SELECTION OF SIRE. 20I 



That there may be no mistaking the meaning of all this 

 still another case is assumed, and of a pointer bitch light 

 in head. Her owner, an intelligent breeder, instead of 

 choosing as a sire a heavy-headed dog mates her to one 

 that is perhaps a little on the light side, and the puppies 

 come right. Why did he do this 1 He knew what there 

 was in his bitch's pedigree. In a word, he knew that she 

 was closely related to a strong-headed family, and that 

 the sire he had selected for her was also from a family 

 that were good in head. But had he selected a short- 

 faced and thick-headed dog of a short-faced and thick- 

 headed family, the result would doubtless have been far 

 from his liking. 



The obvious conclusion is, that in selecting a sire one 

 must not only be familiar with the available dogs them- 

 selves but have a good knowledge of their family history ; 

 moreover, he should know whether or not their offspring 

 very generally resembled them or some of their ancestors. 

 Some sires and dams, in fact, seem to have but little indi- 

 viduality, as shown by their inability to reproduce them- 

 selves. Two inmates of the writer's kennels plainly 

 testified to this fact. Both were mastiffs — dog and bitch 

 — two removes from "Crown Prince," and notwithstand- 

 ing they had dense black muzzles, no matter how mated 

 they almost invariably " threw puppies " having the same 

 peculiar chocolate-colored muzzle of their noted ancestor. 



Manifestly, therefore, a good, shapely and well-marked 

 dog may prove but an indifferent stock-getter, while, on 

 the other hand, one with a glaring defect — as bad color 

 of muzzle, size of ear, expression of eye, etc. — may turn 

 out admirably. And although such results, good or bad, 

 may sometimes be purely accidental, as a rule, to which 

 there are not many exceptions, they are due to that peculi- 

 arity of "throwing back." 



