258 Modern Dogs. 



weigh not less than 24!!}., and other dogs equally 

 big have repeatedly been put into the prize lists at 

 our leading shows. Indeed, one well-known English 

 admirer of the variety says the great difficulty he 

 has in breeding these terriers is to keep them small 

 enough. In the show ring the only way would be 

 for the club to make a hard and fast rule as to 

 weight, and put each dog in the scale before 

 awarding it a prize or a card of honour. 



Another matter to guard against is the production 

 of an inordinately long body and crooked fore 

 legs. Now, it is all very well for Scotsmen to say 

 that their terrier should have crooked fore legs, but 

 why should he have them ? There is no reason 

 in the world why such a pretty little dog ought to 

 be malformed, and crooked fore legs are a mal- 

 formation. Until recently no trouble had been 

 taken to have them as straight as they might be, and 

 so the crooked legs cropped up, as they always 

 have done and always will do with long heavy 

 bodies to support bodies indeed quite out of pro- 

 portion to the limbs. 



A well-known scientist at the Natural History 

 Museum, South Kensington, on being asked his 

 opinion as to the crooked legs now found on many 

 varieties of the dog, said " the outward curve of 

 the fore limbs of the dachshund (and I suppose 



