358 



THE NEW BOOK OF THE DOG. 



well filled up before the eyes ; lips light ; ears 

 V-shaped with a side carriage, small but not out 

 of proportion to the size of the dog ; the nose 

 black ; the eyes small and dark in colour, not 

 prominent, and full of terrier expression, the teeth 

 strong and level. The neck should be of moderate 

 length and thickness, gradually widening towards 

 the shoulders, and free from throatiness. 



2. Shoulders and Chest. — Shoulders long and 

 sloping well into the back, shoulder blades flat, 

 chest deep, but not broad. 



3. Body. — -Back short, strong and straight ; ribs 

 well sprung. 



4. Hindquarters. — Strong and muscular, with 

 no drop ; hocks well let down ; the tail set on 

 high and carried gaily, but not curled over the 

 back. 



5. Legs and Feet. — Legs perfectly straight, with 

 plenty of bone ; feet small and round with good 

 depth of pad. 



6. Coat. — Hard and wiry, and not so long as to 

 appear ragged ; it should also be straight and close, 

 covering the dog well over the body and legs. 



7. Colour. — The head and cars, with the excep- 

 tion of dark markings on each side of the skull. 



MR. HOLLAND BUCKLEYS CH ROYAL PAGEANT. 



should be tan. the cars being a darker shade than 

 the rest, the legs up to the thigh and elbows being 

 also tan. the body black or dark grizzle. 



8. Weight.— Dogs 40 lb. to 45 lb., bitches 

 slightly less. It is the unanimous opinion of the 

 Airedale Terrier Club that the size of the Airedale 

 Terrier as given in the standard, is one of. if not 

 the most important characteristics of the breed ; 

 all judges who shall henceforth adjudicate on the 

 merits of the Airedale Terrier shall consider 

 undersized specimens of the breed severely handi- 



capped when competing with dogs of the standard 

 weight ; and any of the club judges who, in the 

 opinion of the committee, shall give prizes or 

 otherwise push to the front, dogs of a small type, 

 shall be at once struck off from the list of specialist 

 judges. 



Scale of Points. 

 Head ...... 10 



Eye 5 



Colour ..... 5 



Ears ...... 5 



Body loin and hindquarters . , 20 



Nose ..... 5 



Teeth ...... 5 



Legs and feet .... 10 



Neck and shoulders ... 10 

 Coat . . . . . .15 



Jaw ...... 10 



Total . 100 



This standard is noteworthy in one or 

 two particulars. The scale of points is cer- 

 tainly the most remarkable thing of its 

 sort in existence. 



It will be noted that the ear carriage re- 

 ^luirl■d is a side one — i.e. ears carried on the 

 side of the head o\-er the cheeks and not 

 carried forward over the top of the fore- 

 licad. The above standard has been adopted 

 in its entirety by the South of England 

 Airedale Terrier Club, But it is much to 

 be doubted whether the members of this 

 go-ahead society carry out its ideas as to 

 ear i^arriage. The side carriage is the hound 

 carriage, and several of their best terriers 

 haw bec<iine so terrier-like as to carry their 

 ears right forward, exactly the same, in fact, 

 as the present day Fox-terrier. I recently 

 had the honour of listening to a learned 

 disquisition from the lips of one of the fore- 

 most members of tliis club on the points of 

 an Airedale. He, at any rate, would have 

 no side carriage of car, and was a very fer- 

 vent supporter of the ear that is carried 

 well forward on the top of the forehead. It is 

 to be noted also that great stress is to be 

 j)ut on the necessity of correct weight. It 

 is, of comse, an important factor that the 

 weight of an Airedale should be kept up 

 to the standard insisted upon. As soon as 

 little dogs are seen winning, the individuality 

 of tlie terrier in question is gone, and it is 

 possible that he might go on getting smaller 



