146 British Dogs. 



These dogs were as silent as Clumbers, but as a rule they would fling 

 their tongue under strong excitement, and especially on view, unless they 

 were broken to drop to game. Good spaniels may be obtained of any 

 colour, but the true Sussex is golden liver. The dog has never been 

 produced in great numbers, nor has he ever been common. He has been 

 in the hands of a few families, and the late Mr. Fuller, of Eosehill, 

 was celebrated as a breeder, and for the breaking and discipline of his 

 team. 



" ' For the patient, genuine sportsman there is no better dog than the 

 short-legged, thick-set, long, and low spaniel, which ought to down 

 charge, to retrieve, and to swim well and cheerfully. 



" ' The Sussex possesses all these accomplishments, and is a capital 

 dog to go through thick covert or woodlands, being able, from his 

 formation, to burrow under gorse or tangle, and to rouse fur or feather 

 in situations inaccessible to his master. 



" ' For this purpose he should have a thick, straight, but not a 

 voluminous coat, such as shall protect but not impede him, and ears of 

 moderate size, or what a judge of exhibition spaniels would declare 

 small. A dog with heavily-coated ears, and with leather sufficient to 

 cover one-half of a football, may be ornamental to the benches of a dog 

 show, but he is useless as a sporting dog.' 



"From one cause and another Sussex spaniels had become well nigh 

 extinct about the year 1870, when a few gentlemen undertook the task 

 of resuscitation with this result, that the breed has now classes at all 

 our chief exhibitions, where there is generally to be seen a very fair 

 sprinkling of the old sort, although, I regret to say, that the spurious 

 article is still supplied in considerable numbers. 



" In general appearance the Sussex spaniel should be long and low, and 

 of a deep golden liver colour not mealy nor yet puce but the shades 

 of the liver in a strong light should appear golden. 



"The head should resemble that of a good Clumber; it should not 

 appear long. 



" The ears should be lobe shaped, and thickly clothed with straight silky 

 hair ; and should spring in front from a point above the level of the eyes. 



"The nostrils should be very large, and the lower jaw should recede 

 considerably; the flews should be so large as to be capable of being 

 drawn together underneath the extremity of the lower jaw. 



