THE RUSSIAN RETRIEVER. 



425 



of a " saddle,'' i.e., a patch of straight hair upon the back. No standard of points is necessary 

 to be given for the purposes of judging this variety of dog, and many specimens of the canine 

 race may be seen in all parts of the country who very closely resemble him, though no claim 

 is made by their owners for them to the designation of Norfolk Retriever. 



THE RUSSIAN RETRIEVER 



Is seldom, if ever, used in this country as a sporting dog, though some specimens of the 

 breed have appeared upon the show bench from time to time. It would seem, from the 

 appearance he presents, that the Russian Retriever is somewhat allied to the Russian Setter 

 described in a former chapter by Mr. William Lort. There is, however, far more coat on the 

 Retriever, and this makes him perfectly useless in covert-shooting, whatever his value may 

 be in his native land. Mr. E. B. Southwell showed a dog of this variety, named Czar, 

 which was for some time a very successful competitor in the classes for foreign dogs at the 

 leading shows; and another good specimen of the breed appeared at Dublin in 1880. This 

 dog was shown by Capt. D. F. Allen, and gained second prize in the Variety class. 



In appearance the Russian Retriever is square all over. He is square in muzzle and wide 

 in skull, short-headed, and cloddy in body. His legs, however, are long, and here he closely 

 resembles the Irish Water Spaniel. The chief peculiarity of the breed lies in the coat, 

 which is long, very dense, and as often as not matted. This makes him unsuited to work in 

 covert, and, in fact, we have never heard of one being employed in the field in this country 

 with success. 



54, 



