THE BOSTON TERRIER 43 



the fact is demonstrated that dogs of A I qual- 

 ity can be produced on American soil. 



There are two or three subjects that demand 

 the most careful consideration at the hands of 

 the breeder, and to which I am afraid in many 

 cases not particular enough attention is given. 

 I refer in the first place to the question of in- 

 breeding, an admitted necessity in the early 

 history of the dog, but in the writer's estimation 

 very harmful and much to be discouraged at the 

 present time. I will yield to no man in the 

 belief that the fact is absolutely and scientifi- 

 cally true that close consanguineous breeding 

 is the most powerful means of determining 

 character and establishing type, in many in- 

 stances justifiable as the only correct way to fix 

 desirable qualities, both physical and mental, 

 but extreme care must be exercised that both 

 parties to the union must be of good quality and 

 not share the same defects, and where it is evi- 

 dent that the extra good qualities on the one 

 side more than outbalance the defects of the 

 other, and extreme precaution must always be 

 paid to avoid carrying this system too far. 



In regard to intense inbreeding, as in the case 

 of mating dogs from the same sire and dam, or 

 the bitch to her sire, or dam to son, I thing it is 

 highly objectionable and should never under 

 any circumstances be resorted to; failure will 



