TERRIERS AT WORK. 49 



become chilled with wet, as the water will run 

 through his coat and interfere seriously with his 

 power of work. 



A good terrier, like a good horse, cannot be of 

 a bad colour, but blue on a rough dog generally 

 means a long silky coat, the mark being derived 

 originally from the blue shag sheep-dog, an animal 

 verv common in the counties of both Dorset and 

 Devon. This dog has been constantly crossed with 

 the smooth fox-terrier, and it is from this cross 

 that I believe the rough terriers have sprung, the 

 blue marking so often cropping up with the wire 

 haired telling its own tale. The cross with the 

 blue shag dog makes a capital rabbiter, and but for 

 his size might be taken for a rough terrier. 



The tap-root of my own kennel was Redcap, 

 a smooth terrier born in 1880, of whose pedi- 

 gree there w^as sufficient doubt for me to enter it 

 in the Stud-Book as "unascertained." He took 

 first -prize at Barnstaple In 1883. Bedcap had 

 a beautiful bright tan head, with a black mark 

 under the right ear which was constantly trans- 

 mitted to his descendants, and his head was of 

 medium length, with not a trace of the grey- 

 hound about it. His ears were small and well- 

 carried, and his jaw long and punishing, with big 

 strong teeth, and at eleven years of age he had only 

 lost one small front tooth. His legs were straight, 

 and he had good feet, with a pad like leather. 

 In size he was, I consider, perfect for underground 

 work, his weight being IG lb. He was short and 



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