The Aberdeen Terrier. 381 



leg, and not so nimble as the old hard-coated Scotch terrier, they equally 

 show the true terrier "fire" in their eagerness for the fray, and the 

 indomitable courage, the ' ' dourness ' ' with which they hold on, marking 

 them as real " die-hards " among the terrier race. 



Those who saw the prize winners in the Scotch terrier classes at the 

 Alexandra Palace Show, 1879, saw the stamp of the Aberdeen terrier, 

 and it seems to me a very great pity that the Kennel Club Show should 

 on that occasion have been used so to misdirect public opinion, and 

 to stultify the judgments previously given at their shows, when terriers 

 nearer the type, or at least built more closely on the lines of the old 

 Scotch terrier, won. 



There is much in the general appearance of the Aberdeen Terrier that 

 suggests to the mind a Skye terrier in the rough. Low on the leg, long 

 in the back, an abundance of bone and muscle, a rough hide covering 

 a big heart, a concentration of strength, a head of the useful punishing 

 sort, and a countenance lit up by a keen and piercing eye, he is the 

 best and merriest of companions for those who eschew the "pretty" 

 and prefer in their peregrinations round the homestead to have the 

 society of a dog that will take the sow by the ear and turn her out of 

 the garden, or that if a rat presents itself, it is "dead for a ducat " 

 before you can utter the words. 



These dogs have natural prick ears, the muzzle is a medium length, 

 teeth strong and level set, the whole body covered with a very hard coat 

 of the horsehair texture taken from the mane, and about an average of a 

 couple of inches in length. A dog's coat as hard as " pig's bristles or 

 pin wire," as it is often said to be, I have never met with, and I hope I 

 never shall. 



I am quite sure these dogs which, I understand, are plentiful not 

 only in Aberdeen but throughout the north-eastern counties of Scotland 

 only require to be better known among English terrier lovers to be 

 appreciated, and as I know several gentlemen in the south have taken 

 to them and are breeding them, I have good hopes ere long of seeing 

 classes for Aberdeen terriers at our shows. 



The following are measurements of a couple of the breed : 



A bitch owned by Mr. H. B. Gibbs : Age, about 3 years ; weight, I71b. ; 

 height at shoulder, 8in. ; length from nose to set on of tail, 30iin. ; 

 length of tail, 7in. ; girth of chest, 18iin. ; girth of loin, 13in. ; girth of 



