4^3 



CHAPTER LIIL 

 THE MINIATURE BLACK-AND-TAN TERRIER AND THE TOY BULL-TERRIER. 



' Thou, happy creature, art secure 

 From all the torments we endure ; 

 Despair, ambition, jealousy. 

 Lost friends, nor love, disquiet thee ; 

 A sullen prudence drew thee hence 

 From noise, fraud, and impertinence. 

 Though life essayed the surest wile. 

 Gilding itself with Laura's smile ; 



How didst thou scorn life's meaner charms, 

 Thou who couldst break from Laura's 



arms ! 

 Poor Cynic ! still methinks I hear 

 Thy awful murmurs in my ear ; 

 As when on Laura's lap you lay. 

 Chiding the worthless crowd away." 



Roscommon. 



THE MINIATURE BLACK-AND-TAN 

 TERRIER. 



BV F. C. HIGNETT. 



UNTIL quite recently this variety was 

 known as the Black-and-tan Toy, 

 but for obvious reasons, chief of 

 which was probably because there were 

 other breeds of the same conjunction of 

 colours which ranked as toys, the Kennel 

 Club rightly deemed it advisable to change 

 the nomenclature in the classification of 

 breeds by the addition of the word terrier 

 and the substitution of " miniature " for 

 " Toy." 



To all intents and purposes, except in 

 the matter of size, the general appearance 

 and qualifications of these beautiful and 

 diminutive creatures should be as nearly 

 like the larger breed as possible, for the 

 standard of points applies to both varieties, 

 with the proviso that erect, or what are 

 commonly known as tulip ears, of semi- 

 erect carriage, are permissible in the minia- 

 tures. There can be no doubt, however, 

 that in the near future the same conditions 

 will, in their entirety, apply to both, for it 

 is noticeable that such as possess small, 

 well-carried drop ears are more favourably 

 looked upon, if they are as good in other 

 respects, than their tulip or bat-eared rela- 

 tives. 



The officially recognised weight for the 



variety is given as " under seven pounds," 

 but none of the most prominent present-day 

 winners reach anything like that weight ; 

 some in fact are little more than half of it, 

 and the great majority are between 4 lb. 

 and 5 lb. ; such as are heavier stand a poor 

 chance at the shows. It rarely happens, 

 however, that breeding from the lightest 

 bitches can be carried out successfully, and, 

 assuming that they are toy bred, from 7 lb. 

 to 9 lb. is the safest weight ; while with 

 the object of keeping the progeny as small 

 as possible the least of the opposite sex are 

 preferred. 



Bolton and its environs enjoy the reputa- 

 tion of being the locality from which most 

 of the best specimens have emanated ; 

 thanks to the zealous efforts of the Mitchells, 

 Tom Dyer, and a few others, vho persistently 

 bred them before dog-showing became such 

 a general hobby as it has grown to be within 

 the last twenty years. Very much of their 

 success was directly attributable to the 

 noted sire Sir Bevis, and the ancestry of 

 many present-day winners can be traced in 

 a direct line to him. Another old timer is 

 Dr. Morris, of Rochdale, whose Excel and 

 Truth were victorious in many a hard-fought 

 though bloodless battle. Mr. John Martin, of 

 Salford, also obtained considerable notoriety 

 by the successes credited to his Minnie, 

 and Mr. Wilkinson, of Huddersfield, a well- 

 known judge, has been for many years. 



