THE CORRECT TYPE 25 



race ; or it may be that you have sometime marked with 

 surprise the well-proportioned man of bulk as the lightest 

 dancer in the ball-room. If not, give the matter future 

 heed, for my ideal sheep dog of twenty-four inches and 

 a half is in all essentials a trained athlete, and, if 

 circumstances compel him to perform the feat, I will 

 wager that he shall pick his wary way across the woolly 

 backs of the tight-wedged flock and reach their silly 

 heads before they know what's happened. 



On this question of inches, I am well aware, my ideal 

 comes into conflict with that of breeders of far older 

 standing than myself breeders, moreover, whose opinions 

 are deserving of every consideration. But I stand 

 by my conviction the more strongly for the reason 

 that with increasing competition every detail becomes 

 of more importance. And the bigger you get your dog 

 the more you exaggerate his faults ; so that it is obviously 

 more difficult to achieve perfection on a large scale than 

 a small one. 



If, then, one of my dissentients should chance to breed 

 an animal whose only fault is a shoulder height of twenty- 

 four and a half, or even twenty-five inches, I shall be more 

 than grateful for the opportunity of being allowed to buy 

 him. I think he will speedily vindicate my confidence in 

 his excellence. But alas ! the competition for his para- 

 gon's possession may induce the lucky owner to retain the 

 dog himself! 



The fact of it is that in discussions on size we are apt 



