86 BRITISH DOGS 



good points made, it is important that the dog should be formed 

 to do this, picking up and bearing the hare in his stride, and not 

 stopping to worry her as a Terrier would a rat. And here many 

 points come in which should be narrowly scanned and compared 

 in the show-ring, but too often are not, and these will be alluded 

 to hereafter. 



In addition, there are other requirements for which the dog 

 must possess qualities to make him successful in the field, and 

 give him a right to a prize in the show-ring ; these will be noticed 

 in detail. 



In forming an opinion of a dog whether in selecting him for 

 some special purpose of work, or merely choosing the best out of 

 a lot in the prize ring first impressions are occasionally deceptive, 

 get confirmed into prejudices, and mislead the judgment. But, in 

 the great majority of cases, to the man who knows what he is 

 looking at, what he is looking for, and what he has a reasonable right 

 to expect, the first impression conveyed to the mind by the general 

 outline or contour, and the way it is filled in, will be confirmed 

 on a close critical and analytical examination of the animal point 

 by point ; and it is only by such close and minute examination that 

 a judge can become thoroughly master of his subject, and arrive 

 at a position where he can give strong, clear, and intelligible reasons 

 for the opinions he has formed and the decision he has arrived at. 

 Moreover, there is that to be weighed and taken into account, in 

 the final judgment on the dog's merits, which is referable to no part 

 alone, and which can only be appreciated on taking him as a whole 

 that is, life that indefinable something which evades the dissector's 

 knife, yet permeates the whole body ; the centre power, which is 

 the source of movement in every quivering muscle, and is variously 

 seen in every action of the dog, and in every changing emotion of 

 which he is capable. This is probably what is often meant by 

 condition and quality. 



The judge must, however, consider, and, if need be, describe, 

 not only the general appearance of the animal, and the impression 

 he conveys to his (the judge's) mind, but, as it were, take him to 

 pieces, assessing the value of each particular part according to its 

 fitness for the performance of the special function for which it 

 is designed, and under the peculiar conditions in which it will 

 have to act ; and, having done so, he will find his first opinion 

 confirmed precisely in the ratio of his fitness to judge. 



Before taking the points one by one, we will glance at the 

 description of a Greyhound, as laid down in the doggerel rhymes 

 of the illustrious authoress of " The Booke of St. Albans," Dame 

 Juliana Berners, or Barnes, somewhile Abbess of Sopewell, and 

 since described as "a second Minerva in her studies and another 

 Diana in her diversions." It would be sheer heresy to write of 



