THE DEERHOUND. 



175 



aimed at now are a height of something 

 less than 30 inches, and a weight not 

 greater than 105 lbs., with straight fore-legs 

 and short, cat-like feet, a deep chest, with 

 broad, powerful loins, slightly arched, and 

 strength of hind-quarters, with well-bent 

 stifles, and the hocks well let down. Straight 

 stifles are objectionable, giving a stilty 

 appearance. Thick shoulders are equally a 

 blemish to be avoided, as also a too great 

 heaviness of bone. The following is the 

 accepted standard of merit. 



THE PERFECT DEERHOUND. 



1. Head. — The head should be broadest at the 

 ears, tapering slightly to the eyes, with the muzzle 

 tapering more decidedly to the nose. The muzzle 

 should be pointed, but the teeth and lips level. 

 The head should be long, the skull flat rather 

 than round, with a very slight rise over the eyes, 

 but with nothing approaching a stop. The skull 

 should be coated with moderately long hair, 

 which is softer than the rest of the coat. The 

 nose should be black (though in some blue-fawns 

 the colour is blue), and slightly aquiline. In the 

 lighter-coloured dogs a black muzzle is preferred. 

 There should be a good moustache of rather 

 silky hair, and a fair beard. 



2. Ears. — The ears should be set on high, 

 and, in repose, folded back like the Greyhound's, 

 though raised above the head in excitement 

 without losing the fold, and even, in some cases, 

 semi-erect. A prick ear is bad. A big, thick 

 ear, hanging flat to the head, or heavily coated 

 with long hair, is the worst of faults. The ear 

 should be soft, glossy, and like a mouse's coat 

 to the touch, and the smaller it is the better. 

 It should have no long coat or long fringe, 

 but there is often a silky, silvery coat on the 

 body of the ear and the tip. Whatever the 

 general colour, the ears should be black or dark- 

 coloured. 



3. Neck and Shoulders.— The neck should be 

 long— that is, of the length that befits the Grey- 

 hound character of the dog. An over-long neck 

 is not necessary, nor desirable, for the dog is 

 not required to stoop to his work like a Grey- 

 hound, and it must be remembered that the 

 mane, which every good specimen should have, 

 detracts from the apparent length of neck. 

 Moreover, a Deerhound requires a very strong 

 neck to hold a stag. The nape of the neck 

 should be very prominent where the head is set 

 on, and the throat should be clean-cut at the 

 angle and prominent. The shoulders should be 

 well sloped, the blades well back, with not too 

 much width between them. Loaded and straight 

 shoulders are very bad faults. 



4. Stern. — Stern should be tolerably long, 

 tapering, and reaching to within i£ inches of 

 the ground, and about ii- inches below the hocks. 

 When the dog is still, dropped perfectly straight 

 down, or curved. When in motion it should 

 be curved when excited, in no case to be lifted 

 out of the line of the back. It should be well 

 covered with hair, on the inside thick and wiry, 

 underside longer, and towards the end a slight 

 fringe is not objectionable. A curl or ring tail 

 is very undesirable. 



5. Eyes. — The eyes should be dark : generally 

 they are dark brown or hazel. A very light 

 eye is not liked. The eye is moderately full, 

 with a soft look in repose, but a keen, far-away 

 gaze when the dog is roused. The rims of the 

 eyelids should be black. 



6. Body. — The body and general formation 

 is that of a Greyhound of larger size and bone. 

 Chest deep rather than broad, but not too narrow 

 and flat-sided. The loin well arched and droop- 

 ing to the tail. A straight back is not desirable, 

 this formation being unsuitable for going up- 

 hill, and very unsightly. 



7. Legs and Feet.— The legs should be broad 

 and flat, a good broad forearm and elbow being 

 desirable. Fore-legs, of course, as straight as 

 possible. Feet close and compact, with well- 

 arched toes. The hind-quarters drooping, and 

 as broad and powerful as possible, the hips 

 being set wide apart. The hind-legs should be 

 well bent at the stifle, with great length from 

 the hip to the hock, which should be broad and 

 flat. Cow hocks, weak pasterns, straight stifles, 

 and splay feet are very bad faults. 



8. Coat. — The hair on the body, neck, and 

 quarters should be harsh and wiry, and about 

 3 inches or 4 inches long ; that on the head, 

 breast, and belly is much softer. There should 

 be a slight hairy fringe on the inside of the fore- 

 and hind-legs, but nothing approaching to the 

 feathering of a Collie. The Deerhound should 

 be a shaggy dog, but not over coated. A woolly 

 coat is bad. Some good strains have a slight 

 mixture of silky coat with the hard, which is 

 preferable to a woolly coat, but the proper 

 covering is a thick, close-lying, ragged coat, 

 harsh or crisp to the touch. 



9. Colour. — Colour is much a matter of fancy. 

 But there is no manner of doubt that the dark 

 blue-grey is the most preferred. Next come 

 the darker and lighter greys or brindles, the 

 darkest being generally preferred. Yellow and 

 sandy-red or red-fawn, especially with black 

 points — i.e., ears and muzzle — are also in equal 

 estimation, this being the colour of the oldest 

 known strains, the McNeil and the Chesthill 

 Menzies. White is condemned by all the old 

 authorities, but a white chest and white toes, 

 occurring as they do in a great many of the 

 darkest-coloured dogs, are not so greatly objected 



