14 Modern Dogs. 



of the mastiff turn to find the man who has done 

 most to improve or to develop the breed. His first 

 mastiff came into his possession about 1835. This 

 was a brindled bitch, with cropped ears and docked 

 tail, said to be an Alpine mastiff from the kennels 

 of the Duke of Devonshire. This seems to be 

 something of an anomaly, though vouched for both 

 by the late Mr. Lukey and by Mr. Wynn, and 

 the latter tells us the ears of the Alpine mastiffs 

 were cut to prevent them becoming frost bitten. 

 Personally, I should think they would be far more 

 likely to suffer from the attacks of frost-bite when 

 cruelly cut than if left intact. However, this by 

 the way. 



The bitch in question was obtained from a 

 dealer named White, at Knightsbridge, who was 

 the predecessor of the late Bill George, of such 

 great celebrity as a dog dealer, and father to the 

 present Alfred George, of Kensal Town, equally 

 well known in canine matters. This bitch mated to 

 a black dog belonging to the Marquis of Hertford, 

 produced two puppies, one of which died. The 

 other, a bitch, was in time put to another so-called 

 " Alpine mastiff," and so came Mr. Lukey's and 

 subsequent modern strains. 



It would seem strange that, with all the pride 

 Englishmen have had in their dogs and in the ancient 



