THE SPORTING SPANIEL. 



285 



This colour, known as golden liver, is 

 peculiar to the breed, and is the great touch- 

 stone and hall-mark of purity of blood. No 

 other dog has exactly the same shade of 

 coat, which I do not think the word " liver " 

 describes very exactly, as it is totally dif- 

 ferent from the ordinary liver colour of an 

 Irishman, a Pointer, or even a liver Field 

 Spaniel. It is rather a golden chestnut 

 with a regular metallic sheen as of bur- 

 nished metal, showing more especially on the 

 head and face and everywhere where the 

 hair is short. This is very apparent when 

 a dog gets his new coat. In time, of course, 

 it is liable to get somewhat bleached by 

 sun and weather, when it turns almost yel- 

 low. Every expert knows this colour well, 

 and looks for it at once when judging a class 

 of Sussex. 



The description of the breed given by 

 the Spaniel Club is as follows : 



1. Head. The skull should be moderately long, 

 and also wide, with an indentation in the middle, 

 and a full stop, brows fairly heavy ; occiput full, 

 but not pointed, the whole giving an appearance 

 of heaviness without dulness. 



2. Eyes. Hazel colour, fairly large, soft and 

 languishing, not showing the haw overmuch. 



3. Nose. The muzzle should be about three 

 inches long, square, and the lips somewhat 

 pendulous. The nostrils well developed and liver 

 colour. 



4. Ears. Thick, fairly large, and lobe shaped ; 

 set moderately low, but relatively not so low as 

 in the Black Field Spaniel ; carried close to the 

 head, and furnished with soft wavy hair. 



5. Neck. Is rather short, strong, and slightly 

 arched, but not carrying the head much above 

 the level of the back. There should not be much 

 throatiness in the skin, but well marked frill in 

 the coat. 



6. Chest and Shoulders. The chest is round, 

 especially behind the shoulders, deep and wide, 

 giving a good girth. The shoulders should be 

 oblique. 



7. Back and Back Ribs. The back and loin are 

 long, and should be very muscular, both in width 

 and depth ; for this development the back ribs 

 must be deep. The whole body is characterised 

 as low, long, level, and strong. 



8. Legs and Feet. The arms and thighs must 

 be bony, as well as muscular, knees and hocks 

 large and strong, pasterns very short and bony, 

 feet large and round, and with short hair between 

 the toes. The legs should be very short and 

 strong, with great bone, and may show a slight 



bend in the forearm, and be moderately well 

 feathered. The hind legs should not be apparently 

 shorter than the fore legs, or be too much bent at 

 the hocks, so as to give a Settery appearance which 

 is so objectionable. The hind legs should be well 

 feathered above the hocks, but should not have 

 much hair below that point. The hocks should 

 be short and wide apart. 



9. Tail. Should be docked from five to seven 

 inches, set low, and not carried above the level 

 of the back, thickly clothed with moderately long 

 feather. 



10. Coat. Body coat abundant, flat or slightly 

 waved, with no tendency to curl, moderately well 

 feathered on legs and stern, but clean below the 

 hocks. 



11. Colour. Rich golden liver ; this is a certain 

 sign of the purity of the breed, dark liver or puce 

 denoting unmistakably a recent cross with the 

 black or other variety of Field Spaniel. 



12. General Appearance. Rather massive and 

 muscular, but with free movements and nice tail 

 action denoting a tractable and cheerful disposition. 

 Weight from 35 Ib. to 45 Ib. 



I can add nothing to this excellent de- 

 scription, but should like to eliminate the 

 words allowing a " slight bend in the fore- 

 arm." This appears to me to open the 

 door to crooked fore-legs, which I consider 

 a great defect in any Spaniel, and one that 

 is unhappily only too prevalent. 



VI. The Field Spaniel. The modern 

 Field Spaniel may be divided into two 

 classes. Indeed, we may almost say at 

 this stage of canine history, two breeds, 

 as for several years past there has not 

 been very much intermingling of blood 

 between the Blacks and those known by 

 the awkward designation of " Any Other 

 Variety," though, of course, all came origin- 

 ally from the same parent stock. 



The black members of the family have 

 always been given the pride of place, and 

 accounted of most importance, though 

 latterly their parti-coloured brethren seem 

 to have rather overtaken them, so, as it is 

 difficult to treat both together, I will deal 

 with them first. 



Among the really old writers there is one 

 mention, and one only, of Spaniels of a 

 black colour. Arcussia speaks of them, 

 and of their being used in connection with 



