CHAPTER XLIV 

 THE CLYDESDALE (OR PAISLEY) TERRIER 



OUTSIDE the somewhat restricted range of the dog Fancy, com- 

 paratively few people have any idea of the general appearance of 

 this essentially Scottish variety. It is true that at the larger shows 

 in England classes are sometimes provided for the breed; but 

 Paisley is the centre of the Clydesdale Fancy, and thither we must 

 journey if we would find real enthusiasts in this silky-coated 

 Terrier. 



The Clydesdale Terrier is a fancier's dog, a sport from the Skye 

 Terrier stock ; but whether a product of natural adaptation to 

 changed conditions, or the result of the introduction of blood of 

 an allied variety, cannot with certainty be said. The Terrier whose 

 cause the Clydesdale Terrier Club has espoused corresponds more 

 closely in most points with the Skye Terrier than many of the dogs 

 formerly exhibited as Paisley Terriers and Glasgow Fancy Skye 

 Terriers did. Twenty-five years ago Terriers under the last two 

 names were frequently seen at shows in the West of Scotland, and 

 were sometimes shown in Skye Terrier classes ; they differed from 

 each other considerably in size and shape, many being much shorter 

 in body than is now recognised as characteristic of this variety. 



Since dog shows became fashionable, there has been a growing 

 tendency to subdivision of varieties, and nowhere has this been 

 more strongly evinced and acted upon than in the Terriers. It 

 has also been fashionable to give the segment, when separated from 

 the parent stock, a name marking it as peculiar to a nationality, 

 principality, or locality. In many cases the appellation has been 

 arbitrarily bestowed, the sub-variety not specially belonging to the 

 place its name implies. These names, however, being distinctive, 

 are convenient, and no harm is done, except when the admirers 

 of such breeds, in their enthusiasm, offend by too roughly jostling 

 truth through claiming too much. 



The Skye and Clydesdale are variations from a common stock, but 

 considerably modified in appearance by the treatment they receive 

 in the process of rearing and constant attention to their toilets. 



The Clydesdale Terrier of to-day corresponds in size with the 



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