Other Retrievers. 391 



than to anything else, and I believe in fact that he 

 was a poodle. Usually he was black in colour, 

 sometimes brown. It was said this " Russian " was 

 introduced here for the purpose of " crossing," to 

 give size and strength. When already our retrievers 

 were bigger and coarser than we required them, 

 there is no wonder his services were refused. 



The common brown retriever that we see running 

 about the streets, neither curled nor wavy, nor 

 smooth, is a sort of nondescript animal we can well 

 do without. He is usually snappish and ill-natured, 

 and when not looking in the gutters for a living 

 may be found chained up to a kennel in somebody's 

 back yard. Those who own a dog of this kind may 

 be recommended to exchange it for a small terrier, 

 which will not only cost the owner less in the way 

 of food, but be less liable to bite his neighbour, his 

 wife, or his children. When anyone is bitten by 

 a dog the odds are two to one that the injury was 

 caused by one of these common brown dogs. An 

 injustice is done to the Emerald Isle when they are 

 called "Irish retrievers," and this frequently happens. 

 There are black dogs, with white on their breasts, 

 of similar type and character. No doubt the dis- 

 repute in which even the well-bred retriever is held 

 in many quarters, arises from the ill-fame which 

 attends this cousin of his. 



