564 BRITISH DOGS 



standard states, the mane should " commence behind the ears," 

 and it should finish a little below the shoulder points. On dogs 

 that have a good mane, such as Champions Hubert and Frans, 

 and Exter Menne, it is easy to see where the mane stops and the 

 ordinary body-coat continues ; the mane appearing to fall over the 

 body-coat. The coat on the back and sides is often not so coarse 

 in texture as the mane, but it generally becomes a little harsher just 

 over the hips and on the " breeches." The literal description of 

 the texture of the coat in the Belgian standard is resistant au toucher, 

 which may be freely translated " harsh," but it does not mean wiry. 

 The French expression precludes the hairs being woolly or fluffy, 

 and if the Belgian breeders had desired to say that they required 

 more than harshness they had the phrase handy, "poil dur" which 

 is " hard coat." Therefore, the pin-wire hair, or cocoa-nut matting 

 texture of coat which is sought after in some Terrier varieties would 

 not be correct for a Schipperke, whose coat should be, not soft, but 

 " resistant au toucher" The culotte, or thigh-breeching, is as charac- 

 teristic and essential as the mane, and the Belgian standard includes 

 among " faults " the absence of both or either. This question of 

 coat is deserving of considerable attention, as it is necessary to 

 avoid the long coat all over the body of the Pomeranian and the 

 wiry coat of the Welsh Terrier. These are the Scylla and Charybdis 

 through which the barge dogs have to steer their way, as it would 

 be equally fatal to be cast on the hard rock of the wire-hair as to 

 get lost in the Pomeranian whirlpool. If, with the delusive hope of 

 obtaining the mane, a Pomeranian cross were resorted to, the 

 experiment would be exposed by the resulting long coat all over the 

 body, instead of the full mane falling over a short coat on the back. 

 In the points it will be observed thirty have been allotted to " coat 

 and colour," these being deemed of equal importance with " head 

 and ears," and just as distinctive of the breed. Judging by points 

 should never be adopted, as their only object is to explain to the 

 novice the relative values. A white spot is included among the 

 faults, but a few straggling white hairs are tolerable. The one word 

 "foxy" serves to describe the head, and the skull must be wide 

 and flat, like other varieties of prick-eared Canidce, such as the Collie, 

 Pomeranian, Arctic dogs, etc. An undershot jaw is an intolerable 

 blemish. The word "full" applied to the neck requires it to be 

 thick and suggestive of virility. The neck of the female is seldom 

 so full as the male's, nor do the bitches carry as much mane as the 

 dogs. The back of the Schipperke is described as straight, but it 

 should round off at the rump, which should be rotund and full, 

 guinea-pig-like. The continued straight line of a Terrier's back is 

 not desirable, but it will frequently be found in specimens that have 

 been docked. The " tailless breed " theory is a myth ; none of the 

 Canida were originally tailless, but the regular removal of the stern 



