n8 



THE NEW BOOK OF THE DOG. 



. 



The proper texture of the coat almost dog may be fairly dubbed too light or too 

 defies verbal description ; it must be seen dark in colour if his coat contains no shade 

 and felt to be properly appreciated. In of black or brown or sable. The ten points 

 point of fact, the dog has two distinct coats ; here allotted are largely left to the judge's 

 a thick softish undercoat next his body ; fancy, and an attractive blending of rich 



blue with white mark- 

 ings sometimes carries 

 even more weight than 

 it legitimately de- 

 serves. 



Height is a crucial 

 question which has led 

 to much controversy. 

 Some years ago the at- 

 tempt to gain additional 

 bone and substance led 

 to the breeding of many 

 large-sized animals, who 

 gained these desirable 

 adjuncts at the expense 

 of general symmetry. 



Breeders, in securing 

 size, frequently lost com- 

 pactness, and the prize- 

 lists for a season included 

 animals too long in the 

 back, too slack in the 

 loin, and too high off 

 the ground. 



It is a difficult ques- 

 tion to settle by actual 

 measurement, as I know to my cost. For 

 once, in my novitiate, misled by a menda- 

 cious tape, I held that " somewhere about 

 twenty-six or twenty-seven inches we should 

 touch the limit." A good judge pointed out 

 my mistake, and added that if I ever saw a 

 dog of twenty-seven inches I should admit 

 it. I have seen one since, and I retract ! 

 Generally speaking, a shoulder height 

 of twenty-four inches is big enough for any- 

 thing, and if these twenty-four inches be 

 combined with lightness and activity, a 

 compact, well-rounded body and a short 

 back, plenty of bone and substance, a 

 clean neck and shoulders, and good legs 

 and feet, their owner will take a lot of 

 beating. 



Under the heading General Appearance 

 comes the important item of the Sheepdog's 

 action, and it is unfortunate that no specific 



MRS. SIDNEY CHARTER'S CH. BRENTWOOD COUNTRY GIRL 



BY ROSEBERY- QUEEN MASIE. BRED BY MR. H. DICKSON. 



Photograph by Herrctt, Brcntwood. 



a crisp, harsh, shaggy one outside. It 

 must not lie down flat, and yet it must not 

 curl. In appearance it must convey an 

 impression of growing profusely in several 

 different directions ; to the touch it must be 

 harsh of texture, crackling crisply when 

 rubbed between the- thumb and finger. A 

 frequent fault of the modern show dog is 

 his softness in this respect, in no small 

 measure due to a tendency towards over- 

 grooming. 



Colour, largely a matter of taste, may 

 best be negatively dealt with. A bob-tail 

 must not be sable, nor brown, nor black. 

 Any of these colours is distinctly objec- 

 tionable, whereas any shade of blue, grey, 

 grizzle or blue-merle is correct. Much 

 depends here upon a judge's individual 

 taste. One man may prefer the light grey or 

 the merle, another the dark blue ; but no 



