THE DACHSHUND. 



309 



dream they are engaged in mortal combat 

 with the badger. I am sure there is nothing 

 like keeping puppies amused in some such 

 way keep them on their feet as much as 

 you can, but at the same time let them have 

 a warm bed to retire to directly they feel 

 tired. 



Also, if you intend to show your puppies, 

 you should begin some time in advance to 

 school them to walk on the lead and to 

 stand quiet when ordered to. Much de- 

 pends on this in the judging ring, where a 

 dog who is unused to being on a lead often 

 spoils his chances of appearing at his best 

 under the (to him) strange experiences of 

 restraint which the lead entails. 



During the past five-and-twenty years 

 the names of two particular Dachshunds 

 stand out head and shoulders above those 

 of their competitors. I refer to Champions 

 Jackdaw and Pterodactyl. Jackdaw had 

 a wonderful record, having, during a long 

 show career, never been beaten in his 

 class from start to finish, and having 

 won many valuable prizes. He was credited 

 with being the most perfect Dachshund 

 that had ever been seen in England, and 

 probably as good as anything in Germany. 



Ch. Jackdaw was a black and tan dog, bred 

 and owned by Mr. Harry Jones, of Ipswich. 

 He was sired by Ch. Charkow, out of Wagtail, 

 and born 2oth July, 1886. Through his 

 dam he was descended from a famous 

 bitch, Thusnelda, who was imported by Mr. 

 Mudie in the early 'eighties. She was a 

 winner of high honours in Hanover. The 

 name of Jackdaw figures in all the best 

 pedigrees of to-day. 



Ch. Pterodactyl was born in 1888, and 

 bred by Mr. Willink. He was in a measure 

 an outcross from the standard type of the 

 day, and his dam, whose pedigree is in 

 dispute, was thought to have been im- 

 ported. After passing through one or two 

 hands he was purchased by Mr. Harry 

 Jones, and in his kennel speedily made a 

 great name in the show ring and at the 

 stud, and was eventually sold for a high 

 price to Mr. Sidney Woodiwiss, who at that 

 period had the largest kennel of Dachshunds 

 in England. 



" Ptero," as he was called, was a big, 

 light red dog, with wonderful forequarters 

 and great muscular development. He also 

 possessed what is called a " punishing jaw " 

 and rather short ears, and looked a thorough 

 " business " dog. He had an almost un- 

 broken series of successes at shows in Eng- 

 land, and, being taken to Germany (in the 

 days before the quarantine regulations), he 

 took the highest honours in the heavy- 

 weight class, and, I think, a special prize for 

 the best Dachshund of all classes. This dog 

 became the favourite sire of his day and the 

 fashionable colour. 



The black and tan thereupon went quite 

 out of favour, and this fact, coupled with 

 the reckless amount of inbreeding of red to 

 red that has been going on since Ptero 's 

 day, accounts largely for the prevalence of 

 light eyes, pink noses, and bad-coloured 

 coats of the Dachshunds, as a class, to- 

 day. 



Efforts have been made by a few en- 

 thusiasts, from time to time, to stem the 

 tide of degeneracy by importing stud dogs 

 from Germany, and during the last few 

 years considerable good has been done. 

 Notable among these outcrosses was Captain 

 Barry's Boch Bier, a middle-weight black 

 and tan. The difference in type between 

 this dog and our English-bred ones was 

 most pronounced, but the reign of a more 

 enlightened understanding was setting in, 

 and Boch Bier's good qualities took him 

 right to the front, and gained him the proud 

 title of champion. He was not nearly as 

 much used by breeders as he should have 

 been, on account of his colour black and 

 tan whereas it is to this colour that fanciers 

 must turn to improve their washed-out 

 " patchy " yellows, light eyes, flesh noses, 

 and Basset-hound white markings. 



Other notable importations during recent 

 years have been Mrs. Nugent's Florian, a 

 small red dog ; Mrs. Blackwell's Rothei 

 Beelzebub, a heavy-weight dark red, with a 

 long record of successes both in Germany 

 and England, and probably the best dog 

 ever imported ; and my own dog Racker 

 von der Ecke, a black and tan. 



The dapple Dachshunds imported by the 



