36 Modern Dogs. 



former as '^ crosses " to improve the voice of hounds, 

 which have of late degenerated considerably in that 

 respect. Bloodhounds will not stand rating, have to 

 be kept free from excitement, allowed to hunt in 

 their own slow, quiet way, and the excitement and 

 ''thrusting" of modern large fields are all against 

 seeing the staid bloodhound at his best. At the 

 present time there is no pack of bloodhounds kept 

 in this country for hunting purposes ; still, with the 

 many admirers of the race, there is little fear of the 

 strain being allowed to become of the past. 



Thus our bloodhound has, in reality, suffered less 

 from a craze to breed for certain exaggerated 

 features than some other dogs have done. He is 

 still a fairly powerful and large hound, with great 

 thickness of bone, well sprung ribs, and considerable 

 power behind. I rather fancy that, like most large- 

 sized dogs, he fails more in his loins and hind legs 

 than elsewhere, nor does he, as a rule, carry so 

 much muscle as a foxhound. No doubt, in head 

 and ears he has much improved since the time he 

 was kept for the public good at the expense of the 

 inhabitants on the Scottish borders. 



Some of our modern English bloodhounds have 

 been simply extraordinary in what are technically 

 called '' head " properties. Perhaps the finest hound 

 in this respect was Captain Clayton's Luath XL, a 



