140 THE BOOK OF THE DOG. 



The Eyes, which are certainly a great point in a Skye, as their intelligent appearance is 

 remarkable, should be brown, and larger in size than in most terriers. This does not imply 

 that they should be prominent, as if they were the dog would be more liable to accident 

 when working underground. 



Neck. Long, powerful, and well coated with hair, especially on the upper surface. Shoulders 

 sloping and powerful. 



Fore legs. Very short and muscular, well set on under the dog's body. 



Chest. Very deep, but not wide. 



Body. As long as possible, and well ribbed up, wide at ribs, and flat in the back. 



Hind legs.- Straight and short, and muscular. 



Stern. Carried low. 



Colour. Grey, grizzle, blue, silver-grey, and yellow or mustard colour. 



Coat. As hard, flat, and weather-resisting as it can possibly be got. Naturally both 

 varieties should, like other rough-coated dogs, have an under-jacket, short and weather-proof, 

 with which to effectually keep the snow and mist from penetrating their skins. 



The General Appearance is essentially that of a workman. The Skye is a long, low, well- 

 knit little customer, with a good hard jacket, an intelligent but determined expression of 

 countenance, and showing symptoms of a strong constitution, which would enable him to go 

 almost anywhere, do almost anything, and rough it with his master in any climate. 



With regard to what we have alluded to as the working type of Skye to which category 

 Mr. A. M. Shaw's Flora undoubtedly belongs we have received the following notes from her 

 owner : 



" I object very much to a woolly or a curly coat such as Skyes are represented to have 

 by certain writers on the dog. An animal with such a coat could not be a pure Skye. 

 The outside coat should be straight or slightly wavy, and the hairs anything but woolly : 

 in fact, coarse but glossy ; the underneath coat soft and thick, and not coarse as in the 

 outer." (This corresponds with Mr. W. W. Thomson's description of the under-jacket of the 

 Sheep-dog in a former chapter.) " Personally I am opposed to the long-coated type, as I 

 consider the long jacket to be a result of some impure cross to which the breed has been 

 subjected. As regards the carriage of the tail, which is a point that I have frequently 

 heard debated, I can confidently assert that the best Skyes I have come across were in the 

 habit of carrying their tails high, except when being bullied for wrong-doing, or when their 

 consciences have smitten them. Personally I can see little distinction between the two varieties, 

 with the exception of the ears ; and this being so, can imagine no reason why Drop-ears 

 and Prick-ears should not be judged in the same class. As regards the tufts of hair which 

 so many judges consider to be indispensable adjuncts to the tips of a prick-eared dog's ears, 

 I can only say that I have met many excellent specimens of undoubtedly correct pedigree 

 whose ears have in no way differed from the drop-eared variety except in the carriage. 

 My ideas have been gathered from what I have picked up in the North, and also from noted 

 Skye breeders, including General Macdonald of Braelangvvell (himself a Skyeman), who bred 

 my Flora and other undoubtedly good specimens of the breed." 



From a desire to give our readers every opportunity of judging for themselves between 

 the merits of the two varieties the show type and the working type we have decided to 

 give illustrations of each in this work. The dogs selected for the coloured plates are Mr. 



