ioo THE BOOK OF THE DOG. 



no breed of dog, if properly brought up and kindly treated, is more susceptible of affection 

 towards his master, and docility and intelligence are properties which are highly developed in 

 a Bull-terrier. Naturally a dog which may be said to be a born gladiator possesses a greater 

 amount of courage and tenacity in his attack than animals of a gentler temperament, and a 

 firm temper is often required to keep them in thorough discipline ; but as a gentleman's 

 companion in town or country, the Bull-terrier is unapproached by any other breed of dog. 

 He is handsome to look at, affectionate, clean in the house, and very tricky ; an excellent 

 water dog, and, though it may be discredited by some people, we are convinced that his nose 

 is equal to that of many dogs used in the field, though his impetuous disposition would 

 render it a difficult matter to keep him under the severe control so essential in a field dog. 

 As a retriever he is naturally hard-mouthed, but no breed can more easily be taught to 

 fetch and carry on land and water, and this is, doubtless a source of amusement to many 

 owners. It is, however, for his indomitable courage (unsurpassed even by the Bull-dog) that the 

 Bull-terrier is so highly prized by many for, though usually mute like the Bull-dog, his system of 

 attack is different from that of the latter, inasmuch as, instead of hanging on to his antagonist, the 

 Bull-terrier tears him all over ; and his pluck is so great that he is able to endure an enormous 

 amount of punishment, whilst in his turn he is mangling his foe with his powerful jaws. 

 During more recent years, and since the retirement from the show arena of Mr. S. E. 

 Shirley, M.P., Mr. R. J. Lloyd-Price, Mr. Godfree, and the late Mr. Hinks, the majority of 

 the Bull-terrier prizes have come down south through the kennels of Mr. Loveys of London, 

 Mr. Pfeil of Sutton, Mr. Alfred George of Kensal New Town (whose capital little dog Spring 

 is well worthy of the honours he has won), Mr. Tredennick of St. Austell, Cornwall (whose 

 grand little Bertie will long be remembered as being both good and game), and ourselves ; 

 whilst the Midland prestige has been fairly maintained by Messrs. Roocroft of Bolton, Miller 

 of Walsall, and R. J. Hartley of Altrincham. The latter gentleman, who is a most enthusiastic 

 lover and supporter of the breed, owns two magnificent specimens in Magnet and Violet. 

 Authorities differ on the merits of these two famous bitches, but we most unhesitatingly 

 give our allegiance to the former, whose sole fault is being a little light in bone. The con- 

 dition, too, in which Mr. Hartley's dogs are exhibited is a model for the imitation of all Bull- 

 terrier breeders. 



Before passing on to a detailed description of the points of a Bull-terrier, a few lines 

 should be devoted to the subject of colour. It must appear an arbitrary rule to decide that 

 a dog of this breed should, if of any use as a show dog, be pure white ; but a moment's 

 reflection must show that there is a motive for this decision. The difficulty of eradicating 

 the undesirable traces of Bull in his face, body, and limbs, is tremendous; and it is solely by 

 practically adopting the theory of the survival of the fittest that a satisfactory result can be 

 obtained. Why only white dogs were selected in the first instance we could never discover ; 

 but of this we are convinced by experience, namely, that the introduction of a heavily-marked 

 dog into a strain of Bull-terriers has a decided tendency to cause a throw back to Bull 

 characteristics, and this can only be attributed to the fact that the colours other than white 

 have been less carefully bred than the more fashionable colour. We are quite prepared to 

 admit that there are many excellent dogs of a colour other than white, but we maintain that 

 these, though in themselves good specimens, are undesirable for breeding purposes, and should 

 be avoided, though many of them are the offspring of highly-bred pure white dogs, themselves 

 successful competitors at our best shows. It is a painful fact that in most litters there even 

 now appear one or more "marked" puppies; but the danger in permitting these to be used to 



