18 BREEDING 



a scientific truth. We cannot look for any 'degree 

 of success in our breeding operations unless we know 

 something of the ancestry of the material upon which 

 we are working. Time after time we find wealthy 

 people buying up all the best dogs and bitches of 

 a variety and yet failing ignominiously to achieve 

 any .results worthy of consideration. The fact is, 

 they are working completely in the dark. In getting 

 together the foundations of a kennel, it is best to 

 choose matrons from well-known strains that have 

 stood the test of time. They need not of necessity 

 even be prize-winners, although by choice one would 

 naturally prefer having the very best obtainable ; but 

 it is essential to select healthy bitches with plenty 

 of bone and substance, unless we are dealing with 

 toys, which is quite another matter. The stud dogs 

 used should be primarily of sound constitution, with- 

 out any apparent congenital defects, and they should 

 not only embody in themselves the points which 

 we wish to reproduce, but they should come from 

 a strain in which these features have been predomi- 

 nant. A little experience will soon teach one that 

 some dogs are much more prepotent than others, 

 that is to say, they have in a greater degree the 

 capacity for stamping their desirable characteristics 

 upon their progeny ; and we find that almost without 

 exception such have been most carefully bred for 

 some generations past. This knowledge cannot be 

 purchased, but it comes more readily to some than 

 to others. It is not every one who has a clear 

 understanding as to the real meaning of the law; 

 of heredity. Acquired characteristics cannot be 

 transmitted. It has been the custom to dock the 

 tails of terriers for many, many years, and still they 



