28 British Dogs. 



CHAPTER II. THE SCOTCH DEERHOUND. 



BY SENEX. 



THIS article has been specially contributed to this volume by a gentle- 

 man who has chosen to veil his identity under the nom de plume of 

 "Senex." He is a popular judge, and one whose extended experience 

 and observation of exhibition dogs, as well as that of a breeder, and as one 

 who has had the advantage of working deerhounds on their proper quarry 

 in their native glens, lends great value and weighty authority to his 

 opinions. He says : 



" The rough Scotch greyhound is, perhaps, as old a breed as any extant, 

 not excepting the fabulous pedigrees we read of in the mastiffs ; but 

 whether their lineage traces back from the time that Noah made his exit 

 from the ark or is of more recent origin it matters little. Few will deny 

 that it is a most striking and picturesque breed of dogs. As an 

 ardent admirer of the true breed, and having kept them some five-and- 

 thirty years or more, perhaps a few lines from me will not come amiss to 

 instruct the inexperienced what kind they are to try to obtain. The 

 deerhound of the present day is very difficult to get quite pure, so many 

 crosses have been resorted to. Some have tried the foxhound, others the 

 bulldogs, and then again the colley. 



"The deerhound stands from 28in. to 30in. or 31in. high; lately, I 

 believe, one has been exhibited 33in., but then what use is such a hound ? 

 His immense size, to the tyro, may be taking on the bench, but let him 

 only consider what he is wanted for, viz., to hunt and pull down the 

 stag. Can a lumbering, overgrown animal (for such a hound of the size 

 would be) gallop over all kinds of ground at a rapid pace and be active 

 likewise ? No. For real work choose a hound about 28in. or 29in., 

 not more. 



" The deerhound resembles in form the common greyhound, only his 

 build is more massive. His head should be long, and broad between 

 the ears, the jaws very powerful, and the teeth strong, white, and 

 regular ; the hair on the sides of the lips forms a sort of moustache. 

 Whenever one is seen with a narrow skull be assured at some time 

 or other Persian or Eussian cross has been resorted to ; this is apparent 



