622 The Dog Book 



place of racing when that is not permitted. In this country greyhounds were 

 kept as companions long before there was any coursing and at some of the 

 early New York shows the classes were surprisingly large. We recall one 

 occasion when there were no fewer than 27 competitors in one class. What 

 made us particularly remember that class was that the best dog in the entire 

 number was sent out of the ring without a mention. To the onlookers, not 

 to the owners of the good dogs, it was a very amusing illustration of a judge 

 out of his element being finally shown what to look at to base a decision upon. 

 Until the time the judge finally looked at the ultimate winner he had the dogs 

 all head on and if he did not like the head out the dog went. When he came 

 to the one that got first the owner slung her around stern on, passed his hand 

 down her neck to show its length, drew attention in the same way to her clean 

 shoulders, then along her back and stuck his fingers in her well-muscled 

 quarters by way of a wind up. The judge was not slow to take the hint and 

 back he went to the head of the long line, had all the dogs reversed in posi- 

 tion and eventually placed them pretty well, at least what were then left, 

 for the best one of all and some fair ones had got out on the head inspection. 



That incident occurred over twenty years ago and so many new breeds 

 have been introduced since then which have proved more attractive that 

 very few greyhounds are now seen at even the most important shows. With 

 the exception of Ben Lewis, who usually has a brace of good winners, there 

 is but one exhibitor who pays any attention to the breed in the East; that is 

 Mrs. Kelley, with the Ticonderoga Kennels' dogs. As we have already said 

 the coursing men pay little attention to shows in England and they are not 

 any better patrons of exhibitions here. We see the same thing in the thor- 

 oughbred classes at our horse shows, two or three, often very ordinary speci- 

 mens, competing for valuable prizes. There are many hundreds of coursing 

 greyhounds kept within a short distance of San Francisco yet the show there 

 only attracts two or three entries, so that as a dog kept for show purposes he 

 is pretty much of a failure both in England and America. 



A very erratic popular sentiment classes coursing as cruelty to animals 

 and in many of the Western states, where coursing might be followed with 

 advantage to the farmers whose crops suffer from the depredations of hares, 

 there are prohibitory laws in force. It is now a prohibited sport in Colorado 

 and owners of greyhounds have to try them surreptitiously if at all. It is 

 still permitted in California and some other states and coursing within large 

 enclosures is a great attraction for San Francisco sportsmen. This style of 



