142 THE SCOTTISH TERRIER 



of every breeder still to produce hair that is intensely 

 hard and wiry. Unfortunately, this is not always 

 obtained naturally, and when the coat exceeds ortho- 

 dox length the art of the trimmer may be called 

 into requisition. Upon this point Mr. J. N. Reynard, 

 writing in the Kennel Gazette, in 1901, said : '* I 

 would specially direct the attention of exhibitors 

 to and caution them against trimming, and to the 

 custom which has of late become common with some, 

 of training the hair which grows on the muzzle to 

 stick straight out, under the mistaken idea that it 

 gives the dog an appearance of strength ; instead 

 of which it takes away one of the principal 

 characteristics of a Scot. The club standard says 

 distinctly : ' Muzzle gradually tapering towards the 

 nose . . . though the nose projects somewhat over 

 the mouth and gives the impression of the upper 

 jaw being longer than the under one/ Now how 

 can this be when the dog appears with a muzzle 

 closely resembling the brush with which our grand- 

 mothers cleaned the globes of their oil lamps? I 

 would advise exhibitors to stick to the standard as 

 drawn up by old-time fanciers, and not follow the 

 example of those who engage a tonsorial artist to 

 prepare their dogs for exhibition." 



I fear that since the above criticism was written 

 things have not mended materially as regards the 

 trimming question. Mr. W. L. McCandlish, one 

 of our foremost authorities, said in January, 1908, 

 in the same organ : " Coats show no sign of im- 

 provement, and are distinctly bad. It is difficult 

 to name any well-known terrier with the proper 

 harsh, broken jacket and the short, dense overcoat. 

 There is a tendency for the dogs to become puny 



