492 



THE NEW BOOK OF THE DOG. 



carried curled over the back, and a hard 

 deep coat, which lengthens to a ruff about 

 the neck. In colour the Iceland Dog is 



brownish or greyish, sometimes dirty white 

 or dirty yellow. A frequent distribution of 

 colour is black about the head and along 



ELK-HOUNDS CLINKER AND KING. 

 PROPERTY OF MAJOR A W. HICKSBEACH. 



the back, broken by patches of white, with 

 the under side of the body, the feet, and 

 tip of the tail dirty white. Mrs. McLaren 

 Morrison has possessed specimens of the 

 breed. 



In the variety of the northern dog known 

 as the Wolfspitz wc doubtless have the origi- 

 nal type of Pomeranian, through which the 

 derivation of the breed is traceable step by 

 step through the dogs of Lapland, Siberia, 

 Norway, and Sweden, to the wolf's first 

 cousin, the Eskimo dog, growing at each 

 step to resemble the wolf more and more. 

 The Wolfspitz is the largest of the Pomer- 

 anians. He derives his name from his 

 wolfish colouring. On account of being 

 much used in Germany by carriers to guard 

 their vans, he is also called the Fuhymanns- 

 spitz or carrier's Pomeranian ; the smaller 

 black or white Poms being called simply 

 Spitz, black or white, the dwarf variety 

 now so popular being the Zwergspitz. 



Mr. Charles Kammerer, an English speak- 

 ing cynologist residing in Austria, not un- 

 knov/n to several of our more cosmopolitan 

 judges, has made a speciality of this breed, 



and has bred them to the great size of 

 22 inches at the shoulder — the height of 

 a fair-sized Eskimo dog — and weighing as 

 much as 60 lb. or more. The Wolfspitz has 

 on several occasions been exhibited of late 

 years at English shows. Possibly the tirst 

 was a very handsome specimen called Kees, 

 shown by a Miss Beverley at one of the 

 Ladies' Kennel Association shows as a 

 Meeshond, this being simply the Dutch 

 name for the breed, which is common in 

 Holland. It was entered in the foreign 

 dog class and promptly objected to by 

 Mr. H. C. Brooke, on the ground that its 

 proper place was in the class for Pomer- 

 anians over 8 lb. 'Sir. G. R. Krehl and a 

 number of Continental cynologists sup- 

 ported ]\Ir. Brooke's contention, and the 

 dog was disqualified ; but later on won in 

 his proper place at other shows. Since 

 then several other specimens have been 

 seen, not of the size of Mr. Kammerer's 

 giant strain, but of the average dimensions, 

 about 14 inches high and 35 lb. in weight. 



Turning again to the south of Europe one 

 may include a reference to the hound known 

 in Spain and Portugal as the Podengo. 

 This dog, with its racy limbs, its pointed 

 muzzle, erect ears, and keen, obliquely set 

 eyes, reminds one at once of its probable 

 ancestor, the jackal, and the resemblance is 

 rendered yet more close when the coat 

 happens to be red. In build it is of Grey- 

 hound type, and it is frequently used for 

 coursing rabbit and hare ; but in the 

 Peninsula, and more especially in La Mancha, 

 Andalusia and Estramadura, it is slipped to 

 the stag and the bear, and is also employed 

 as a gun-dog. It has a reputation for keen 

 scent, but in this respect it cannot, of course, 

 be compared with the Setter or the Pointer. 

 As a companion dog it is not desirable, as it 

 is of vicious temper and extremely surly. 

 The average height is 27 inches. There 

 is a hound very similar to the Podengo 

 peculiar to the Balearic Isles, although one 

 may occasionally see it in the neighbour- 

 hood of Valencia, Barcelona and other 

 places along the eastern shores of Spain, 

 where it is known as the Charnigue. A 

 lean, ungainly dog, with a long muzzle. 



