1 14 THE BOOK OF THE DOG. 



" The first good one I remember appeared, I believe, at the first Belle Vue show, Man- 

 chester. She was a deaf bitch, but her origin I know nothing about. This was about 

 sixteen years since. The following year brought out the champion Tim, then shown by old 

 Bill Pearson, and which some time afterwards came into my possession, and from which dog I 

 produced the strain that I have been so very successful with since I first brought them out. 

 I consider Tim was not only the first champion specimen, but the best Terrier we ever had, 

 and was really the foundation of good Terriers. As regards the points of Terriers I think that 

 by the conversations we have had together I have told you all I know. I may say that among 

 others Tim was sire to Swindell's Gem, out of a bitch he picked up in Manchester, and which 

 showed in a marked manner a cross of the Snap-dog breed, and you remember all his 

 strain showed the same, more or less. He (Tim) was, as I have remarked, the best Terrier I 

 ever saw, and champion for years ; in fact, up to the time of his death, which occurred about 

 three years ago (1876)." 



The breed being of so modern an origin, we can find little to add to its history that could 

 interest our readers. We will therefore proceed to offer a few hints on the breeding of this 

 variety, which have been picked up in conversation with various admirers of the breed. It being 

 so universally acknowledged that many strains show traces of Italian Greyhound or Snap 

 (rabbit-coursing dog) blood, every endeavour should be taken to eradicate the evil. Not only 

 does the dog suffer as a Terrier in its appearance, but the peculiar action in the fore-feet, which 

 Italian Greyhounds show so conspicuously, is very much against it. These specimens we should 

 mate with as light (i.e., lightly built) a Bull-terrier as we could procure, and having destroyed 

 the dog puppies, reserve the bitches for subsequent re-crossing with the best white English 

 stud dog we could procure. In attempting this process, it should be borne in mind that there is 

 very small probability of a breeder obtaining his desire in the first cross, and more probably 

 the third or fourth will get him what he wants. Considerable care must therefore be taken 

 in the next cross ; and though much must depend upon circumstances, we would suggest 

 resorting to the services of a sire of the same strain as the father of the latter puppies. Any 

 dogs saved from this litter may, of course, be used to bitches of remote blood, when there will 

 usually be plenty of offspring left to found and perpetuate a strain of well-bred white English 

 Terriers. 



In appearance this dog should closely resemble the Black-and-tan, so a full description 

 of its structural development is unnecessary. Its colour is an intensely brilliant white, and 

 its eyes very black and sparkling the oblique shape being preferred. Spots of red, tan, or 

 brindle, frequently appear on puppies, sometimes weeks after they are born. These chiefly 

 show behind the ears or on the neck, and are, of course, a disfigurement to a dog which should 

 be pure white. These are occasionally cut out when the puppies are young, and a wide collar 

 is often used, when this breed is shown, to conceal these blemishes. Many good specimens, too, 

 are deaf, and though some judges profess not to object to this infirmity, we consider it very 

 much against a dog's chance of success, as a deaf dog is a sorry companion either at home or 

 abroad. It is believed that nearly all purely white animals are deaf, and if so the present 

 variety is only redeemed from the infirmity by the nose, or a few scattered, and so invisible, 

 hairs. 



The dog we have selected for illustration is Mr. Alfred Benjamin's Silvio. He was first 

 shown by his breeder, Mr. James Roocroft, at Bath in 1877. We were judge upon that occasion, 

 and gave him first in one of the best classes we ever saw. Subsequently we purchased him 



