342 BRITISH DOGS 



plucking out the old or dead hair with finger and thumb, is the only legitimate 

 practice ; but the writer will defy any one to trim a Flat-coated Retriever's ear 

 in this way. How, then, is it done? 



About the Eye of the Retriever there is not a consensus of opinion. Some 

 hold that it cannot be too dark or too small. Personally, the writer is at 

 issue with both these dictums, and if he be Sir Oracle, he hereby declares that 

 the eye should be dark brown, and that a sloe-black eye is almost as objection- 

 able as a yellow one. He also opines that a small, deep-set eye is altogether 

 un-Retriever like. It should be of moderate size, neither deep-set nor peduncu- 

 lated ; it should, in expression, beam with intelligence and benevolence. The 

 lips should be tight, and the flews well braced up. 



Neck and Shoulders. The head should be well set on to a strong, muscular 

 neck of good length, round, and showing graceful, curving lines to the shoulder, 

 which should be long, sloping, and flush with the ribs. The points of the shoulder- 

 blades should lie close together at the juncture of the neck. The surest way of 

 detecting bad shoulders is to find these two points set wide apart. 



Fore Legs and Feet. These properties are of th'e utmost importance, for it is 

 on his "understandings" that a Retriever has to do the most arduous portion 

 of his work. A writer in one of the "doggy" papers once sagely asked, "If 

 a Retriever is good in his work, what does it matter if his legs are crooked, as 

 long as they carry him ? " Yes, my friend, all very well for that particular dog ; 

 but go on breeding from such, and you will find, in the course of time, that with 

 crooked legs will be evolved bad shoulders, weak backs, and wasted loins. No ; 

 a Retriever's legs must be as straight as a Foxhound's, with sufficient bone 

 carried right down to the feet. " Sufficient" bone is written advisedly, because 

 the craze for very heavy bone, alike as regards Retrievers and Hounds, often 

 results in general coarseness. The bone of a highly bred dog of great quality 

 often appears lighter than that of a coarser animal ; but if, after death, the two 

 are examined, the coarse bone will be found porous and soft, whilst that of the 

 "quality" dog partakes of the nature of ivory, and reproduced in his progeny 

 would be capable of twice the wear and tear of the other. The feet should be 

 moderately large and round, the toes well arched and closely knit. The soles 

 or pads should be very hard, dense, and impervious to cuts and blisters. 



Chest) Ribs, Couplings^ Loins , and Back. The chest should not be too wide, 

 but should be very deep, with plenty of heart-room. The ribs should be only slightly 

 sprung behind the shoulder, where they should be quite flat, so that the elbow, 

 in action, works like the cock of a gun. A round or barrel rib, despite what may 

 be said, is a distinct detriment. Many dogs have been decried as flat-sided 

 whose conformation was, in reality, all that could be desired. A very deep- 

 chested dog cannot be barrel-ribbed, and a deep chest is far more desirable than 

 a shallow, round one. You never find a real stayer in man, horse, or dog that 

 is not deep-chested and more or less flat-sided. Again, a great deal is made of 

 a dog being "coupled right up" ; and "too long in the couplings" is a parrot 

 cry that has kept many a good animal out of the first flight. A dog who is really 

 too long cast, and is, in consequence, lanky and weak, is most certainly not to 

 be encouraged ; it will often be that a very deep-chested dog appears too 

 long from the back rib to the stifle : but if the tape be used, and it is found that 

 the height at the shoulder equals the length from point of shoulder to set-on of 

 stern, then it is clear that the lines of symmetry are right, and that the super- 

 excellence of chest and shoulders require scope in the couplings. A dog with 

 a very deep chest and long, oblique shoulders would, if his couplings were 

 too well ribbed up, lack liberty a fault all too common in certain strains. 

 The ba k should be broad and strong from end to end, showing a most 

 graceful outline when viewed in connection with head, neck, and stern. Many 

 Retrievers exhibit a weakness or " wedginess" behind the saddle, and this fault 

 becomes particularly obvious directly they begin to lack condition from overwork, 



