426 British Dogs. 



were I an Irish water spaniel breeder, and, indeed, I think I conld safely 

 undertake, in seven or eight generations at most, to manufacture a breed 

 identical with these by crossing poodle and large land spaniel. 



The remarkably high intelligence of the poodle and his marvellous 

 powers of scent mark him out to the sportsman as worthy of a 

 higher destiny than to be compulsorily habited as the buffoon of the 

 canine race merely to pander to a frivolous taste. 



I by no means object to any person indulging in the exercise of his 

 own peculiar eccentricity in dealing with his dog if no injury can follow, 

 but to three-parts shave a long thick coated dog, and in this climate 

 exhibit him on a show bench in mid-winter, is not right. Touatt, 

 whose name is still and will continue to be honoured by his veterinary 

 brethren, writing of this dog, says, " It should be remembered that 

 he was not designed by nature to be thus exposed to the cold of 

 winter, and that there are no dogs so liable to rheumatism, and that 

 rheumatism degenerates into palsy.' ' 



From a show point of view I also object, unless the system of prize 

 giving be somewhat modified, and the skill of the perruquier, who most 

 successfully displays his fantastic tricks on the dog, should receive the 

 prize, and not the substitute for a dog which his craft has created. 



The poodle is par excellence the "tricky dog;" a high intelligence, 

 strong love for his master, a naturally cheerful temper, and a liking for 

 fun make him at once a bright and cheerful companion and a very apt 

 scholar, and innumerable are the tricks he may be taught. This, 

 however, is not the place to go into that subject. 



In classifying the poodles for show purposes, I would be disposed 

 to recognise only the corded, or, as I prefer to describe them, those whose 

 hair falls in regular hard ringlets, the thickness of goose quils or less ; 

 and to divide these into the black and the white. I would ignore the 

 coarse and open woolly coated or fluffy sort, as unmistakably having a 

 bar sinister in their escutcheon. Popular opinion or rather, let me 

 say, the views of those who rule over us in doggy matters and wield 

 public opinion by the power of their position is for the time against me, 

 so I can no more than act up to our motto, "I Dare" 'vent my own 

 opinions, and, in the words of another, " bide my time." 



There are a vast number of small white dogs, or white with lemon 

 patches, open haired, with a more or less strong tendency to curl, 



