PREFACE. ^i; 



gentlemen who have given up their best energies to improve the 

 peculiar strain which has enlisted their attention, and for the 

 facilities which they have afforded me I here beg to record my 

 most sincere thanks. 



Book I. contains the Natural History of the Dog, with a 

 minute description of the varieties which are generally recog- 

 nised. The chief claims of this book rest upon its being a faithful 

 transcript in wiiting of oral records which have been treasured up 

 by the breeders of the dog in all its varieties, and which beino- 

 now made public, will render it comparatively easy in future to 

 ascertain the position which any particular dog can claim, and 

 how far it complies wi a the points which are attributed to it. 

 These records have been carefully collected ; and I believe it will 

 be found, that though some individuals may hold different views, 

 yet that in each case that which I have presented is the one which 

 is maintained by a large majority of those who have made .the 

 subject their particular study. It is impossible to attain a cer- 

 tainty of this in every instance ; but should I be wrong, it can, at 

 all events, be maintained that neither time, trouble, nor expense 

 has been spared in arriving at it. 



Book II. describes the best methods of breeding, rearing, 

 breaking, and managing the dog, while in health, by means of 

 appropriate food, exercise, and lodging. This division of the 

 subject therefore embraces the entering and running of the grey- 



