The Skye Terrier. 339 



or cairn, where the formation of the rock causes the opening to be 

 perpendicular, the dog gets easier through, and if the opening is 

 horizontal, a terrier instinctively endeavours to gain an entrance side- 

 ways, i.e., crawling on his side. Length from shoulder to root of tail, 

 say, from 15in. to I7in., girth behind foreleg 15in. to 16jin. Dog should 

 not be prominently ' tucked up ' at the loins, but on the contrary, well 

 ribbed home. 



" Legs. Should be short and strong, with plenty of muscle ; they may be 

 slightly bandy, but the less the better. Hair on legs (like that on under- 

 part of body) softer in texture as well as lighter in colour than that on 

 the back of the dog. Foreleg 4|in. to Sin. in length, inside measurement, 

 girth almost equal to length, if the muscles are well developed. 



" Feet. Small, and more or less hairy. There should not be any dew- 

 claws, which are considered very objectionable in any terrier. 



" Tail. Short, and rather bushy, about 9in. long (hair inclusive), and 

 the nearer straight in carriage the better it looks. A long ' whiphandle ' 

 style of tail does not belong to the breed. 



"Height. From Sin. to 9in. at shoulder, and should not be lower 

 behind. 



"Coat. Should, on the body, be dense, and the outer (or longer 

 hair) of a decidedly wiry texture, that underneath being much finer in 

 quality. 



" In different strains the length of coat varies, but the pure-bred Skye 

 terrier never shows (within 5in. to Gin.) the extraordinary length of hair 

 on the back of some show dogs, nor can such unusual length of coat be 

 ascribed to any cause apart from cross breeding, to attain the distinc- 

 tion. 



" Dogs bred in the recognised best kennels in the Isle of Skye exhibit 

 hair on them measuring, say, about 3in., although apparently not above 

 half the length here indicated. While the strains most popular in the 

 ' Argyle Country,' bred for so many years at Inverary Castle, as well as 

 in the Isle of Mull, and more recently at Eoseneath, are generally longer 

 coated, perhaps to the extent of about 2in., a circumstance which can be 

 easily explained, without reference to ' differences of temperature ' in the 

 localities named. In short, it may fairly be ascribed to the fact of 

 systematic breeding by selection, for moderately rough-coated terriers, 

 being pursued in Argyleshire. 



z2 



