The English White Terrier. 65 



must be as dark as possible ; a cherry or partly 

 cherry coloured nose, or yellow gooseberry coloured 

 eyes ought to disqualify. Tail carried straight from 

 the back without curl, and gradually tapering to a 

 point ; the ears are usually cropped, and " trained " to 

 stand quite upright with an inward inclination. It 

 is, or was, the custom to have a " longer crop" on this 

 dog than on the bull terrier the ears were allowed to 

 remain of greater length. The ear in its natural 

 state may be either a button ear, which drops down 

 more or less in front, as is the case with the fox 

 terrier, or it may be semi-prick, which is standing 

 erect, and dropping over in front at the tips. Some 

 are born with large erect ears, certainly by no 

 means picturesque on a dog of the variety, hence 

 possibly the reason why the "fancier" endeavoured 

 to improve upon nature, and cut such ears into what 

 he considered an elegant shape. Fore legs straight, 

 with nice amount of bone ; hind legs nicely trimmed 

 and proportionate. The feet ought to be as round 

 and thick as those of a fox terrier or bull terrier, 

 although good feet are seldom seen on this terrier, 

 they having more than an inclination to be long hare- 

 like in fact, which to my idea shows more than a 

 sign of a cross with the Italian greyhound. The coat 

 fine, though fairly strong, and so close that it should 

 quite hide any of the black skin marks that appear 



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