EXHIBITING 



to give their animals as much exercise every day as they 

 should have. But there are very few people who cannot 

 spare a half-hour daily to indulge their favourites with 

 runs after a ball, which the animals delight to do, and the 

 habit of retrieving it for their owners to throw away again 

 is generally acquired very soon. Another way of giving 

 a dog exercise in a small space is to suspend a cat's skin, 

 a rat in a trap, or some object that will attract him at the 

 end of a pole just out of his reach, so that he may be 

 induced to persist in jumping up at it. Some dogs will 

 keep on trying to reach the object for hours at a time if 

 allowed to do so, but of course the amount of this sort 

 of exercise must be limited. Small toy dogs can always 

 be exercised in a room by being encouraged to run after 

 a ball, and certainly will be better for it, as no animal 

 however delicate it may be can be kept in health if it 

 passes its existence in a life of laziness. (See Preparing for 

 Shoiu, Training Greyhounds.) 



Exhibiting. — Of late years the popularity of dog shows 

 has increased so greatly that there is scarcely a town of 

 any importance in the country which does not enjoy the 

 privilege of having its annual show. Whether this is 

 entirely for the welfare of the canine race is a matter of 

 opinion, as the extension of the show system has unques- 

 tionably led to increased attention being paid to fancy 

 points and to the neglect of others which are associated 

 with working ability. No doubt shooting men have to a 

 considerable extent contributed to the decadence of many 

 of the old sporting breeds, as the tendency of the times 

 is to largely dispense with the services of dogs in the field, 

 and hence exhibitors who breed for the purpose of winning 

 prizes at shows cannot be blamed if they attach supreme 

 importance to the improvement of the appearance of their 

 dogs, without regard to their working capacities. On the 

 other hand, it may be argued that the constant change that 

 is going on in connection with the development of fancy 



83 



