ioo BRITISH DOGS 



The fleetness of the modern Whippet is not generally known 

 to the outside world ; but, considering their weight, these dogs 

 may be termed the speediest four-legged animals known. As an 

 illustration, I will adduce Mr. William Whittaker's red bitch Nettle. 

 This bitch was not only the handsomest, but about the fastest, ever 

 bred; her running weight was iQlb. She will be known to many 

 from her show-bench career, having, when exhibited by Messrs. 

 William Whittaker and Abraham Boulton, won a great number of 

 first prizes ; in fact, in this line she had an unbeaten record. But 

 it is to her extraordinary fleetness I wish particularly to refer. Upon 

 a favourable day, and given a good course, she could traverse 

 2ooyds. in i2sec., which gives a speed of i6|yds. per second, her 

 stride, when thoroughly extended, as measured from toes to toes, 

 being a trifle over i5ft. ; such cannot but be considered astounding 

 when performed by a iQlb. animal. By way of comparison, I will 

 take the fastest celebrity in the annals of the equine race, Colonel 

 Townley's Kettledrum, who, strange to say, sprang from the same 

 town as the bitch Nettle viz. Burnley, in Lancashire. He traversed 

 the Derby course, Epsom (i| miles in extent), in 2min. 43sec. 

 or at the rate of i6iyds. per second; consequently, the rate of 

 speed is in favour of the canine heroine." 



The parallel here drawn by Mr. Sutherland is scarcely fair to 

 the horse, as his average is taken on a distance more than thirteen 

 times that covered by the dog. 



Up to the present the handicap is the only form of racing in 

 vogue ; but there is no reason why this should be so, for, as Mr. 

 Tatham in a most interesting series of papers that he contributes to 

 the Dog World points out, the possibilities of this sport, if not end- 

 less, are at least great. He says that : 



"When the sport obtains the support it is entitled to, I have 

 no doubt whatever races other than handicaps will crop up. They 

 cannot be introduced too soon, for obvious reasons. Moreover, 

 numbers of persons ignorant of the niceties of dog-racing, yet 

 anxious to own and run dogs, hold back through being lost amid 

 the intricacies of handicaps. The class of race I allude to would 

 initiate them into the mysteries of yards and pounds in a very short 

 time, and they would then know what mark their dogs would have 

 just as readily as an owner of racehorses knows what weight his 

 animal will have to carry in a weight-for-age race. 



" To put forth a race, say, for dogs and bitches any weight, yards 

 or pounds, bitches allowing dogs three yards to the pound, would 

 be, of course, a foregone conclusion, and there would be very few 

 starters. But a person putting forth a programme of a meeting is 

 supposed to know what conditions to make in order to provide good 

 sport, and by the insertion of those conditions quite a new com- 

 plexion is put on the matter, the race at the same time being essen- 



