THE BOOK OF THE OTTER 



workers for future breeding operations. It is 



perhaps unnecessary to state that you must have 



a couple or two of entered hounds to begin with, 



otherwise you are Hkely to walk as far as the Rev. 



Jack Russell did before you find an otter. As 



regards cross-bred hounds, the first cross may be 



capital workers, but it is doubtful if much good 



comes from breeding from them. 



One see all shapes^ makes, and sizes of rough 



hounds in the various packs, but the best bred ones 



are big, upstanding animals, from twenty-two to 



twenty-four or more inches in height. Speaking 



from our own experience, we have found the 



majority of rough hounds to be much more clumsy 



and less active than foxhounds. Their feet, too, 



are often inclined to be open and flat, and they lack 



the heart and stamina of the foxhound. There 



are, of course, exceptions, and we have come 



across rough hounds that were capital workers, 



but take them all round they are too big and 



clumsy, at any rate for work on rough, rocky 



streams. Despite their rough jackets, they suffer 



ii6 



