Buying a Dog 75 



gasp at any price over about twenty dollars. To get a dog capable of win- 

 ning at New York in any of the fashionable breeds there would be little 

 chance of succeeding for less than five hundred dollars, while in some 

 breeds that amount would not be sufficient. Others not so fashionable are 

 not so expensive. When it comes to a dog capable of winning at shows 

 where the tip-toppers are not competitors the price suggested may be halved 

 or even quartered and a very satisfactory dog obtained. The reason being 

 that we have so few shows here that a dog of the first class sent on circuit 

 stops all others from winning; and as it is the winners that cost money, the 

 price of such dogs double up quickly compared with those they can surely 

 defeat. 



The large majority of buyers are, however, in search of a puppy to 

 bring up as a pet or house dog, and the main consideration is good health 

 and an absence of any disfigurement. If it is of a large breed, then the largest- 

 and best-boned one is the likeliest to hold the lead in size, providing he is 

 properly reared. Heads grow longer and thinner in foreface as puppies 

 develop, and as that is wanted in but few breeds a head with plenty of bulk 

 before the eyes is recommended as the one likeliest to fill out without weak- 

 ness. The size of the ears is in many breeds an important point. Where 

 the ears are erect, then the smaller and neater the better. If not to be 

 carried fully erect the very small ear is to be avoided, for a small-eared 

 collie, for instance, is most likely to get them fully erect eventually. So 

 much depends upon the breed that the selection is to be made from, that 

 general directions can hardly be given upon many points; and if the buyer 

 has no personal knowledge to guide him the better plan will be to place 

 himself in the hands of the vendor, and if there is any difference in price 

 between the puppies accept that as the guide and take the high-priced one, 

 for the man who fixed the prices has had every opportunity to form the best 

 judgment as to the choicest. 



It is far too prevalent an idea that to do business with a dog-dealer is 

 to invite oneself to be robbed. We have had personal knowledge of a 

 very large number of those who make a business of buying and selling dogs, 

 and have investigated officially and personally many cases of alleged fraud 

 on their part, and in the majority of cases found not the slightest reason for 

 the charges made. In others, where there was a conflict of testimony we 

 have always found the dealer more willing to make an honorable settlement 

 than the buyer, and in the few cases of positive swindling the American 



