36 Modern Dogs. 



I have said the first class at Birmingham had 

 twenty-eight entries ; I recollect at one of the 

 Scottish shows (Edinburgh, 1871), there were about 

 thirty-five competitors in the bull terrier classes, and 

 scarcely a bad one in the lot. Now ten or a dozen 

 in a class is considered a first-rate entry, and at 

 Birmingham in 1893, with ten classes and thirty- 

 seven competitors, the group was considered to be 

 an unusually strong one. 



So far I have only alluded to the large-sized bull 

 terriers, and what there is to say about the smaller 

 ones is yet to come. After this dog had become 

 fairly well established in the schedules of the 

 shows, the classes came to be sub-divided again, 

 and for many years the classification at Bir- 

 mingham was for dogs and bitches exceeding 

 1 5lb. and below that weight. The competition 

 therein was usually keen, and at this time the names 

 of Mr. S. E. Shirley (the present chairman of the 

 Kennel Club), of Mr. J. H. Ryder, Mr. C. L. Boyce, 

 Mr. J. F. Godfree, Mr. S. Handley, Pendleton, a 

 noted judge, as well as those already mentioned, 

 appeared in the prize lists, and I should say the 

 bull terrier was never so fashionable or had so 

 many admirers as he had, say, between 1868 to 

 1874. Still he did not bring much money, and 

 from 12 to ^25 would have purchased any of the 



