484 BRITISH DOGS 



Again, a point that the present-day fancier seems to be losing 

 sight of is the characteristic and beautifully arched body of this 

 Terrier. If those who are interested in the breed will but take the 

 trouble to carefully scan many of the dogs seen on the show-bench 

 to-day, they will find that the arch exists, but in the wrong place. 

 It cannot be too emphatically laid down that the Dandie Dinmont 

 Terrier's arch should be over the loins, instead of, as it not 

 infrequently is, in the centre of the back, where it betokens weak- 

 ness a fault that is also strongly indicated in those weedy, perfectly 

 straight-backed specimens that by courtesy are known as Dandie 

 Dinmont Terriers. 



In the past the trimming and touching up of the Dandie Dinmont 

 Terrier have been notorious, the head and face in particular coming 

 in for their share of the hairdresser's misdirected art. The fact is 

 that many have done with finger and thumb what should have been 

 done by selection and breeding. The Dandie Dinmont Terrier 

 Club has now risen to the occasion by refusing to countenance the 

 wholesale plucking of head and body that once obtained. No 

 doubt the decadence of its very near relative the Bedlington Terrier, 

 owing to the amount of trimming thought necessary, has acted as a 

 warning. 



Apart from those who might require the Dandie Dinmont Terrier 

 as a show dog, there is a very big public that love dogs for the 

 sake of their companionship and the deeds that they can perform. 

 To such may be commended a perusal of the following lines that were 

 specially contributed to The Bazaar by the late Mr. Thomson Gray. 



Starting with the assertion that for the one-dog man or the 

 all-round sportsman there is no Terrier that excels or even equals 

 the Dandie Dinmont Terrier, which he characterises as the wise old 

 man of the Terrier group, he says : 



" A quaint dog is the Dandie. About his origin I am not 

 going to say anything here. That he differs from all and every 

 other breed of Terrier in many essential points is apparent, and 

 his compound outward form is just in keeping with his compound 

 accomplishments. I had one who for fifteen years was my only 

 canine companion : he followed me everywhere but to the kirk 

 on Sunday, and would have gone there also had he been allowed, 

 and I am sure behaved as well as any there. 



See the Dandie as he lies there on the rug, with the cat in 

 his ' oxter ' a harmless, sleepy, very dull-looking dog. The head 

 is raised, and a low growl is heard, and as the head comes round 

 we see the dark hazel eye is lighted up, and we now hear footsteps 

 approaching the door. The dog is now on his feet, and we see 

 a heavy-boned, long-bodied dog, with an arched loin not unlike 

 that seen in a ferret. His legs are firmly planted on the ground, 



