280 British Dogs. 



CHAPTER XV. THE GERMAN BOARHOUND. 



BY COBSINCON. 



THE German boarhound is fairly entitled to a place here on the lines we 

 have laid down, namely, to include dogs not strictly British when 

 frequently met with at our shows, and, by the attention paid to them by 

 the English philokuon, may be supposed to be under process of natural- 

 ization. 



From an early period in the history of our shows, specimens of the 

 immense German boarhound have frequently graced the benches, and had 

 the same encouragement been given to them as to the dachshund, we 

 would now have large classes of them ; but, hitherto, they have had to 

 form part and parcel of that olla podrida, the variety or foreign dog 

 class, the most difficult of all to judge, and wherein decisions are almost 

 invariably eccentric and puzzling. 



Many dogs shown as German boarhounds would, I am disposed to 

 think, be more correctly classed as great Danes ; and to that ancient 

 breed, I believe, the German boarhound owes much. 



I do not profess to write of this breed from an extensive experience, or 

 with a profound knowledge ; and inquiries into its history on my part 

 have been unsatisfactory. 



From all I have been able to discover, and from observations at home 

 and continental international exhibitions, I feel strongly convinced that 

 the dog is of no special purity, but rather represents selections from 

 many stocks used and found suitable for certain purposes. 



Believing, as I do, that this is the case with nearly every breed of dog, 

 it raises no prejudices in my mind against the one under consideration. 



The Ulmer appears to be but another name for the boarhound, 

 although it may refer more specially to a sub-variety of the breed for 

 which, I understand, Ulm is somewhat celebrated. 



The Leonberg is another new claimant for recognition, and is also an 

 ally ; or, perhaps, more correctly, an alloy of this breed with New- 

 foundland and other varieties. 



The German breeders have themselves in contemplation, I believe, to 



