535 



CHAPTER LXI. 



PET DOGS AND HAIRLESS DOGS. 



" Plus qui je vois les hommes, plus j'aime les chiens." 



IN most of the Continental countries, as very little, if anything, larger than a rat, 



in the United States, the little dogs and, as if to prove her of mature growth, 



of which in Great Britain we make pets beside her were her two pups, about as 



and drawing-room companions are commonly big as mice. 



kept, the active Fox-terrier, the silky-coated It is a native of Mexico, where there are 



Yorkshire, the fluffy Pomeranian, or Loulou, other very small lap-dogs. But the Chi- 



huahua is a breed 

 distinct in itself, and 

 is not to be con- 

 founded with the 

 tiny long-haired and 

 large -eared Mexican 

 " Poodle." A re- 

 markable fact in 

 connection with the 

 dog is that when 

 taken away from 

 Chihuahua, and bred 

 for a time in another 

 part of the world, or 

 even in any other 

 district of Mexico 

 the progeny increases 

 in bulk and becomes 

 as the natives say 

 " degenerado." Cap- 

 tain Mayne Reid 



going pages. Then, too, there is the curious noticed this in the case of individuals met 

 tribe of hairless dogs of which so little is with in the Mexican capital, where the 

 yet understood. It is necessary that these little creature is greatly prized as a pet. 

 should be mentioned. He thought it possible that the climate 



The Chihuahua. The dog of Chihuahua and soil had something to do with the 

 (pronounced Chee-wa-wa) is, perhaps, the increase of size under expatriation from 

 smallest of the canine family. A full the high table -lands of Chihuahua, and 

 grown specimen may be so minute as to certainly it seems to be impossible to main- 

 stand with all four feet upon a man's tain the small size for many generations 

 hand. Some mature dogs have failed to in any other country than Chihuahua, 

 turn the scale at twenty-three ounces ; but Presumably the Conquistadores of Mexico, 

 a larger specimen may weigh as much as finding it there, carried it not only to old 

 four pounds, which is a trifle over the weight Spain, but throughout all Spanish America, 

 of Mrs. Lilburn MacEwan's Chadro. In There are some persons who believe that 

 the British Museum some years ago there the Chihuahua was the original of the Belgian 

 was the stuffed skin of a bitch of this breed Papillon, but this is to confuse the smooth- 



t h e snowy - coated 

 Maltese, the impu- 

 dent Brussels Grif- 

 fon, and the many 

 varieties of Toy 

 Spaniels and minia- 

 ture termers all 

 these and many 

 more of the smaller 

 breeds that are so 

 familiar to us are 

 treasured as com- 

 panions in other 

 fends. But there are 

 some in addition 

 which are compara- 

 tively little known 

 in the British dog 

 shows, and which 

 have not been no- 

 ticed in the fore- 



CHIHUAHUA DOG CHADRO. 

 IMPORTED FROM MEXICO BY 

 R. RENTOUL SYMON, ESQ. 



