CURLY-COATED RETRIEVERS. 423 



Poodle, and thus a cross of Poodle in the Curly-coated Retriever of the present day would 

 only be, in our opinion, a re-introduction of a dash of the old strain. 



In spite of his very handsome appearance, the Curly-coated Retriever has steadily lost 

 ground in popular estimation since the introduction of dog shows, and the subsequent rapid 

 advance of the Wavy-coated breed. This is partly due, no doubt, to the prejudice against the 

 Curlies for being less tender in the mouth than the Wavy-coated dogs ; but this failing is not 

 invariably the case, and numbers of Curly-coated Retrievers exist whose mouths are as tender as 

 can be. There is another cause as well which should not be lost sight of, and that is that the 

 Wavy dogs being some years ago more largely bred by the leading Retriever breeders who 

 imported Labradors for the purpose, the public naturally followed suit, hence the Curly-coated 

 variety gradually but surely lost its ground. With so much in the way of beauty and sagacity to 

 recommend him it is a decided pity that the Curly-coated Retriever should be suffered to become 

 extinct, an event which, taking into consideration the great dearth of good specimens, seems to be 

 far from an unlikely one. In former days that is at the first commencement of dog shows the 

 Curlies held their own right well against their Wavy-coated cousins ; and it was not till 1863 that 

 the classes for Retrievers were divided. The great Wyndham even, after his first appearance, 

 lived to suffer defeat from Mr. Riley's Curly-coated dogs, Sam and Cato, who were the earliest 

 champions of the latter breed. Subsequently, Mr. Corse's pair of Jets Jet and Jet II. 

 were for some time at the head of affairs. Later on, Dr. Morris of Rochdale carried 

 nearly all before him with his beautiful dog and bitch, True and XL; and later still again, 

 Mr. W. A. How's Toby, the subject of our coloured plate, was shown about the country 

 with immense success. Mr. Samuel Matthew of Stowmarket, and also Mr. J. H. Salter, were 

 the owners of a very handsome dog in King Coffee; and Mr. J. F. Staples Brown, of Brash- 

 field, showed good specimens in Minor and Polly. Chicory, a very smart bitch, owned by Mr. 

 Tom B. Swinburne, of Darlington, has been about the most successful specimen of the breed for 

 the year 1880, and when shown in good condition this handsome bitch's coat is as good and 

 curly as can be desired. 



The most frequent faults, then, that are to be found with Curly-coated Retrievers of 

 the present day are openness of coat and absence of curl, and also the presence of too much 

 hair upon the face. It is of the utmost importance that the coat of this sort of dog should 

 be in a series of tight curls all over his body, and even on his tail ; but the face should 

 be smooth, no curls appearing on it. It is here that so many of the breed are tampered 

 with by unprincipled exhibitors or owners, for, in many instances, coats are subjected to 

 the curling-irons, and the exuberance of superfluous curls corrected by shaving off the offending 

 ringlets. It is, therefore, very advisable for intending purchasers, unless they know the vendor 

 to be above such practices, to examine a dog of this description thoroughly before they con- 

 clude the purchase, or 3. possible disappointment may be in store for them. 



In colour, the vast majority of the Curly-coated Retrievers are jet-black, though occasionally 

 a good liver-coloured one is seen at shows. Their appearance, however, is very rare except when 

 classes are provided for Retrievers of any other colour but black, and these are seldom added to 

 the prize lists of any but the largest shows. Livers are met with in litters bred from black 

 parents, and are, therefore, in no way inferior in point of purity of blood ; but popular opinion 

 has always been in favour of the black dog, and appears likely to remain so. The best 

 specimen of the breed of late before the public is Mr. L. MacKenzie's Garnet, who is a first- 

 rate dog, and well-shaped enough to win in any company. 



The specimen of the Cuily-coated Retriever which we have selected for illustration is 



