so, for all colours are alike, and so a dogge of any of the former colours, may be excellent good Dogges, and of any, may bee most notable Curres, according to their first ordering and trayning; for Instruction is the liquor wherewith they are seasoned and if they be well handled at the first, they will ever smell of that discression, and if they bee ill handled they will ever stinke of that folly. "To proceede, then, your Dogge may be of any colour and yet excellent, and his hair in generall would be long and curled, not loose and shagged; for the first shewes hardinesse and ability to endure water, the other much tendernesse and weaknesse, making his sport grievous; his head would be round and curled, his ears broad and hanging, his Eye full, lively and quicke, his nose very short, his Lippe Hound-like, side and rough bearded, his Chappes with a full set of strong Teeth, and the generall features of his whole countenance being united together would be as a Lyon like as might go The Dog Book be, for that shewes fiercenesse and goodnesse: His necke would bee thicke and short, his brest Hke the brest of a Shippe, sharpe and compasse, his shoulders broad, his fore Legs streighte, his chine square, his Buttocks rounde, his Ribbes compasse, his belly gaunt, his thyes brawny, his Cam- brels crooked, his posterns strong and dew-clawde, and all his four feete spacious, full and round and closed together to the cley like a water Ducke, for they being his oares to rowe him in the water, having that shape, will carry his body away the faster. And thus you have the true description of a perfect Water-dogge, as you may see following." Clear instructions follow as to the training of the water dog from which we extract this reference to the breaking of dogs by trainers: "It is the nature of every free meetle Dogge, and many of those which come from the best reputed teachers, that as soon as they heare the peece [gun] goe off, they will presently rush forth and flye in amongst the Fowle before you have leisure to open your lippes." The other dog treated of at length by Markham is that called the Setter by Caius, but here named Setting-Dogge. In the instructions regarding taking partridges four methods are indicated, only one of which interests us, and is as follows: "The fourth and last way for the taking of partridges (and which indeed excelleth all the other for the excellency of the sport, and the rareness of the Art which is contained therein) is the taking of them with the setting Dogge, for in it there is a two-fold pleasure and a two-fold Art to bee dis- covered; as first the pleasure and Art preceeding from the Dogge and is contained in this manner, of ranging, hunting and setting." . . . "It is meete that first before I wade further into this discourse, I shew you, what a Setting Dogge is: you shall then understand that a Setting Dogge is a certaine lusty land spaniel, taught by nature to hunt the partridges, before, and more than any other chase." Here follow complete instructions regarding the training of the dog for use with the net, and we return once more in a special chapter to the dog and how to choose one and train him perfectly, and this is the sort of dog Markham recommends: "The first thing, therefore, that you must learne in this art is, to make a true election of your dogge, which you apply to this purpose of Setting, and in this election you shall observe, that although any dogge which is of perfect and good scent and naturally addicted to the hunting of feathers. Early Spaniels and Setters 91 as whether it be the Land-Spaniell, Water-Spaniell or else the Mu.igrell between either or both those kindes, or the mungrells of either of those kindes, either the shallow flewed hound, the tumbler, lurcher or indeed the small bastard mastifFe may bee brought to this perfection of Setting (as I have seene by daily experience, both in this and in other nations), yet is there none so excellent indeede as the true-bred Land-Spaniell, being of a nimble and good size, rather small than grosse, and of a courageous and fierie metal, evermore loving and desiring toyle, when toyle seems most yrksome and weary, which, although you cannot know in a whelp so young, as it is intended he must be when you first begin to traine him for this purpose, yet may you have strong speculation therein, if you choose him from a right litter or breede, wherein by succession you have knowne that the whole generation has been endowed with all these qualities, as, namely, that he is strong, lusty and nimble ranger, both of active foote, wanton tayle and busie nostrils, and that his toyle is without wearinesse, his search without changeablenesse, and yet that no delight nor desire transport him beyond feare or obedience, for it is the perfectest character of the perfectest Spaniell ever to be fearfuU and loving to him who is his master and keeper. I confesse I have seen excellent, rare Setting doggs made in the Lowe-countries v/hich have beene of a bastard tumbler kind, for indeede a true Land- Spaniell is the GayflFon [probably a misspelling of Griffon in its old form of Gryffon], and, indeed, I have found in them, if I may so term it, a greater wisdome, which indeede is but a greater fear, than in our Land-Spaniels. But comparing the whole work together — that is, the labour in ranging, the scent in finding and the arte of Setting — they have beene much inferior to our dogges. To speake then in a word touching the best choice of this Setting Dogge, let him be as neere as you can the best bredd Land-Spaniell, that you can procure, and though some have beene curious in observing of their colours, as giving preheminence to the Motley, the Liver-hude, or the White and Blacke spotted ; yet questionlesse, it is but a vaine curiosity, for no colour is amisse for this purpose, provided the naturall qualities be perfect and answerable for the worke to which ende you intende them." The third reference to dogs in this book is where the taking of pheasants by bird-limed bushes is described. Pheasants were strong enough to break away with the limed bushes, and in order to recover these birds "you shall be sure never to be without an excellent staunch Spaniell, which shall lie close to your foot without stirring, and this Spaniell must be an excellent 92 The Dog Book retriever, and one that will fetch and carry, and that by any means will not break nor bruise either flesh or feather, but having found its prey will forthwith bring it unto you, and lay it by your feet. This dogge as soon as you shall finde that any pheasants are escaped, you shall thruste into the thickets and make him hunt and bring forth all such pheasants as shall lie hidden, till by the true number of your lime bushes you find there is no more in that place." This ordinary spaniel Markham did not consider it worth while giving an illustration of, but thanks to a little known but excellent draughtsman and engraver named Francis Barlow we have drawings of the spaniel used in hawking. Markham died in 1637 and Barlow was born in 1630 and, although we cannot tell the date of his set of prints illustrative of hunting, hawking and fishing, yet there can be no great lapse of time between the dates of the later editions of the book (1655) and the illustration we now give. (Facing page 87.) The Individual Fields of the Setter and the Pointer In tracing the transitions of the dog which became the setter of to-day it is impossible to overlook the potent influence which the development of the ancient fowling-piece into the flint-lock shotgun exercised, and the present seems to be the appropriate point to set that forth, as our next step will be the final one of diflPerentiating the family into the subdivisions which prevail to this day, and they will then be taken up in detail as breeds. We have just been quoting Markham as to the setting dog used solely with the net. The gun was also in use at that period, but only for water- fowl, and that when they were not captured by netting, for the "engine" then in use was a most unhandy weapon. "Of the fowling piece you shall understand that to be the best which is of the longest barrell, as five foot and a half, or six foot, and the bore indiff^erent [tolerably large, we would say] under Harquebus. As for the shape and manner of it tis better it be a fire lock or snaphaunce than a cocke and tricker, for it is safer and better for carriage, readier for use and keeps the powder dryer in all weather, whereas the blowing of a coal is many times the loss of the thing aimed at." The "cocke and tricker" gun was the old fire-lock operated as follows: A priming-pan was attached to the barrel in a manner similar to the powder- pan which all of us must have seen in the old flint-locks. The priming was Early Spaniels and Setters 93 kept covered until about to be used, when the cover had to be removed by hand. In front of this was a Hghted fuse which, when the trigger was pulled, fell back into the priming-pan, igniting the powder and firing the piece. All this was very cumbersome and was only used when it was impossible to adopt some other plan of capturing or killing the game. The snaphaunce was the first of the flint-locks, being that piece in its original state. The idea was the flint-and-steel gun, but it could not be operated entirely by the trigger and the cock. It was a Spanish invention which had a rival in the wheel-lock used mainly in Germany and the north of France. The snap- haunce being much the simpler and handier weapon, survived until the flint- lock was invented, about the middle of the seventeenth century, while this book we have quoted from was first pubHshed in 1621. There was much opposition to the introduction of the flint-lock, and it was well into the eighteenth century before it was adopted by the armies of western Europe. This new weapon, with its quicker firing, though slow compared with the instantaneous work of the breechloader upon pulling the trigger, opened up a vastly larger field for the sportsman and made shooting from the shoulder without rest possible, as well as shooting on the wing. In water-fowl shooting the snaphaunce with its murderous load was only fired into the thick of the water-fowl when bunched on the water. Some misconception seems to exist as to time shooting on the wing became the custom in England, owing to the publication of a book on the "Art of Shooting Flying" about the year 1800, but that book had nothing to do with the introduction of this style of shooting. William Henry Scott in his "British Field Sports," London, 1818, writes as follows in the chapter on shooting: " It has been advanced by several of our sporting writers, that to shoot flying is almost a novelty and that the practice is scarcely thirty or forty years old. I can only say that no such fact tallies with my recollection, which extends to a retrospect of about five and fifty years (1763) for I was a very young attendant at shooting parties and partial to the use of the gun, although for causes not necessary to detail never attained any eminence as a shot. At the period referred to, all sportsmen within the narrow circle of my view, were accustomed to shoot flying precisely as their successors now are; and he would at that time have been viewed as a sorry sports- man indeed, who should have gone into the field only to aim at sitting marks. No such drivelling practice was even dreamed of, and there were 94 The Dog Book then as now, keepers and other capital marksmen, who would bring down their small bird at fifty or sixty yards, with almost unerring aim. For my part I can have no idea of the period in our sporting annals, when, to shoot flying with the gun was an uncommon attempt, at least within the period in which locks upon the present principle have been in use." But we can carry shooting flying still another fifty years back, and that through the poet Gay. It may be incidentally remarked that Mr. Simons, from whom we will soon quote freely, and whose knowledge covered the period from the time of the poet Gay to well after the date given as the early recollection of William Henry Scott, refers to shooting on the wing as a matter of course. His instructions to the young sportsman begins with going out with an unloaded gun, with a stiff piece of leather for the flint, so as to get accustomed to "the spring of the bird" and become uniform in his covering the birds at or very near the same distance. "Let him accustom himself not to take his gun from his arm till the bird is on the wing." And now for the poet Gay, from whose poems, published in 1720, we get this: "See how the well-taught pointer leads the way; The scent grows warm; he stops; he springs the prey; The fluttering coveys from the stubble rise, And on swift wing divide the sounding skies; The scattering lead pursues the certain sight, And death in thunder overtakes their flight. Nor less the spaniel, skilful to betray, Rewards the fowler with the feathered prey. Soon as the labouring horse with swelling veins Hath safely housed the farmer's doubtful gains. To sweet repast th' unwary partridge flies, With joy amid the scattered harvest lies; Wandering in plenty, danger he forgets, Nor dreads the slavery of entangling nets." This quotation is valuable for two things, it being the earliest mention of the pointer that we have been able, so far, to come across and the first reference to shooting on the wing, and the conclusion they thus point to is that they were introduced into England simultaneously. One would naturally suppose that the setting dog would have been made use of at once to set the game for shooting on land, but such does not seem to have been the case. The Gentleman's Recreation, by Nicholas Cox, published about 1700 — our copy is the sixth edition and is dated 1721 — Early Spaniels and Setters 95 Is, as far as it can go, a slavish copy of Markham. Here is how he starts his remarks upon the fowling-piece and it can be compared with the foregoing quotation: "That is ever esteemed the best fowling piece which hath the longest barrel, being five foot and a half or six foot long, with an indifferent bore, under Harquebus." He of course omits reference to the out-of-date weapons, but says nothing regarding the flint-lock. So also respecting dogs, it is merely a copy of Markham, mostly verbatim. Presumably, there may be some scarce works which might fill in the period between Markham and our next authority, but we have not found any, nor seen any reference thereto, so that our next quotation will be from a very complete little work never mentioned in dog books, and that is the "Treatise on Field Diver- sions," published anonymously by "A gentleman of Suffolk: A staunch Sportsman." The author was the Rev. Mr. Simons, of Kelsoe, Saxmund- ham, Suffolk. The first edition appeared in 1776, and so highly was it esteemed that it was reprinted verbatim in 1824, having been for some time out of print and very scarce. In the preface to this reissue it is described as " decidedly the best work on the subjects on which it treats." Mr. Simons was a gentleman of education and undoubtedly of ex- tensive experience in field sports, and his little book covers the ground from 1725, for he at one point speaks of dogs he had seen or known fifty years prior to the publication in 1776. The whole book teems with personal views and information as to the various dogs used in field sports and we would we could give longer quotations than we now do, but as this is near the splitting of the ways, and much he writes can be used in referring to the breeds in their order, only sufficient will now be given to show that the setter was still the setting dog and that the dog for shooting over on point was the lately introduced pointer, which came to England about 1700, and we are told was still being imported from Spain and Portugal when Mr. Symonds wrote in 1 776. The springer and cocker were also gun dogs, as of course was the water spaniel, and in this work we first find the division of breeds of the land spaniel family. The quotations will be running ones, merely for the purpose of proving the foregoing statements. Under the caption of "Of the Setter" we find these remarks: "To him we are indebted for the genteelest enjoyment of the field." This is a reference to his use with the net. For after stating that hunting is the oldest sport, he claims that netting followed, and quotes, "Surely in vain the net is spread in sight of any bird," as evidence that netting was the next oldest sport, but at 96 The Dog Book what date the setter assisted first he acknowledges cannot be ascertained. Now as to the dog he calls the setter or dog to set for the net. "There are now various kinds called Setters, from their being appropriated to that serv- ice; such as between the English spaniel and the foxhound, ditto and pointer, and the pure pointer simply by himsfelf. Whim gave rise to the first cross, very probably; but most assuredly indolence contrived the latter. None can, however, have any just claim to the appellation, but what is emphatically called by way of eminence, the English spaniel. The Irish insist — theirs are the true Spaniel; the Welsh contend — their s are the aborigenes. Be that as it may: whatever mixtures may have been since made, there were, fifty years ago, two distinct tribes — the black tanned and the orange, or lemon and white. In each class I have seen the short, close coat, and the loose, soft, waved one with an equality of goodness under each description and complexion. These kinds (especially the orange and white) are fond, docile and spirited. Was I ever to break another dog to the net, I should prefer the highest hunter of that sort, to the reduced half breed by the pointer, and engage to perfect him in less time." A little further on we find his description of what he desires in the setter: "He should be rather tall than otherwise; flat ribbed and longish in the back: for a dog, where speed is a principle requisite, must as well as a horse, in the language of the turf, 'stand upon ground.' A gentleman who resided some time in Wales tells me this is a true description of their finest setters." While describing the pointer and comparing the two breeds he says: "The setter cannot be degraded into a pointer; but the pointer may be elevated to a setter, though but a second class. The setter is only of ser- vice where there is room to run a net, so must be hunted accordingly. Whole coveys are the just attention of the setter. Birds sprung and divided mostly drop in hedgerows, where there is no liberty for action, or in turnips where a horse must do considerable damage in advancing the net." Later on, when it comes to the training of the setter, not one word is written regarding the gun, but simply the net and the use of one dog at a time. The single setter had to quarter his ground exactly as for the gun, but when he found his birds, then the net and that only was used. To show more clearly still that this is so, we turn to the instructions for the training of the pointer and read as follows: "After perusing the former pages some may think this a repetition, altering the name but retaining the mode of tuition. . . . SPANIELS ' Gaston Phcebus." or " La Livre de Chassc." by Gaston III, Count de Foix and Beam. This is from the copy known as " Ms. Bibliotheque Nntional, Paris, f. fr. 6i6 " dating from the beg-inning- of the 15th century 'FEASANT" HAWKING By Francis Barlow (1626-1702) PARTRIDGE NETTING By Howitt. Published Feb. 21, 1799 GROUSE SHOOTING By Howitt. Published August, 1798 Early Spaniels and Setters 97 The pointer as has been the setter, is broke from chasing we well suppose, to which the sight of the game had hitherto been the stimulus. Now, although he will hear the whirl and departure of the birds it is more than probable the report of the gun will agitate him into the forgetfulness of duty and urge to pursuit." It would be natural to conclude from the mention of whole coveys being the aim of the setter and the uses of the net, that wholesale destruction of game was the object and the result-. Such, indeed, was our opinion until we came across the following in "Sporting," edited by "Nimrod," Lon- don, 1837, the article being on "The Setter and Grouse," by the editor: "This mode of sporting, however, has long been out of fashion, and is what I never saw practised but by one sportsman in my life. This was a Flintshire squire of the old-fashioned sort [Peter Davies of Broughton Hall], who was famous for his "setting dogs," as they were then called, and it was a very pleasing sight to witness them in their work. "The old gentleman took the field in good style, being accompanied by a servant to hold his horse when he dismounted, and two mounted keepers in their green plush jackets and gold-laced hats. A leash of highly bred red and white setters were let loose at a time, and beautifully did they range the fields, quartering the ground in obedience to the voice or the whistle. On the game being found, every dog was down, with his belly close on the ground; and the net being unfurled, the keepers advanced on a gentle trot, at a certain distance from each other, and drew it over them and the covey at the same time. Choice was then made of the finest birds, which were carried home alive, and kept in a room until wanted, and occasionally all would be let fly again, on ascertaining their unfitness for the spit. Modern sportsmen may consider this tame sport, and so in fact it is, compared with the excitement attending the gun; but still it has its advantages. It was the means of preserving game on an estate, by equalising the number of cock and hen birds — at least to a certain extent — and killing the old ones; no birds were destroyed but what were fit for eating; and such as were destroyed, were put to death at once, without the chance of lingering from the effects of a wound, which is a circumstance inseparable from shooting." We do not at all doubt that setters had been and were then being used as were pointers, but the point we make is that the proper division, when it came to the ethics of sport, was for the long-legged spaniel, or setter, to be restricted to ranging and standing his birds for the net, while the pointer. 98 The Dog Book working singly or in braces, hunted and stood for the gun. But that this could not long continue we can readily understand, for netting was the style of the market supplier, and as the setter could stand or set the birds as well as the pointer, it very naturally came about that with the increased use of the shotgun the fanciers of the setter used him in place of a pointer. We incline to think that it was a very quick change, for thirty years later, 1808, an anonymously published volume of poetry with the title of "Fowling" gives quite a different complexion to the use of the different dogs with the gun. In Scott's "British Field Sports," London, 18 18, there are a few quotations from " Fowling," one of which is credited " Vincent's Fowl- ing." We have never seen any other mention of the book or poem. The poem is divided into five "books" descriptive of grouse, partridge, pheasant, woodcock, and duck and snipe shooting, and the manner in which each sport is handled leaves no question as to the thorough knowledge of the author, who in his preface acknowledges that Somerville's "The Chase" was the incentive which prompted him to write on fowling. He draws attention to the fact that he has not copied Somerville in introducing foreign modes, for "it was a home scene he wished to delineate and nature and sport were the only figures in the picture." From the book on grouse-shooting we extract as follows: "No tow'ring trees In these rude solitudes diffuse a shade: There loss not felt, while my observant eye Follows my ranging setters. How they wind Along the bending heath! and now they climb The rocky ridge, where mid the broken crags The whortle's purple berries peep. 'Take heed!' The pack is near at hand ; the wary dogs Draw slowly on. They stand immovable, Backing the leader. Now my pulse beat quick With expectation, but by practice trained At once subside, that coolness may assist My steady aim. Meantime my well-trained dogs Enjoy their sett : I hie them in : the birds On sounding pinions rise, yet not so swift But that the whistling shot o'ertake their flight. One flutt'ring beats the ground with broken wing And breast distained by blood ; the rest far off Urg'd on by fear, skim o'er the distant moors , 'Till by the haze obscured, my eye no more Discerns their flight." Early Spaniels and Setters 99 "Again Upstarting from the ground, where close they lie Till the reloaded gun shall give them leave. They bound along." "There, where yon rising hillocks mark the spot, I saw the pack with wings that seemed decHned, And intermitted speed; not far from thence Perchance they lie; ah no! the rising ground Must have deceiv'd my eye. Push on my dogs; Their flight was further still. But Pero stands With head erect, his fellows straight proclaim The glad intelligence, distinctly borne Upon the bosom of the adverse gale. With steady pace how they draw on, and see How short that dog has turn'd; with body curv'd Almost a semicircle there he stands." It is well to drav^ attention to some of the features of these graphic descriptions. The word "pack" is of course the technical grouse term for what in partridges or quail is "covey." We have the leader pointing, standing, not dropping as to the net, and his fellow or fellows backing the point. Then after the kill, the setters were kept at "down charge" till the tedious process of loading and priming the old-fashioned flint and steel muzzle-loader was accomplished. Pero again stands and is backed, and finally we have the excellent description of the dog wheeling to the point and arresting himself at the half turn. The poet next takes partridge-shooting, and now he sings: "My hasty meal dispatched, I seize my gun And issue forth; from their clean kennels loos'd My pointers meet me, and with unfeign'd joy Around me bound impatient, as I trace The rocky lane to yonder rising ground." "Near yonder hedge-row where high grass and ferns The secret hollow shade, my pointers stand. How beautiful they look! with outstretched tails, With heads immoveable and eyes fast fix'd, One foreleg rais'd and bent, the other firm, Advancing forward, presses the ground." As the quotations are merely meant to show the divisions of dogs for the gun, the foregoing will suflice for the pointer with the partridge. The loo The Dog Book following from the description of pheasant-shooting is noticeable for several things: that while his selections of setters for grouse and pointers for part- ridges were apparently the proper and accustomed things to do, there is a question of choice in pheasant-shooting and his is the pointer, and he takes but a single dog into the woods for this sport: "Oft undecided is the choice of dogs To push the pheasant from his close retreat. The questing spaniel some prefer, and some The steady pointer; while the use of both Is tried by others. In the earliest days Of the glad season to the woods they lead Their noisy spaniels, whose wide ranging feet And echoing voices rouse the startled birds. E'en in their deepest holds. But when the game More shy and cautious grows, they use alone The well-bred pointer. But none other dog Shall e'er attend my steps, or late Or early in the season." "One old and trusty pointer at my side attends." The use of the single pointer is obvious, as the dog did not point, but put up the birds, like spaniels, and by having but one dog the shooter could be in better control of the rising birds. We will now go woodcock-shooting, to which the sportsman has been looking forward anxiously in expectation of the flight: "Impatient of restraint, he brooks no more The long delay, but to the echoing wood His loud-tongu'd spaniels takes, and toils, and tries Each ferny thicket and each miry swamp." But success is not yet, the flight is not on, so he tips a rustic to give him early notice of the arrival of the birds. The good word arrives at evening: "Now let us with due care examine well The trusty gun; the polish 'd lock explore Through all its parts, and with the fine-edged flint Fit well the bounding cock, till the bright sparks Descending fill the pan; precaution due. Next to the kennel haste, to view The spotted spaniels lap their sav'ry meal. Thence to the couch invoking sleep Oblivious." Early Spaniels and Setters loi "My spaniels clam 'ring loud, awake the morn With notes of joy and leaping high, salute With grateful tongue my hand, and frisk around In sportive circles; till the loaded gun Breaks off their idle play, and at my heels Submiss they follow, and await the word That bids them dash into the welcome woods." "Though silently we beat At other seasons, let our joyful cheers. In concert with the op'ning dogs, resound 'Hie in.' — At that glad word away they dart, And winding various ways, with careful speed Explore the cover. Hark! that quest proclaims The woodcock's haunt. Again! now joining all, They shake the echoing wood with tuneful notes. I heard the sounding wing — but down the wood He took his flight. I meet him there anon. As fast I press to gain the wish'd for spot, On either side my busy spaniels try. At once they wheel — at once they open loud, And the next instant, flush the expectant bird." "arrested by the shot. With shattered wing reversed and plumage fair Wide scattering in the wind, headlong he falls. See how the joyful dogs exulting, press Around the prostrate victim, nor presume With lawless mouths to tear his tender skin. Obedient to my voice, one lightly brings The lifeless bird and lays it at my feet." Our final quotation will be a short one from the description of duck- and snipe-shooting: "Curled on their warm and strawy beds, repose My dogs, save two, whose coats sable and white, And speckled legs, and tail well fringed and ears Of glossy silken black, declare their kind By land or water, equally prepared To work their busy way. My steps alone These follow in the depth of Winter's reign." The sable and white is not the mi named sable of the present-day collies, but black and white. That this poetical sportsman was correct in his thus setting aside 102 The Dog Book certain dogs for certain sports receives a very strong endorsement by that eminent engraver, S. Howitt, whose illustrations of sports are recognised as masterpieces. Very unfortunately in our copy of the extremely rare volume of seventy-two of his engravings which form the " British Sportsman" that of the setter is one of the two missing illustrations, but this is fully atoned for by those representing netting and the five sports treated of in the poem on fowling. As further showing that the term setter applied perhaps as much to the dog that set or pointed as to the breed, we give Sydenham Edwards's group showing the setter as one of the family of spaniels. The colours of these four spaniels are : liver and white, the one to the left; black and white, the one lying down; lemon and white, the one sitting; but the far one is quite an indefinite colour, one that an Irish-setter enthusiast would claim as repre- senting that breed, and possibly it may. It is undoubtedly high on the leg and of setter formation and is self-coloured, neither liver nor lemon, so that we are perfectly satisfied to regard it as an Irish setter. We have several of Sydenham Edwards's coloured engravings and all are exceedingly faithful in drawing, so that we can without hesitation accept anything he did as faithfully representing the animals indicated by the title of the engraving. The date of "The Spaniel" is January i, 1801. The Three Breeds of Setters: English, Irish, and Gordon Four years later Sydenham Edwards published another engraving entitled "The Setter," in which he very distinctly shows the English, Irish, and Gordon setters as shown herewith. This engraving is coloured, as is the case of all we have seen by Edwards, so that, although it is not very clearly indicated in the reproduction, we can, on the original, see that the farther black dog has tan markings on the lips, the centre one is red, with white blaze, and the near one is white. This engraving we take to indicate clearly that these were recognised as the three varieties of the setter and that they were thoroughly established at that time, although very little evidence is forthcoming in books of the period. Through the courtesy of Mr. Cunningham, of Philadelphia, we have had the pleasure of seeing an exquisite painting by Desportes, court painter to Louis XIV. Vero Shaw in "The Book of the Dog" gives a copy of Desportes's painting of "Dogs and Partridges," showing three sparsely Early Spaniels and Setters 103 coated dogs close together, two setting and one pointing at a covey of partridges. This the editor took to indicate that the pointer had been used to cross with the spaniel, and when he comes to the pointer he takes Des- portes's picture of two pointers to demonstrate that the pointer and fox- hound had then been crossed. The Desportes painting we have seen shows a well-built dog, all white except lemon ears. The dog is caught just as he has dropped hot on the scent of a pheasant, but with head up. This, Mr. Cunningham assured us, is a picture of the dog Blonde, one of a favourite brace belonging to Louis XIV., the other being named Brunette. Blonde is in many ways so dissimilar to the dogs shown with partridges that there is no doubt it is a likeness. The nose taperi most decidedly to a point, without any depth of flew, and the eyes are a gorgeous yellow, but beyond these points there is not much to find fault with. Legs show plenty of bone and the body is well filled out and well coated, with plenty of feathering on the tail. These paintings prove nothing beyond what we already know, namely, that spaniels of the seventeenth century were well diversified as to size, but were not setters as we know them to-day — /. e. they were not the distinct breed they now are, but merely a variety of the spaniel. It has been a very difficult matter to determine at what point to break off in this general introduction to the members of the spaniel family. Per- haps, in the estimation of some readers, we might have left some of the later points to be developed in the articles on the several breeds, but it seemed to us that we must trace clearly the development from the earliest history of the dog that came from Spain to be used in hawking and questing game, until it was so split up as to leave no doubt as to what it is and what it came from. This we think we have conclusively done, and will now proceed to a consideration of the several members of this family. THE ENGLISH SETTEK From an old print CHAPTER VII The English Setter N the preliminary history of the spaniels we expressed the opinion that although the pointer had been the recognised dog for use with the gun before the setter became his rival, there was no doubt that many sportsmen made use of setters to shoot over, preferring that dog, even if it was hardly considered correct, and from these beginnings the dog speedily became as prominent a gun dog as the pointer. We may assume that this growth of the setter began about 1775 and by 1800 was fully established, and that at the latter period there were not only the setters developed from the setting spaniel by gentlemen who took pride in their kennels, but plenty of half-bred setters and pointers, droppers as they were called, and also that almost any spaniel, so long as he was a good working dog, was used by men who cared little about good looks or type and wanted something useful. That state of affairs is to be found as preliminary to the establishment of all breeds and the meeting of rivals in competition for judgment. As illustrative of this we need not do more than look at the first volume of the Stud Book issued in 1879 by the National American Kennel Club, not the present ruling body but one more interested in field trials than in dogs in general. This volume contains the registrations of fourteen hundred dogs, of which 533 are English setters of pure breeding; 260 Irish setters, also pure, and 135 Gordon setters; pointers number 165, while 65 spaniels of various kinds and Chesapeake Bay dogs make up the total. In this volume there is a division for " Cross-bred and other Setters," at the head of which there is this note of explanation: "Owing to the indefinite character of some pedigrees it was impossible to decide to what breed certain dogs belonged. They are therefore included in the present class, under the head of 'Other Setters' to save discarding them altogether. In this section there are no fewer than 260 entries. And these were not dogs owned by a lot of nobodies, but by men of recognised position in the sporting-dog world, such names io6 The Dog Book as Jesse Sherwood, James Smith, C. T. Prince, G. C. Colburn, A. C. Waddell, Von CuHn, and Everett Smith appearing on the first two pages, and as we glance further we note such leaders' names as Wm. M. Tileston, Dr. J. S. Niven, Major J. M. Taylor (with a tricombination of English, Gordon and Irish bred by the enthusiast of the Laverack importations, Mr. Charles H. Raymond), Dr. Aten of Brooklyn, E. F. Stoddard of Dayton, George B. Raymond of Morris Plains, George Bird Grinnell, T. Foreman Taylor, Edward Dexter, Garret Roach, H. C. Glover, E. A. Spooner, Wm. Tallman, Leslie C. Bruce, Justus von Lengerke, Isaac Fiske, J. H. Whitman, Jacob Glahn of Syracuse, and many others better known only to the older generation of setter men than those we have picked out. It would be impossible to imagine any of the above-named gentlemen, who are still living, owning anything nowadays but of the purest breeding possible, yet we copy from the records of but twenty-five years ago." With such evidence of mixed breeding in this country when so much was known regarding the higher breeding of the setter abroad, and when not only some of the choicest of the Laveracks had been here for some four or five years, but Leicester, Dart, Rock and a whole host of the "blue bloods" subsequently styled "Llewellyns" were spread about the country, can we imagine anything else of England one hundred years ago than that here and there was something akin to fancy breeding, that is, with an eye to certain characteristics, while the majority indulged in cross-breeding <]uite regardless of looks or type.? It stands to reason that such was the case, and it is therefore only what is to be expected when we come to read the only book which is really historical, "The Setter, by Edward Laverack." His knowledge of the Setter dated from early in the last century, for he went shooting in the Highlands when he was eighteen and in his introduction he acknowledges to being seventy-three years of age, while the date of the book is 1872, hence he must have had personal knowledge of setters from about 18 1 5, and his statements are exactly in keeping with this very natural conclusion of what must have been the case. It is only proper, however, to take authors a little more chronologically, and we will begin with Daniels's " Rural Sports," published at the beginning of the nineteenth century. From the references to this book in later publica- tions one would infer that it contained a most valuable contribution to dog history, but such is far from being the case, and what he says is without practical value. What is valuable, however, is that it contains three The English Setter 107 engravings from paintings of setters by different artists. The one by Reinagle shows a beautiful dog, much handsomer and of a great deal more quality than the same artist's setter in the "Sportman's Reposi- tory," of twenty-five years later. The very extraordinary setter ac- companying the game-keeper is a painting by G. Stubbs, a very famous animal artist. We now take up the actual history of the making of the English setter, and we are not only indebted for all pertinent information on the subject to the late Edward Laverack, but above that we are most unquestionably in- debted to him for placing the setter in its proper position as a field dog and for the development of the type which was not only the standard of excel- lence in his day, but that upon which we have built the present-day setter. For some peculiar reason it has been the custom of a certain class of writers to belittle Mr. Laverack and what he accomplished, alleging that the incon- sistencies in his statements regarding the pedigrees of his dogs and some such small matters condemned the whole business. If Mr. Laverack had never given a single pedigree with any of his dogs, and had never told any person how they were bred, they would have been just as good workers, just as good looking and in every way as useful in building up the breed. As a strain they were unequalled in their day, and but for them Americans would- have had poor material in the way of importations with which to improve the natives of inter-variety breeding. Strangest of all, most of those who attacked Mr. Laverack and his dogs were thick-and-thin supporters of what has been named the "Llewellyn" setter, a strain made up from dogs bought, not bred, by Mr. Purcell Llewellyn, one-half of the desired pedigree being Laverack blood. On this subject we will have more to say later. But for Mr. Laverack we should know nothing of the various strains kept by sporting gentlemen of prominence throughout England and Scot- land, and in his book, "The Setter," is to be found all that later, writers knew about the various strains and which they made use of without com- punction as original. Mr. Laverack's book is now exceedingly scarce, almost, if not quite, as hard to secure as the first edition of "Stonehenge," w'hich many have thought did not exist. As Mr. Laverack's text is con- densed it may be copied in full, so far as reference is made to the leading varieties of the English setter from the time his knowledge of them began, which we may set down as 1815-20. io8 The Dog Book Naworth Castle or Featherstone Castle Setters The first he mentions is the Naworth Castle or Featherstone Castle setters: "There is a very, fine old breed of setters, at present but little known. It has been, and still is, in the possession of the Earl of Carlisle, Naworth Castle, Brampton, Cumberland; Lord Wallace, Featherstone Castle, Cumberland, and Major Cowan, of Blaydon Burn, Northumberland, so well known as the bloodhound authority. "This breed of setters I remember fifty years ago, when I rented the moors belonging to the Earl of Carlisle, in the vicinity of Gillesland. This moor was commonly called Wastes, a description of which is so graphically given by Sir Walter Scott in 'Guy Mannering.' "This rare old breed has probably been retained in the above families as long as any other strain has. "The Featherstone Castle breed has been looked after by three genera- tions of Prouds, Edward Proud (now pensioned off) and sons. "Those at Naworth Castle, by Grisdale, who has been there for forty years or more, but now a pensioner. How long the breed may have been in the family of Major Cowan, and others in Northumberland and Cumberland I cannot say. "The distinguishing colour is liver and white, they are very powerful in the chest, deep and broad, not narrow or slaty, which some people seem to think is the true formation of the setter. "If there is any fault to find with them it is their size; they are a little too big and heavy. "There is a great profusion of coat, of a light, soft silky hair on the crest of the head, which is rather longer and heavier than the generality of setters. They are particularly strong and powerful in their fore quarters, beautifully feathered on their fore legs, tail and breeches, easily broken, very lofty in their carriage, staunch, excellent dogs and good finders. Though liver, or liver and white is not a recognised colour in shows, my belief is that there are as good dogs of this colour as of any other. "The Featherstone Castle breed was brought into notoriety by the late keeper, Edward Proud, and so much were they appreciated by shooting men that they went all over the country, and even to Ireland. This was more than half a century ago. The English Setter 109 Edmond Castle Setters "There is also another celebrated breed at Edmond Castle, near Carlisle, Cumberland. This likewise is liver and white, without the tuft. These dogs are much lighter and more speedy looking than the tufted ones. They are very deep, wide and powerful in the forequarters; well bent in the stifles, so much so as to give them a cat-like crouching attitude. "Laidlaw was the keeper's name who had charge of them. These setters were noted all over the country for being first class and very enduring. "The late Mr. Heythorn, of Melmerby Hall, near Penrith, had this breed when he shot with me — at which time I had the shooting at Pitmain, Kingussie, Inverness-shire — and first-rate dogs they were. "Mr. Garth's Bess, a winner at the Shrewsbury trials, was from this kennel." How far the following strains, which Mr. Laverack refers to, resembled what we call black, white and tan, or how nearly they favoured Gordons with white markings, we have no means of stating, but are inclined to the opinion that they were distinct from the latter, for the reason that Mr. Laverack put them in one chapter, devoting the following chapter to the Gordon, or black and tan alone, then a chapter to his own breed, finishing with another devoted to the Irish setter. This seems conclusive evidence that he did not consider them allied to the Gordons, but as varieties of the general run of setters. Lord Lovat's Breed Lord Lovat's breed is named as a black, white and tan: "Another celebrated, tested and well-known breed has long been in the possession of the evergreen veteran sportsman. Lord Lovat, Beaufort Castle, Beauly, Inverness-shire. This strain is black, white and tan. His Lordship shot long with Alexander, the late Duke of Gordon, and he informed me that his Grace had black and tans," and black, white and tans, but preferred the latter. "A celebrated dog of Lord Lovat's black, white and tan named Regent was well known in Ross-shire and Inverness-shire'. Old Bruce, his Lordship's keeper, told me this dog would never be beaten. Numbers of this strain and colour were in Lord Lovat's kennels when I last saw them. They have long been valued by many sportsmen for their excellence and beauty. no The Dog Book " I think I am correct in stating that this breed has never been exhibited at dog shows. They are very handsome, good, possessed of great powers of endurance; kept for utiUty and not for show. The Southesk "There is also another breed called the Southesk, belonging to the Earl of Southesk, in Forfarshire, black, white and tan. These dogs are very strong, fine animals, large in size and extremely well feathered, round bar- relled, powerful, and strong in their forequarters. "If any defect in their formation, they are apt to be somewhat slack in the loins and too long in the leg; notwithstanding this, they are well known to be good and staunch dogs, and highly appreciated. "The breed was well known to me when I rented the forest of Birse, adjoining the Glen of Dye, the property of Sir James Carnegie, now the Earl of Southesk." Strains of the Earl of Seafield The Earl of Seafield had tricolours and also lemon or orange and whites. "This is one of the most beautiful strains I have ever seen; there are few better than that of the Earl of Seafield of Balmacaan, Urquhart Castle, Inverness-shire. Perhaps there is no breed of setters possessed of a greater profusion of coat. I should say, save Russians; they had more coat of a glossy, silky texture, and more feather than any other strain of setters I have ever seen. Sheriff Tytler, of Aldoury, near Inverness, also had or has some of the same breed, as well as the late General Porter of Inchnacardoch, near Fort Augustus, and several others in that district. "I had many opportunities of seeing this pure and beautiful breed when I rented the Dunmaglass shootings and Boleskin Cottage on the banks of Loch Ness, Inverness. The formation of these dogs is as follows: Head rather short and light, full hazel eyes, ears well set on, of a soft, silky texture. They are similar to Toy Spaniels on a large scale, and covered with long floss like silky hair on body, and forelegs, flag, and breech; medium sized; good hunters; good dispositions and easily broken. The objection- able points are their peculiarly upright shoulders, straight hindquarters and sparseness of body, which makes them go short and stilty." The English Setter in Breed of the Earl of Derby and Lord Ossulston "The late Earl of Derby and Lord Ossulston, when shooting at Coul- nakyle, in Strathspey, Inverness-shire, had a beautiful breed of lemon and white setters, obtained, I believe, from Lord Anson. This breed in forma- tion was very similar to my own lemon and white; they were very powerful in the fore-quarters and remarkably handsome." * Lord Ossulston's Black Setters We now return to the Border sportsmen for particulars regarding black setters: "Another breed'of rare excellence, and greatly appreciated by practical sportsmen was that of Lord Ossulston, Chillingham Castle, Wooler, Northumberland. These were jet black, with beautiful bright, soft, glossy coats — a colour that our fastidious judges of the present day would probably ignore and not even notice, however handsome they might be, as not being fashionable. It was certainly one of the best, most useful and beautiful strains I ever saw, and for downright hard work could not be surpassed. I have, too, seen an excellent breed of light fawns, also a self- liver coloured one. Both these strains are first rate. Breeds of Lord Hume, Wilson Patten and Henry Rothwell "Lord Hume, of Tweedside; Wilson Patten, Lancashire; and the late Henry Rothwell (that celebrated old sportsman of hunting notoriety, who resided near Kendal, Westmoreland) had also a similar breed of blacks, well known, and eagerly sought after in those days by all the leading sports- men in that country. "Lord Hume's strain was famous all through that district and the Lammermuir Hills, for their acknowledged good properties, stoutness and powers of endurance. The last of this beautiful breed, so far as Harry Rothwell was concerned, was a dog named Paris, in the possession of his nephew, Robert Thompson, Esq., Inglewood Bank, near Penrith, North- umberland, and who shot with me for several years on the Forse shootings, Caithness, which I rented. It is a fact that this dog, a medium-sized one,, ran almost every day for six weeks and he was, when required, as good a retriever as I ever saw. Mr. Ellis, the Court Lodge, near Yalding, Kent, who shot with us can testify to the truth of this statement. 112 The Dog Book "Wilson Patten's breed, similar to the above, were very good, and noted for their hardy constitutions and innate love of hard work. "The colour of Lord Hume's and the other of the named gentlemen's breeds was a most beautiful jet black, as bright and brilliant as the blackest satin. Long, low dogs, with light heads, very strong and powerful in the forehand; well-bent, ragged, cat-like hind quarters, capital feet, hare footed, but not too much arched at the toe. They had not a great profusion of coat, but what there was, was of a first rate quality, and particularly silky. "These dogs were exceedingly close and compact in their build, and noted all through the country for their endiirance; they were good rangers and very staunch." Mr. Lort's Setters Of Mr. Lort's setters Mr. Laverack does not speak from personal knowledge, but from information he believed that there were none better. In colour they were black and white, and lemon and white; long, silky coats; hardy, enduring and good rangers. Mr. Laverack expressed his regret that owing to Mr. Lort's judging so constantly at shows, he seldom ex- hibited, and his setters were not known as they should have been. The Welsh or Llanidloes Setter Finally we have references to the Welsh setters, of which the Llanidloes strain was then dying out. A close, compact animal, very handsome; milk- white or chalk-white, as it was called in Wales, and the coats not so soft and silky as the other breeds named. Another black strain is mentioned as equally good, hardy and enduring. "In their own country they cannot be beaten, being exactly what is required for the steep hill sides." It will be well to supplement with the late Mr. Lort's description in the " Book of the Dog" this scanty reference to the Welsh setters. "The coat of the Welsh or Llanidloes setter, or at all events of pure bred ones, is as curly as the jacket of a Cotswold sheep, and not only is it curly, but it is hard in texture and as unlike that of a modern fashionable setter as it is possible to imagine. The colour is usually white, with occa- sionally a lemon coloured patch or two about the head and ears. Many, THE SPANIEL By Syd. Edwards. London, Jnn. i, 1801 THE SETTER By Syd. Edwards, London, 1805 THE GAMEKEEPER By Stubbs. in Daniels " Rural Sports,'" THE ENGLISH SETTER By Reinagie, in Scotts "Sportsman's Repository.'' 1820 The English Setter 113 however, are pure white, and it is not unusual to find several whelps in every litter possessed of one or two pearl eyes. Their heads are longer in pro- portion to their size, and not so refined looking as those of the English setter. Sterns are curly and ctubbed; with no fringe to them, and the tail swells out in shape something like an otter's. This breed is more useful than any spaniel, for it is smart, handy, with an excellent nose and can find with tolerable certainty at the moderate pace it goes. It usually has the habit of beating close to you, and is not too fast, being particularly clever with cocks and snipe, which they are no more likely to miss than is a spaniel." The Laveracks and Their Breeding It is very unfortunate that Mr. Laverack confines his comments on his own strain to a mere description of their general appearance, or what he aimed at in his breeding, and gives us no details as how he started the strain or how he progressed. He illustrates his book with likenesses of Old Blue Dash, Dash II., and Fred. IV. It is very tantalizing after reading about the other strains to find nothing about the one we desire most of all to learn how it was built up. What we do know on this score is that in 1825 he obtained from the Reverend A. Harrison, who resided near Carlisle, two setters, Ponto and Old Moll, and to these two dogs alone he traced back the Laverack setters. Mr. Harrison had kept his strain for thirty-five years and carefully guarded their breeding all that time, so that accepting the pedigrees of the Laveracks of 1870-80 as correct, the breed was in existence for nigh upon one hundred years. Mr. Laverack mentions Mr. Harrison but once, when, in naming the three most perfect setters he had ever seen, he selected Lord Lovat's black, white and tan dog Regent, General Wyndham's Irish setter, not named, and Rev. A. Harrison's Old Moll. It has been claimed that this tracing back to these two dogs alone is fundamentally wrong and that Mr. Laverack brought outside blood into his strain, and as evidence of this there is a letter he wrote his friend Roth- well regarding a puppy that was liver and white saying: "The liver and white will be quite as handsome and good as any of the five in the litter. He strains back to Prince's sire, viz., Pride of the Border, a liver and white. He strains back for thirty years to a change of blood I once introduced — ^the pure old Edward Castle breed — County Cumberland liver and white, quite 114 The Dog Book as pure and as good as the blues. Pride's dam was my old blue and white, with tan cheeks and eyebrows. Why I reserved Pride was to breed back with him and my blues. He is invaluable as by him I can carry on the breed." This was written in May, 1874, two yedrs later than the book was published, and of course is a contradiction of the pedigree he gave with that dog and every other by Dash II. out of Belle II., and indeed of all his pedigrees, for if one goes they all go, so similar are they in the interbreeding of the descendants of these two original dogs he started with. So on this allegation those opposed to the Laveracks attacked the whole structure, root and branch. But what was there in that after all ? Did the excel- lence of the Laveracks depend upon whether or not all Mr. Laverack's self- acknowledged tests to improve his strain were subsequently, as he said else- where, thrown out, or whether some mixture of some excellent blood still remained, or did their claims rest upon what they were individually ? Were they not the outcome of fifty years of his own breeding with a well-defined object in view ? These are the points at issue and nothing else, except with that class of breeders who select a sire from the stud-book record of pedigrees — and never breed anything good for either show or field trials. We are far from supporting the published Laverack pedigrees — quite the reverse, in fact, for it is simply impossible that that of Countess is correct. If that one falls, they all go, at least all with any such cross as Dash II. — or Old Blue Dash as he was generally called — or that of Fred I. Usually the Laverack pedigrees are attacked upon two grounds, the presumed impossi- bility for any strain to have its origin in but one brace of dogs and to inter- breed their progeny successfully for fifty years. The other claim is that as Mr. Laverack tried some outcrosses and never gave a pedigree with such a cross in it, coupled with the statement with regard to the liver colour in Pride of the Border, he did not give correct pedigrees. There is no founda- tion for the first assumption as it would be quite possible to continue the interbreeding of descendants from one brace of dogs, exercising care to breed only from the physically sound ones. With regard to the second claim we will say, presuming that nothing further can ^e adduced against the given pedigrees, that a person writing an offhand reply to an intimate friend would hardly exercise the care nor make the necessary references he would if writing out a pedigree for publication. We would not take the Rothwell letter as conclusive against the testimony of the pedigree if the latter bore investigation, and that leads us to a line of discussion which we The English Setter 115 have not hitherto seen exploited, though it may possibly have been without our knowledge. Mr. Laverack obtained Ponto and Old Moll from the Rev A. Har- rison in 1825. Judging from Mr. Laverack's naming Old Moll, coupled with the name of Mr. Harrison, as one of the best three setters he had known, it would seem fair to assume that he did not get her as a puppy, but probably obtained both as developed shooting dogs, having possibly no thought of what he subsequently went in for in breeding. We will there- fore set the date of their birth at 1823. The peculiarity in the pedigree of Countess is not really so much that all lines trace back to the original brace, but that the links are so few and each brace named has but two descendants, with but two exceptions of one additional each. Boiled down in this man- ner here is the pedigree of Countess: Main stem. Spurs — see below. (1823) Ponto— Old Moll. »Dash I.— Belle I. Pilot— ^MoU II. 'Cora I. Regent — Jet I. *Rock. Rock II. — Blairs Cora. «Sting — "Belle II. sire of dam of (1862) Dash II. Moll III. Countess (1869) Spurs to the main line: ^Dash I. ^MoUII. (?i836) *Rock Peg * V ' Rock I. > „ ' «Belle II. Fred I. (1853) ^Cora I. (? 1836) V , : /v , ' Moll III. Cora II. =Sting. \ ^ / Dash II. (1862) Countess (1869) ii6 The Dog Book Referring to the main stem table, we have six generations from Ponto to Dash II., a period of thirty-nine years, or an average of six and a half years to a generation. According to that supposition Moll II. and Cora I. were whelped about 1836. Turning to the table of spurs, we have Fred I. recorded as whelped in 1853, by which time his dam, Moll II. was, accord- ing to the foregoing computation, seventeen years old. We next come to a veritable Sarah in brood bitches, the venerable Cora I. a full sister, possibly a litter sister to Moll II., and find that she was bred to this nephew of hers, Fred I., about 1857, and when about twenty-one years of age, she produced Cora II., dam of Dash II. who was whelped 1862. If any person desires to believe these things possible we have no objection, but we do object to any one thinking to overthrow the name of Laverack or disparage the great benefit he was to the breed because his pedigrees will not scan. What differ- ence did it make if Mr Laverack had simply stated that he had bred his setters from 1825, starting with a brace he had obtained from the Rev. A. Harrison, and interbred their progeny, that he had at various times tried outcrosses with reputable strains, but had never had satisfactory results and had come back to his old line again as closely as possible. The dogs "would have been just as good individually, Countess would still have been the wonder she was, and there would have been no difference in the results of the Dan cross on the Laverack bitches, nor of the Laverack dogs on Dan's sisters. Mr. Laverack's setters were good because he had all the time been intent on their improvement, not because he gave with them a string of names in various order back to Old Moll and her consort Ponto. It has been said that Mr. Laverack only bred to supply his own wants for shooting dogs, and then only when his brace in use were getting old did he rear a litter, pick out a new brace and repeat the operation. The known facts do not support this supposition, for he writes about many gentleman having his strain of setters, and from the amount of shooting he did he must have had a fairly well-filled kennel from which to draw his supply. Writing to his friend Rothwell, when he was an old man, November, 1874, he tells of having lost three puppies Rothwell had sent him, also six more and two brood bitches, eighteen months old, for which he had refused fifty guineas each, besides four more young dogs. Again in the first volume of the English stud book we find seven setters registered in his name, fifteen dogs bred by him registered as the property of others, and about twice as many MR. EDWARD LAVERACK S ENGLISH SETTER, FRED IV, BY DASH OUT OF MOLL Drawn when 15 months of age MR. EDWARD LAVERACK'S "OLD BLUE" DASH, BY STING OUT OF CORA Drawn when ''O years of aee BARTON TORY A prominent dog in the present-day revival of the correct type of English setters, which began four y«ars ago STYLISH SERGEANT A Jeading show dog Id England and America ; now at Seattle. Washington The English Setter 117 more bred from his dogs by other persons. It must also be understood that it never has been the custom to register dogs so freely in England as we do in this country, but it is left to the kennel club to enter free of charge all winners at field trials or at dog shows held under certain rules of the club. Hence Mr. Laverack's registered dogs were winners, and not one of his breeding stock was registered, as is the custom with us. Neither can we admit that his stud dogs were for the free use of every friend who wanted to breed to one of them. We do not say that he went into the business of breeding and selling to the extent that Mr. Llewellyn subsequently did, but there was no restriction of his operations merely for his own use. What improvement could a man possibly make by breeding a litter every six or seven years for fifty years ? A breeder seeking to improve and build up a strain must have a surplus of stock for selection and only breed on from the best, so that we are forced to the conclusion that Mr. Laverack used a good many intermediate crosses not tabulated in his pedigrees, and felt his way along until he had his strain well established and universally acknowledged as of great merit. Shortly after Mr. Laverack's book appeared, the talented editor of the London Field, the late Dr. J. H. Walsh, whose nom de plume of " Stone- henge" had world-wide fame, undertook a fourth edition of his "Dogs of the British Islands," and in this edition he personally wrote the sections on the setters, which were vast improvements on what appeared in prior editions written by contributors. This edition appeared in 1877 and covers the flush times of the Laveracks and the start of the " Llewellyns." Dr. Walsh knew greyhounds, setters and pointers better than he knew any- thing in the sporting world and, whenever he could, attended the field trials, and kept thoroughly in touch with what was going on. What he wrote is therefore " hot from the grid " compared with the fading recollections we have of what took place in England from 1876 to 1880. During the greater part of that period we contributed to the Field, knew Dr. Walsh personally and brought back to America an autograph letter accrediting us as his paper's representative at the New York dog show in 1880. This letter was immediately begged by Mr. Tileston, the Westminster Kennel Club's secretary, who, poor fellow, was killed the week prior to the date set for the show by the fall of the west wall of the old Madison Square Garden structure. ii8 The Dog Book Stonehenge on Laveracks and Llewellyns The opening paragraph of Stonehenge is as follows: "Since the publication of the articles on the various breeds of dogs in The Field, during the years 1856-57, the strain of setters known by the name of Laverack, from the gentleman who bred them, has carried all before it, both on the show bench and in the public field trials which have been held annually. For this high character it is greatly indebted to the celebrated Countess, who was certainly an extraordinary animal, both in appearance and at work; for, until she came out the only Laverack which had shone to advan- tage was Sir R. Garth's Daisy, a good average bitch. Though small. Countess was possessed of extraordinary pace, not perhaps equal to that of the still more celebrated pointer Drake, but approaching so closely to it that his superiority would be disputed by many of her admirers. Though on short legs, her frame is full of elegance, and her combined head and neck are absolutely perfect. With her high pace she combined great powers of endurance, and her chief fault was that she could never be fully depended upon; for when fresh enough to display her speed and style to the full, she would break away from her master and defy his whistle until she had taken her fling over a thousand acres or so. . . . On a good scenting day it was a great treat to see her at work, but, like most fast gallopers, she would sometimes flush her game on a bad scenting day, and then she would be wild with shame. NeUie (her sister) was of the same size, but not so fast, nor so elegant, still she was good enough to beat the crack on one occasion at Vaynol in 1872, but on most days she would have stood no chance with Countess. She served to show that Countess was not wholly exceptional, as was alleged by the detractors of the Laveracks; and these two bitches, together with Sir R. Garth's Daisy, may fairly be adduced as indicating that at all events the Laverack bitches are quite first class. No dog, how- ever, has put in an appearance at any field trials with any pretension to high form, but several winners have appeared half or quarter bred of that strain." Countess, although bred by Mr. Laverack, was run by Mr. Llewellyn, who bought her from Mr. Sam Lang, who got her from Mr. Laverack. Nellie was apparently bought direct from Mr. Laverack, as no mention is made of Mr. Lang in the stud book. Hence although she gave prominence to Mr. Llewellyn's kennel, the credit was really due to the Laverack strain. That all was not plain sailing for the Laveracks is apparent from this remark The English Setter iig cf Stonehenge: "Before Daisy came out, Mr. Garth had produced a brace of very bad ones at Stafford, in 1867, and it was with considerable prejudice against them that the above celebrated bitches first exhibited their powers, in spite of the high character given them by Mr. Lort, Mr. Withington, and other well-known sportsmen who had shot over them for years. It is Mr. Lort's opinion that Mr. Withington possessed better dogs than even Coun- tess, but it must not be forgotten that private trials are generally more flat- tering than those before the public." All of which goes to show that Stone- henge was a very conservative, unprejudiced writer, and what he says has added value on that account. Stonehenge then proceeds to discuss what were the originals of what have come to be called "Llewellyns," and to show what this authority thought of the original title for these dogs we quote the opening paragraph: " I come now to consider the value of Mr. Llewellyn's * field-trial ' strain, as they are somewhat grandiloquently termed by their 'promoters,' or, as I shall call them, the ' Dan-Laveracks,' being all either by Dan out of Laverack bitches, or by a Laverack dog out of a sister to Dan." If there were "promoters" in England, there were also promoters in this country, and they made it their business to give the most glowing accounts of the Llewellyns, late "field-trials" strain, so that not only were the American shooting public misled at that time, but nearly every person connected with field dogs since then has been, and is still, of the opinion that they were invincible in England from 1870 as long as Mr. Llewellyn continued to run dogs in the English field trials. Nothing could possibly be further from the truth, and while we could state the facts in our own way and be thoroughly accurate, yet any person who takes that position is still likely to be attacked as prejudiced or untruthful. In preference to that we will quote what Stonehenge wrote from his own knowledge and from the best information, publishing it when and where the facts were well known, that is, in England, and these statements were never called in ques- tion nor were his conclusions. Even there, however, the upholders of the Llewellyns were not as accurate in their statements as they should have been. One of them who wrote over the nom de plume of "Setter" is quoted by Stonehenge as saying: "During the past two years ten of the Laveracks and ten of the Duke-Rhoebe and Laverack cross have been sent to America : the former including Petrel, Pride of the Border, Fairy and Victress; the latter including Rock, Leicester, Rob Roy, Dart and Dora, the same men I20 The Dog Book being owners of both sorts. At the American shows both sorts have ap- peared, and the Rhoebe blood has always beaten the Laverack. At field trials no Laverack has been entered, but first, second and third prizes were gained at their last field trials, in the champion stakes, by dogs of the Rhoebe blood, all descended from Mr. Llewellyn's kennels." In the first place, the same mert did not own the setters named, Mr. L. H. Smith, of Strathroy, Ont., being the only one to possess representatives of each lot. As to the wins, the first champion stakes of record, run in 1876, had Drake, Stafford and Paris placed in that order. Drake was bred by Mr. Luther Adams and was by the Laverack dog Prince, out of Dora, who was bred by Mr. Statter and was by Duke out of Rhoebe. A very strange record of breeding to claim to have come from Mr. Llewellyn's kennels. Stonehenge very pertinently remarks that as the two strains had not met afield there was no indication of superiority, and that without any definite knowledge he was quite prepared to admit superiority on the bench, as the Laverack dogs were heavy and lumbering, and the bitches, "though very elegant, too small and delicate for perfection." Going on to discuss merits of the field trials performers as shown in England, Stonehenge says: "Now, although I have always regarded Duke himself as on the whole a good dog, especially in pace and range, and have estimated Dan and Dick, the result of his cross with Mr. Statter's Rhoebe, favourably, as compared with the Laverack litters as shown in Bruce and Rob Roy, yet I never considered Dan as a good cross for the Laverack bitches, because his sire always showed a want of nose similar to the Laveracks themselves. Duke is said by 'Setter,' and I believe cor- rectly, to have received a high character from Mr. Barclay Field for his nose as exhibited in private, but he was notoriously deficient in this quality when brought before the public, going with his head low and feeling the foot rather than the body scent. In proof of this defect it is only necessary to say that he was beaten by Hamlet and Young Kent in this quality at Bala, in 1867, when the judge gave him only thirty-one out of a possible forty for nose, while at Stafford in the following spring Rex found birds twenty yards behind the place where he had left his point, thereby gaining the cup, Sir V. Corbett, the breeder of Duke, being one of the judges and loud in his admiration of Rex's nose, while finding fault with that of Duke. Indeed, this defect was always made the excuse for E. Armstrong's con- stant interference with him by hand and voice — ^whether rightly or wrongly The English Setter i2i I do not pretend to say, but it evidently marked that clever breaker's want of confidence in his dog's nose. Of Rhoebe herself I do not recollect enough to give an opinion as to this quality in her individually, and among her produce I do not remember any but Bruce and Dan that displayed even an average amount of scenting powers. Rob Roy was notoriously deficient m nose; and Dick, brother to Dan, in his second season was constantly making false points, and is so described in the report of the Southampton Trials of 1872. For these reasons, although I had always considered the Duke-Rhoebe cross superior to the two Laverack-Rhoebe litters, I never expected Dan to get such a good bitch as Noma, in point of nose and cor- rect carriage of head and flag, according to my ideas. If Nora, as alleged by her owner and 'Setter,' as well as by the FielJ reporter at Horseheath, is superior to her, I can only make my apology to Dan and admit that he has turned out a better sire than I expected, and than might have been gathered from the performances of Laura, Leda, and Druid, at the Devon and Cornwall, and Sleaford trials of 1874, which I saw. "Taking into consideration that the dogs which have been exhibited by Mr. Llewellyn have been picked from a very large kennel, and that as far as I have seen them perform, they have not proved themselves to be above the average, I can only come to the conclusion that Dan has not done any great good in improving the Laveracks, except in looks and size. Neither do I place him or any of his stock in the first rank of field trials winners, which in setters would I think include only Countess, Ranger, and Dash IL, forming with the pointers Drake and Belle, a quintet in class Ai. Dan came out in public only once it is true, though winning three stakes at that meeting, but he met the same dogs in all, and the victory was virtually only a single one. After this he put his shoulder out and never appeared in public again, but his brother Dick, who was coupled in the braces with him, and went equally well in the short trial accorded them, did not do anything worth speaking of next year. . . . Moreover Dan had at Shrewsbury a very narrow escape of defeat by Rake, as recorded by myself at the time, so that on mature reflection I have no hesitation in placing him below the first class, but possibly he is entitled to rank in the second class along with Plunket and his son and daughter. Kite and Music, (Irish), together with Kate, Rex and Lang (Gordons). To them may be probably added the Dan- Laveracks Noma and Nora and also Die, all more or less crossed with the late Mr. Laverack's strain. To sum up, therefore, it may be safely alleged 122 The Dog Book that his (Laverack's) setters have been of great service to sportsmen in giving pace and style when crossed with other breeds." Those entitled by experience to enter into any controversy on the subject of Mr. Laverack's and Mr. Llewellyn's setters know only too well that the authority thus quoted cannot be gainsaid in any facts, and that the arguments with which he leads up to his opinions are exceedingly hard to controvert. That then was the position of the Llewellyns in England at the very time they were being forced upon the American market by a very much interested coterie intent on striking the financial iron while they were keeping it hot. Even in Shaw's "Book of the Dog," published in 1880, there is no intimation that Mr. Llewellyn had "set the Thames on fire" with his world beaters, and the only references to that gentleman are : " Mr. R. LI. Purcell- Llewellyn is one of our greatest Laverack breeders of the day, and spares no trouble or expense in perfecting his strain. . . . Count Wind'em, Countess Bear and Countess Moll are the bright particular stars of Mr. Llewellyn's kennel, and the first named is a great, big, useful-looking dog." We do not advance the latter quotations as in any way conclusive, for it is very evident that the setter article in that book was a piece of patch work, written by various persons, but that there is no mention of what was at that time to Americans the most wonderful combination of ability and good looks proves that they were exciting very little attention in England compared with what the agitation in the American press had accomplished in this country. Earlv Importations of Lav bracks The success of the Laveracks in England, coupled with the interest engendered here by the publication of Mr. Laverack's book, unavoidably inspired American progressive sportsmen with the wish to secure some of the much-to-be-desired breed, and when it was announced early in 1874 that Mr. Laverack was offering for sale a brace of his dogs, he became the recipient of many inquiries, and of several offers to purchase them. Upon receipt of a communication accompanied by a draft for the amount asked, he shipped to New York the first pair of his dogs exported to this country, where they arrived in July of that year. These dogs were Pride of the Border, and Fairy, purchased by Mr. Charles H. Raymond, of Fox The English Setter 123 Farm, Morris Plains, N. J., Fairy coming over in whelp to Laverack's Blue Prince, a son of Pride of the Border. In appearance the imported pair did not greatly resemble each other. Pride of the Border, although not a large dog, was somewhat heavily made, with long, low action, and liver and white in colour. Fairy, although stoutly built, was smaller, of lighter frame and quicker in movement, and was an orange Belton. Both were wide rangers, and possessed extraordinary powers of scent. In this latter particular Pride of the Border was a remark- able dog. At first he was apparently indifferent to or puzzled by the scent of our game birds, but when he became acclimated and grew accustomed to the new conditions, he developed into a most satisfactory shooting dog. When in the field his intelligence seemed always actively at work, and in getting to his birds his head saved his heels many an unnecessary rod's travel. Like one of the blue Beltons described by Mr. Laverack, this dog displayed wonderful sagacity on running birds; for instance, pointing an old cock grouse, or a running brood, he knew by the scent when the game had left him ; then, instead of footing, immediately sunk or dropped down wind thirty or forty yards and re-pointed, his sagacity telling him he could find game much quicker by taking advantage of the wind than 'footing.' When working on quail or ruffed grouse. Pride of the Border constantly resorted to these tactics whenever the birds 'roaded.' When on his game he 'set' instead of pointing; lying down with neck extended like a dog at 'down charge,' reminding one of Laverack's expressed belief that 'most breeders of any note agree that the setter is nothing more than the setting spaniel improved.'" Pride and Fairy showed to great advantage on the open snipe meadow, ranging widely and pointing and backing staunchly, and they would doubt- less have made an equally effective brace on wide prairies. Fairy was faster than the dog, and more animated in her work, but like him was round ribbed and deep chested. Both were thorough "gun dogs," caring little for anything save seeking and finding game. They were never run in field trials — then in their infancy here — being reserved by their owner for his personal use in the field. Pride was never publicly advertised in the stud, but was bred to several bitches from various parts of the country, and some of his progeny were later imported by other fanciers. In 1881 we com- piled a record of the get of Pride of the Border which showed that of the fifty-six Laveracks then in this country, forty-six were descendants of this 124 The Dog Book noted dog. As quite a number of setter breeders of the present time are often at a loss to decide whether certain old dogs were or were not pure bred Laveracks, we give this record of 1881, exactly as we published it two years later in the old American Kennel Register. Pride of the Border's Progeny — first generation Out of Fairy: Charm, Guy Mannering, Roderick Dhu, Brough, Ranger. Out of Petrel: Shafto, Pontiac, Pride, Petrel II., Princess Nellie. Out of Fairy II. : Thunder, Duke of Beaufort. Out of Ruby: Diamond, Daisy Dean. SECOND generation From Carlowitz (imported), out of Princess Nellie: True Blue, Carlina, Lilly, Sting II., Count Noser, Carmot. From Blue Prince, out of Fairy: Young Laverack (imported). From Pontiac, out of Fairy : Fate, Etoile. From Pontiac, out of Fairy II: Fairy Prince, Lance, Laverack Chief, Fairy III. From Thunder, out of Peeress: Dick Laverack, Prince Laverack, Mack Laverick, Maple, Coomassie, Lady Laverack, Daisy Laverack, Pet Laverack, Lu Laverack, Peggy Laverack. From Young Laverack, out of Petrel II.: Lora Laverack. From Carlowitz, out of Daisy Dean: Bonny Kate, Sir Hal, Leo X. To this second generation there was added two years later the dog Emperor Fred, sent over and first shown here in the name of Mr. Robinson, but afterward as the property of E. A. Herzberg, of Brooklyn, who returned as part payment to Mr. Robinson the dog Aldershot, a son of Emperor Fred, whose name appears in the third generation which we now give. third generation From Tam O'Shanter, out of La Reine: Blue Queen and Don Juan, both imported. MR. A. ALBRIGHT. JR.'s QTTEEN'S PLACE PRIDE One of the many good setters imported by Mr, J. B. Vandergrift Photo by Schreiber MR. G. C. THOMAS. JR.'S ULVERSTONE RAP An imported dog and consistent winner Photo by Schreiber The English Setter 125 From Bailey's Victor, out of Blue Daisy: Fairy II. and Magnet. These were credited in the stud book to Mr. Laverack as breeder, but we satisfied ourselves at the time that they were bred by Mr. Robinson, of Sunder- land, who was the canine legatee of Mr. Laverack. From Emperor Fred, out of Blue Cora : Aldershot. All three of these dams were by Blue Prince, son of Pride of the Border, and Emperor Fred was also by Blue Prince. The foregoing were of course not all of the get of Pride of the Border, for it was only the living descendants at that time that were tabulated, and Pride had also been bred to other than pure Laverack bitches, getting that excellent show and field dog St. Elmo out of a short pedigreed bitch of Herzberg's. In speaking to Mr. Raymond recently about the old dog and his descendants he told us that he still had some setters that traced to him, and whenever trained they were found to be excellent field dogs. Those were not pure Laveracks, however; indeed, we believe it would be impossible to find one anywhere that had such a claim. As to the controversies which have taken place regarding Laverack pedigrees, Mr. Raymond never in any way took part, he being thoroughly satisfied with the high character and excellence of the dogs themselves, without discussing old, unnecessary subjects, which had no bearing on the individuality of the dogs. Other importations followed Mr. Raymond's and for ten years the Lave- racks had their full share of success on the show bench. The series of importations of this strain terminating with that of Emperor Fred, a remark- ably good dog that never really got his deserts in this country. He was first shown at New York in 1881, and led in the class for imported setter dogs. The term "imported" including the progeny of imported dogs, so that Duke of Beaufort and Pontiac, both by Pride of the Border, the former out of Fairy II., and the latter out of Petrel, though bred here, were in this class, and these three Laveracks were placed in the order named. When it came to the breed special. Thunder, another Laverack, beat Emperor Fred, though the latter was an immeasurably superior dog. Thunder was a big winner at that period, but very faulty in essential points, though quite a taking dog to the non-expert. The judge on this occasion was not the only one to make this blunder, but as sound judges were not by any means plentiful at that time, awards by the non-experts must be accepted with caution. Emperor Fred finally had justice done him at Washington in 1883, 126 The Dog Book when Mr. Mason placed him first in a wonderfully strong class of champions — dogs which had won first in the open class. Here he defeated Thunder, Don Juan, Plantagenet, Coin, and Foreman. So successful were the Laveracks up to that time that at this show the classification for English setters was divided into sections for Laveracks of pure breeding and "except pure Laveracks." But this was almost the end of this short-lived division, for the glamour of the field-trial performances of certain dogs twisted the setter-judging to such an extent that Laveracks became practi- cally extinct. With the departure of Emperor Fred from the ring, Plantagenet was about the best setter of 1884. Foreman, it is true, defeated him, but while there was room for difference of opinion, we always favoured the more quality-looking Plantagenet, for Foreman was a very heavy-headed dog. short and round in skull and rather short bodied, "chucked up," in fact. Nevertheless he was a very impressive dog, a good, vigorous mover, with superb hindquarters, and but for a slight turning out of the forefeet, and not being quite straight enough in pasterns to please the fastidious, he was a dog of grand character, and this, coupled with his superb coat, both in quantity and quality, made him a setter that should have pleased both sections of the fancy. It soon became noised abroad that he was a good field dog, so that when he won the champion stakes at the Eastern Field Trials Club meeting he sprang into deserved popularity as a sire with beneficial results, more particularly in getting bitches of quality, such as Haphazard, Calico, Saddlebags, Daisy Foreman and others, all decided acquisitions on the score of shape and appearance, though all showing more or less the roundness of skull and shortness of muzzle, with the pinched appearance their sire displayed. We take it, however, that he was the next dog to do good to the setter following Pride of the Border. The Era of Mr. Windholz and the Blackstone Kennels We now come to an era that warms the heart of those who can recall the dogs of 1885 and following years during which the dogs of Mr. Windholz played such a conspicuous part at the leading shows of that period. This gentleman started his prominent show career with Rockingham and Princess Beatrice, and, as the former remained an unbeaten dog for some time, it is always with considerable personal satisfaction we recall the facts attendin