THE SCHIPPERKE 561 



Schipperkes lose none of their virtues rather, on the other hand, 

 are they accentuated." 



The words of Mrs. Heard are words of wisdom, and if only 

 those breeders of the Schipperke would cease from coddling, the 

 constitution, always a hardy one, could be materially strengthened. 

 The writer breeds a few litters every year, and never provides any 

 artificial warmth for the dam and her puppies. The kennels are 

 all outdoor ones. 



When the Schipperke was first introduced in this country it was 

 heralded as a tailless breed. Nothing, however, could be more 

 erroneous. That some puppies are born tailless is perfectly true ; 

 but the majority are made so artificially, the docking being best 

 performed when the puppies are but a few days old. Formerly it 

 was the practice to remove every vestige of the tail ; now by the 

 description the " merest stump " is allowed, though the possession 

 of even the merest stump militates against a dog's chances in the 

 show-ring. Many docked specimens, too, seem to lack an important 

 characteristic the rounded rump that was such a feature of the 

 old-time dogs. They have, in fact, a straight-backed, Terrier-like 

 appearance, instead of the guinea-pig-like hindquarters that should 

 obtain. Then, again, it will be noted that the foxy type of head 

 that also was a characteristic of the earlier imported Schips is fast 

 disappearing, together with the dark brown, hazel eye, the tapering, 

 pointed ear, well-sprung ribs, dense, abundant coats that English 

 and Belgium standards alike suggest should be found. 



As well as the rounded rump, other features that give character 

 to the Schipperke are the mane (the prolongation and thickening of 

 the coat in the neck vicinity), and the culotte (thigh-breeching) of 

 the Belgian fanciers. The mane is seen to the greatest advantage 

 when the dog is excited, and is far more pronounced in the males 

 than in the females. Schipperke fanciers that wish to preserve the 

 mane should not allow their dogs to wear collars longer at a time 

 than is necessary to accustom them thereto. Nor should the collar 

 at any time be of the flat kind; the round or rein collar is far 

 preferable. 



Black is the only colour that is allowed in a Schipperke, and now 

 and then one finds a queer-coloured puppy in a litter a throw- 

 back to an ancestor in a country where other colours are common 

 or less often a pure white, or a black heavily marked with white. 

 Puppies with a few white hairs are often met with, and though it 

 handicaps, does not disqualify a dog. In puppies such white 

 hairs are sometimes shed at the first moult and not again 

 renewed. 



The head of the Schipperke, it cannot be too well borne in mind, 

 should be wide and flat, and all puppies and adults showing round 

 skulls should be carefully avoided, as also should those whose eyes, 



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