BREEDING DOGS. 521 



sort of animal he wishes for. In the case of a beginner, there is generally an acquaintance at 

 hand who possesses more or less experience in such matters, and who, if he be a real lover of 

 the dog, will be glad to place his services at his young friend's disposal. The opinions of such 

 an individual may not all be correct; but if he be fairly competent, and honest, he can always be 

 useful to the beginner. It is a great assistance, too, in arriving at a correct opinion, if the uses 

 for which the various breeds have been brought into existence are brought under consideration. 

 It is no good breeding a dog, though he be ever so handsome-looking, if he is palpably unfit 

 for the work he is supposed to perform if called upon ; and, under a judge who knows his 

 work, a flashy-looking dog often has to lo\ver his colours to his more sober and workman-like 

 neighbour, whose undoubted good properties have escaped the attention of the uninitiated. 



Having decided upon the type which he himself desires to produce, a beginner should 

 make it his next business to ascertain if his ideas in any way resemble the orthodox standard ; 

 if so, his labours are considerably diminished, as his object in breeding will be to obtain the services 

 of such stud dogs as he particularly admires, and in whose pedigree he has satisfied himself 

 there is no bar sinister. It is an indisputable fact that a well-bred dog is far more likely to 

 beget stock resembling himself than a good-looking mongrel is. Again, in the case of the 

 former, even if he fails to impress his own likeness on his progeny, there is a possibility, 

 if not a fair amount of certainty, that the puppies will throw back to a well-bred ancestor of 

 more or less elegant proportions ; whilst with a dog whose pedigree is enveloped in mystery or 

 something worse, there is a chance of the young ones displaying every conceivable type and temper. 



The subject of in-breeding is one which has exercised the minds of breeders for many a 

 day, and affords matter for a controversy which seems far from being brought to a termination. 

 There can be no sort of doubt that, if carried to too great a length, in-breeding stunts the 

 growth and weakens the intelligence and constitution of all dogs. This opinion is, we believe, 

 unanimously received by all breeders of canine stock ; though, in the case of game-cocks 

 more than one authority has it that incestuously-bred birds are stouter, gamer, and more 

 active than those whose parents are unrelated to each other. Observation has proved that 

 the union of father with daughter and mother with son is far preferable, where dogs are concerned, 

 to an alliance between brother and sister. Once in and twice out is, we believe, an excellent 

 system if the crosses are judiciously selected, and the reasons for this appear to be as follows : 

 A breeder has a dog belonging to a strain which usually produces good-headed ones, but apt 

 to be leggy and perhaps deficient in coat. He naturally wishes to remedy these defects, and in 

 many instances selects as a mate a dog indifferent in head, but good in bone and in jacket ; the 

 result being most probably one fair puppy and several very indifferent ones which inherit the 

 faults of both their sire and dam. On the other hand, however, had he exercised a little 

 patience, and mated his dog with one of the same strain, thereby strengthening the probability 

 of the puppies being in their turn likely to beget good-headed offspring when allied with 

 another strain of blood, he would, in the course of a few years, have most probably got exactly 

 the sort of dog he desired to obtain. We are perfectly aware that this argument may be 

 said to cut both ways, and that those taking a contrary view of the case to our own may 

 exclaim that the faults are just as likely to be perpetuated as the good properties ; but we 

 would observe that perpetual wandering from one blood to another must eventually produce 

 specimens of uncertain type, whose services at the stud are perfectly useless from the fact that 

 there is no fixed character in their breeding, and who are liable to throw puppies of every 

 conceivable shape and make in the same litter. In short, in-breeding is, when judiciously 

 carried out, absolutely essential to a breeder's success as a breeder, if such is to be maintained. 

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