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CHAPTER XLVIII. 

 THE JAPANESE SPANIEL. 



BY MISS MARIE SERENA. 



"An honest creature, 

 Of faithful, gentle, courteous nature; 

 A parlour pet unspoiled by favour, 

 A pattern of good dog behaviour, 

 Without a wish, without a dream. 

 Beyond his home and friends at Cheam." 



Sidney Smith. 



AS their breed-name implies, these tiny 

 /-A black and white, long-haired lap dogs 

 are reputed to be natives of the land 

 of the chrysanthemum. The Japanese, who 

 have treasured them for centuries, have the 

 belief that they are not less ancient than 

 the dogs of Malta. There seems to be a 

 probability, however, that the breed may 

 claim to be Chinese just as surely as Japan- 

 ese. The Hon. Mrs. McLaren Morrison, 

 an authority on exotic dogs whose opinion 

 must always be taken with respect, is 

 inclined to the belief that they are related 

 to the short-nosed Spaniels of Thibet ; 

 while other experts are equally of opinion 

 that the variety is an offshoot from the 

 Spaniels of Pekin. It is fairly certain that 

 they are indigenous to the Far East, whence 

 we have deri\-ed so many of our small, 

 snub-nosed, large-eyed, and long-haired pets. 

 The Oriental peoples ha\-e always bred 

 their lap dogs to small size, convenient for 

 carrying in the sleeve or for holding com- 

 fortably under the chin. The " sleeve dog " 

 and the " chin dog " are common and 

 appropriate appellations in the East. 



The Japanese Spaniel was certainly known 

 in England half a century ago, and probably 

 much earlier. Our seamen often brought 

 them home as presents for their sweet- 

 hearts. These early imported specimens 

 were generally of the larger kind, and if 

 they were bred from — which is doubtful — 

 it was by crossing with the already long- 

 established King Charles or Blenheim 

 Spaniels. Their colours were not invari- 

 ably white and black. Many were white 

 and red, or white with lemon-yellow patches. 



The colouring other than white was usually 

 about the long-fringed ears and the crown 

 of the head, with a line of white running 

 from the point of the snub black nose 

 between the eyes as far as the occiput. 



MISS SERENA'S CH. FUJI OF KOBE. 



This blaze up the face was commonly said 

 to resemble the body of a butterfly, whose 

 closed wings were represented by the dog's 

 expansive ears. 



The white and black colouring is now 

 the most frequent. The points desired 

 are a broad and rounded skull, large in 

 proportion to the dog's body ; a wide, 

 strong muzzle and a turned-up lower jaw. 

 Great length of body is not good ; the 

 back should be short and level. The legs 

 are by preference slender and much feathered, 

 the feet large and well separated. An 



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