The Foxhound 643 



that governs in this country, nor can there be so long as the hound are bred 

 so indiscriminately as is the case. It has been well said that everything is an 

 American foxhound that is not good enough to win in an English foxhound 

 class. At a recent dog show in the Philadelphia district there was quite a 

 collection of "American foxhounds" half of which had been bred from an 

 English dog from what were said to be American bitches, and others were 

 bred the reverse way and all were called by that elastic title, "American 

 foxhounds." 



What little breeding to type there is in foxhounds bred in this country is 

 confined to a very few hunting clubs, clubs which hunt the hounds in Eng- 

 lish fashion as a pack, and follow them on horseback. But the leaven of this 

 is so small as not to affect the foxhound as a whole and it is purely individual 

 fancy, some packs being black and tan and others white with black and tan 

 markings. There is a National Foxhunters Association which is almost a 

 purely Kentucky organization, nine out of the twelve officers named in the 

 1904 stud book being residents of that state, one in Pennsylvania, one in 

 Alabama and one in Tennessee. It has a code of running rules and has a 

 standard for American foxhounds. 



The object of this club and others like it, such as the Brunswick Fur 

 Club of Maine, is to decide individual merit in hunting, trailing, speed, en- 

 durance, giving tongue and for judgment and intelligence. There is no 

 effort made, such as is followed in England or in a few instances in America, 

 to secure uniformity by breeding and selection. If a dog is much faster than 

 the others it is to his advantage, whereas in packs a hound must keep with 

 the pack, neither racing in advance nor failing to keep up with the others. 

 So also in appearance, what the American hound looks like matters not so 

 that he works, and the result is as motley a lot of dogs as one can imagine at 

 such gatherings. There is no such thing as type, or sortiness, but fortun- 

 ately there are not many which resemble too much the ideal hounds drawn 

 for the second volume of the foxhound stud book. These are most remark- 

 able dogs mainly on account of their lack of resemblance to what a foxhound 

 should look like. They have good feet and that, singular to say, is where a 

 great many of these dogs fail. We have seen some in the show ring with 

 duck-feet, and one of the best known show dogs of recent times is the worst- 

 footed sporting dog we think we have ever seen as a prize winner. 



It would please us very much indeed to say a good word for the fox- 

 hunting dog of this country outside of his hunting ability and within the 



