The Irish Water Spaniel. 153 



risk of repeating myself, I assert that no other breed of dog exists with 

 a smooth tail which carries as much hair elsewhere as does the Irish 

 spaniel. These characteristics viz., tail, face, and topknot stamp 

 him, in my opinion, as the purest of pure bred dogs. The tail is 

 shorter than in most other dogs, thick at the root, and tapering to a 

 sting at the point. For about Sin. from the body it is covered with 

 small curls, the remaining portion being smooth. 



The coat should consist of innumerable hard short curls, free from 

 woolliness. These curls get felted, or daggled, before moulting time. A 

 woolly coat shows the poodle cross, which may also be detected in the 

 head. A silky coat, with an inclination to waviness instead of curl, indi- 

 cates a cross with land spaniel or setter ; this cross also shows itself in 

 the quality of the leg -feather. The colour is that dark shade of liver 

 called puce, having a rich plum-coloured hue when seen in the sun. The 

 best coloured dog of the breed I ever saw was my old champion Duck 

 when she was in the prime of life. A patch or star of white is often seen 

 on the chest, and should not be regarded as fatal to a dog' s winning, as it 

 is met with in the best strains ; in fact, in a litter of "puppies, if there is 

 one with more white on than the rest, it, as a rule, is the largest. 

 Whether white is a sign of strength or not I am not prepared to say. 



In respect to symmetry by which I mean the general appearance of 

 the dog, his carriage, style, &c. he should be judged as you would 

 judge a cob. Many of the dogs of the present day are too leggy. A 

 leggy spaniel of any breed I detest. The best dogs we have seen of late 

 years of this breed have been : Doctor and Eake, bred by Mr. Eobson, 

 Hull ; Pilot and Sailor, breeder Eev. A. L. Willett ; Blarneystone and 

 Chance, bred by Mr. Salisbury ; Mr. P. J. D. Lindoe's Blarney, Mr. 

 Engelbach's Pat, Mr. Fletcher's Young Doctor, Mr. Morton's Paddy and 

 Shamrock, Mr. C. Pilgrim's Barney, and Bridget and Patsey, all bred by 

 myself. The portrait represents Patsey, a son of Young Doctor and 

 Bridget, who possesses the characteristics of the breed in a remarkable 

 manner, especially when it is taken into account that he has been kept 

 chained to a kennel all his life without any attention being paid to his 

 toilet. 



Measurements of Irish spaniels : 



Mr. H. E. C. Beaver's Irish Spaniel Captain: Height at shoulder, 

 20Jin. ; length from nose to set on of tail, 37|in. ; length of tail, 13in. ; 



