196 BRITISH DOGS 



away with a sudden burst of chorus music which brings a smile of 

 gratification to the face of the most casual onlooker, for eye and ear 

 have been alike delighted. The deep, bell-like tones down to the 

 shrill treble blend together into a beautiful harmony of sound, just as 

 the various shades of " blue mottle," " hare pie," " lemon and white," 

 "black, white, and tan," and "black and tan" blend together in a 

 perfect harmony of colour. Fig. 50 shows one of Mr. Candy's 

 1410. Beagles. 



The " Pocket" variety, which has also been called the "Sleeve," 

 "Pocket," "Glove," and "Toy" Beagle, must not exceed loin, in 

 heightj and should be an ordinary Beagle in miniature. Thanks to 

 its extraordinary beauty and love of sport, this midget hound has 

 become a general favourite wherever known. It is usually used for 

 rabbit-shooting, drag-hunting, or rabbit-hunting when holes have 

 previously been stopped. Nothing can exceed the keenness with 

 which a well-bred and well-entered pack of these marvellous little 

 hounds will work, even for long hours and through a stiff country. 

 The great difficulties breeders have to contend with are toyish 

 characteristics (such should be rigidly suppressed), round heads, 

 protruding eyes, light bone, weak hindquarters, and thin co'ats 

 covering a shaking, chilly little body. When, after a long period 

 of neglect, the variety again became fashionable, all the unthrifty, 

 undersized, weakly puppies from ordinary Beagles were, instead 

 of being destroyed as usual, reared and sold to the public as 

 Pocket Beagles. They in their turn were bred from (this was 

 termed "breeding down"), and the usual results of breeding from 

 failures were bound to follow weak constitutions, with a tendency 

 to catch every disease known to dog flesh and no vitality to resist it; 

 wholesale losses in pupping, consequent upon throwing back to a 

 big ancestor, and in the field a want of power, go, and stamina. 

 Some of the same results follow from over-much in-and-in-breeding 

 to certain strains, the owners of which are perhaps reluctant to depart 

 from the blood with which they are thoroughly acquainted. 



The true Pocket Beagle is a distinct and very old variety, 

 and although the limit of loin, is a modern and an arbitrary one, 

 chiefly for show purposes, it should always be ascertained by a 

 reference to the pedigree if the strain is of small blood and that 

 only. Then it must ever be remembered that he is a " hound," and 

 should be built so as to be capable of performing a day's work 

 short back, powerful loin, and all the other points you look for in 

 a working hound. Most difficult to get packed away in a gin. or 

 loin, body, it has been the despair of many a breeder who has 

 started on the task with cheerful confidence. To have some idea 

 of the difficulty, the reader should cut a stick loin, long, and 

 then imagine a pack of hounds within that limit, with all a hound's 

 characteristics (see Fig. 51). 



