THE AMERICAN BOOK OF THE DOG. 



were the toy Spits, and some were really very small and pretty. Now, how- 

 ever, the black pariah is becoming a favorite, and many a young gentleman 

 takes a walk with his Spits, which has taken the place of his late Fox Terrier. 



The head of the Schipperke much resembles that of the Pomeranian, a pair 

 of small triangular ears carried perfectly straight and close to each other. 

 The neck and shoulders are strong, and the hair is longer on these parts, but 

 there must be no excess here, as many dogs have been bred and shown already 

 with long, soft hair, thus losing entirely their true character. 



The body is rather short, and well-filled-up ribs give the little animal a 

 cobby appearance. The Spits stands on straight legs covered with short, 

 smooth hair. The feet are small and round (cat-feet), furnished with strong 

 black toe-nails. Most of the good specimens have dew-claws, but some judges 

 want to get rid of them. With regard to the tail, much has been said, but 

 Spits born perfectly tailless do exist, and in the opinion of all those who used 

 to breed them years ago, a dog born with a tail on is not a pure-bred one, and 

 should not be kept for breeding. Many breeders of the present day, however, 

 and, I am sorry to say, judges even, say : " It's no use breeding them tailless. 

 Cut the tail off." But the only reason they could give for this is that they 

 never succeeded in breeding a tailless one. It is a fact that out of a hundred 

 bred now scarcely twenty, or even less, will be tailless, but this, in my opinion, 

 is only owing to the fact that the breed has not been kept pure; for, on the 

 other hand, I have known a bitch which has never thrown any but tailless 

 puppies, and that to different dogs. 



Schipperkes usually breed very true. For an instance of this, a friend of 

 mine had a pure-bred bitch which a year ago was accidentally warded by a 

 Fox Terrier. She threw five puppies, all coal-black, bar a small white spot 

 on the breast and some on the toes. 



For general shape, everyone agrees; but for several points there is great 

 diversity of opinion. At first, j;s to the length of hair, some, with Mr. John 

 Proctor, who is an Englishman living in Antwerp, and who has made Pick his 

 type for the breed, want a long mane extending between the fore legs up to 

 about half the body. Others, especially the breeders of Louvain, want an 

 entirely smooth, shiny-coated dog with hardly any frill, and narrow ears, about 

 one-half longer than Pick's ears. With this sort of Spits the head is longer 

 also. Then, again, Brussels has her type of Spits, much shorter in head, with 

 large eyes, broad forehead, and usually large ears set far apart and low on the 

 head. With this type there usually goes a fair, hard-haired mane and good 

 coat; but unfortunately, also, all the dogs of this type are much out at the 

 elbows, which, added to their square, short head, seems to show Bulldog cross. 

 The dog usually seen in Antwerp and surroundings is between these, and 

 should become the only type, admitting that the ears are perfect as well as 

 the head. The mane does not appear large at first sight, but when passing the 

 hand through it one is surprised at the length of the hair. There should be 

 also a fair frill on the hind quarters and hair of a fair length on the back, sides 

 and below perfectly smooth, as well as on the legs. Much diversity of opinion 

 exists as yet among breeders with regard to the secondary points; but it is to 

 be hoped that within a few years everyone will recognize one type, and that it 

 will be the right old stamp of Spits. 



