THE WAVY-COATED EETEIEVEE. 107 



admittedly, pure. In the belief that the nose of the pure Labrador is inferior to 

 that of the setter, I certainly should advise the cross-bred dog for use ; but to be 

 successful on the show bench, under such judges as Dr. Bond Moore, Mr. Handley, 

 and Mr. Lort, the competitor should display as little as possible of the setter. In 

 all other respects Major Allison's Victor was perfect, his symmetry being of the 

 most beautiful order; but Dr. Bond Moore could not forgive his setter-like ears, 

 and his fiat was against him. According to my general rule, I shall therefore 

 describe this breed in its show form, the following being the numerical value of the 

 points : 



POINTS OF THE BLACK WAVY-COATED RETRIEVER. 



Value, j Value. 



Value. 



Skull 10 



Nose and jaws 10 



Ears and eyes 5 



Neck 5 



Loins and back 10 



40 



Quarters and stifles ... 10 



Shoulders 6 



Chest 4 



Legs, knees, and hocks 10 



Feet 5 



35 



Grand Total 100. 



Tail 5 



Coat 5 



Colour 5 



Symmetry and tem- 

 perament 10 



25 



1. The skull (value 10) should be long, wide, and flat at the top, with a very 

 slight furrow down the middle. Brow by no means pronounced ; but the skull is 

 not absolutely in a straight line with the nose. 



2. The nose and jaws (value 10) are to be considered from two points of view 

 first, as to the powers of scent ; and secondly, as to the capacity for carrying a hare 

 or pheasant without risk of damage. For both purposes the jaws should be long, 

 and for the development of scenting powers the nose should be wide, the nostrils 

 open, and its end moist and cool. 



3. The ears and eyes (value 5). The ears must be small to suit the ideas of the 

 Labrador fancier. With the setter cross they are considerably larger. In any case 

 they should lie close to the head, and be set on low. With regard to the hair on 

 them, it must be short in the Labrador ; but in the setter cross it is nearly as long 

 as in the setter itself. The eyes should be of medium size, intelligent-looking, and 

 mild in expression, indicating a good temperament. 



4. Neck (value 5). Whatever be the breed of this dog, his neck should be long 

 enough to allow him to stoop in seeking for the trail. A chumpy neck is especially 

 bad ; for, while a little dog may get along on a foot scent with a short neck, a 

 comparatively large and unwieldy dog tries himself terribly by the necessity for 

 crouching in his fast pace. 



5. The loins and lack (value 10) must be wide and deep, to enable the retriever 

 to carry a hare over a stone wall, a brook, or gate. 



6. The quarters and stifles (value 10) must be muscular, for the same reason ; 

 and, to enable the retriever to do his work fast enough to please the modern sports- 

 man, with ease to himself, the stifles should be set wide apart. 



7. The shoulders (value 10) should be long and sloping ; otherwise, even with a 

 proper length of neck, the dog cannot stoop to a foot scent without fatigue. 



