192 THE COMPLETE SHOT 



like to affirm that crossings between that and the Netherby 

 kennel did not introduce the night-dog cross into the whole 

 of the race. The short round heads and wide jaw-bones in 

 these dogs seem to bear physical witness to ancestry competent 

 to take care of itself. This statement of a fact is not intended 

 to carry a slur with it, for it may be said that the big shooter 

 and enthusiastic dog man who found out these particulars, and 

 gave me the modern history of the breed, has himself used the 

 Labrador recently as a revival to his flat-coated strain of 

 retrievers. 



Judged from the point of view of an admirer of a good flat- 

 coated retriever, the present race of Labrador dogs appear 

 common. But it would be altogether wrong to say definitely 

 that they are so. Make and shape is very much a question of 

 fashion and taste, and when a certain section of the population 

 can admire the bulldog it is not within the province of 

 anybody to lay down the law as to what is canine beauty. 

 At any rate, they have one great point seldom observed in the 

 flat-coated dogs. Their loins are usually strong enough to 

 enable them to be active. A dog with a loin too small for his 

 weight may be fast, but he never can be active, and as one 

 might expect from this formation the Labradors are remarkably 

 quick in their movements. 



Mr. Holland Hibbert has a big kennel of these dogs, and 

 has exhibited their work at the retriever trials two seasons. 

 His Munden Single was given first beauty prize at the 1905 

 trials, and was placed for looks over the heads of some very 

 good specimens of the flat-coated sort. Still, it is not supposed 

 that breeders of the flat-coated sort are likely to try to breed 

 their dogs to the model then set up ; and the author has always 

 regretted the giving of beauty prizes at field trials. We go 

 to these meetings to learn from Nature what form she chooses 

 shall embrace and contain her best internal handiwork. Having 

 found that out with much expenditure of time and trouble, we 

 must needs read Nature a lecture before we separate, and 

 instruct her what form she ought to have chosen for her best. 

 We do not hold a mirror, but a model, up to Nature, and seem 



