54 CONCERNING DOG SHOWS 



When you Have once decided upon the variety; 

 you will keep, it is desirable in every way to stick 

 to it. If you have plenty of kennel accommoda- 

 tion, you may possibly do with two and even three 

 breeds, but that should tie quite sufficient to satisfy 

 any reasonable being, and you are much more likely 

 to meet with success by limiting your efforts rather 

 than by spreading them over a number of varieties. 

 A Johnsonian dictum was that if a man does not 

 make new acquaintances as he advances through life, 

 he will soon find himself left alone. " A man, sir," 

 said the great lexicographer, " should keep his friend- 

 ship in constant repair.'* This does not hold true 

 with regard to dogs. If will take you some years 

 to thoroughly understand one variety, and it is not 

 wise to throw away all that knowledge and start 

 afresh with another, unless you have some very cogent 

 reason for so doing. This remark applies with par- 

 ticular force to the value of experience in enabling 

 one to estimate the worth of a puppy. 



