44 Modern Dogs. 



and fashion, and maybe another generation may 

 find the restoration of this dog and of the old- 

 fashioned brindled and white, or fallow smut bull 

 terriers of which our " old men " are so fond of 

 talking. 



There is no doubt that the bull terrier, be he either 

 big or little, has not reached that height of popu- 

 larity his merits might deserve, by reason of the 

 obnoxious custom of cropping his ears. This 

 cruelty was originally perpetrated in order that when 

 fighting the ears would not afford hold for an 

 opponent's teeth. Then the aural appendages were 

 cut right off. Now the operation is a much more 

 artistic piece of work, and the ears are so cut as to 

 stand straight up almost to a point, with an inward 

 curve, rather than an outward one, which is said to give 

 the animal a smarter and more aristocratic appear- 

 ance. It may do so or not, and I cannot deny that 

 a modern bull terrier with his ears on does look, to 

 say the least, dowdy and coarse alongside one that 

 is properly cropped. This, however, arises from the 

 fact that the bull terrier has been bred with ears 

 that will crop the best thick at the roots, and just 

 such ears that hang badly and look inelegant on 

 the dog that carries them. It would not take many 

 generations to produce bull terriers with nice drop 

 ears, as has been the case with the Irish terrier, 



