FOXES FOXHOUNDS & FOX-HUNTING 



to fox or otter, and in the majority of them the 

 inherited instinct for work has been lost. Anyone 

 with a lengthy experience of working terriers will 

 corroborate the above statement. Dog showing 

 is now purely and simply a business proposition, 

 the pecuniary value of the show breeds resting 

 upon the closeness of their approximation to the 

 standard of show points set down and approved 

 by the judges. Working ability has been entirely 

 neglected in the desire to assimilate these show 

 points. 



Harking back to hound shows, we find a similar 

 tendency towards breeding for excessive show 

 points. Bone, straightness, " necks and 



shoulders," and the cat-foot are bred for to so 

 great an extent that the result can but end in 

 disaster if the policy is continued. If we look at 

 certain hounds which during recent years have 

 won honours at Peterborough, we find many of 

 them are in some points quite abnormal. Take 

 feet and knees for example. Instead of a com- 

 pact, and fairly round foot, we have a contracted, 

 club-like affair, on which it is impossible for a 

 hound to stand squarely. The knees too knuckle 

 over to such an extent that they appear ' ' dicky," 

 and obtain spring in a contrary direction to that 

 ordained by nature. Such a wide deviation from 

 the natural cannot benefit the hound in his work, 

 for knuckling over at the knees is abnormal as 

 any qualified veterinary surgeon will testify. 

 Regarding the club-like forefeet, the consensus of 

 opinion amongst huntsmen, more particularly 

 those who carry the horn in rough, provincial 

 countries, is all against such an abnormal shape, 

 and in favour of the neat, compact, and shallow- 

 padded hare foot. If the fashionable type of foot 

 was all that certain Masters claim it to be, how is 



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