BREEDING 
dog, a Redgrave Dane, an Arkwright 
Pointer, a Chatley Bloodhound, a Red- 
mond Fox Terrier, a Goodwood Pekinese, 
or a Copthorne Griffon. 
Throughout the whole series of sporting 
and non-sporting dogs there is hardly a 
breed which has not been stamped with 
the character appertaining to particular 
kennels. Fashion and flattering imitation 
have been influential in the breeding of 
dogs as in the breeding of horses and cattle. 
Asa rule, the influence has been for good; 
but by no means invariably so, since the 
desire for dogs possessing certain pre- 
scribed peculiarities has too often led to the 
exaggeration of fancy points and to the 
deterioration of natural type and character. 
Perhaps the judges who appraise a dog 
by his head alone, overlooking his qualities 
of body and limb, or by his colour and 
coat, and not by the frame that is beneath 
them, are no less to blame than the breeders 
who yield to the dictates of temporary 
fashion and strive for the extreme develop- 
ment of accredited points rather than for 
the production of an all-round perfect dog 
who is capable of discharging the duties 
that ought to be expected of him. Admit- 
ting that the dogs seen at our best contem- 
porary shows are superlative examples of 
scientific selection, one has yet to acknow- 
ledge that the process of breeding for show 
points has its disadvantages, and that, in 
the sporting and pastoral varieties more 
especially, utility is apt to be sacrificed to 
ornament and type, and stamina to fancy 
qualities not always relative to the animal’s 
capacities as a worker. The standards of 
perfection and scales of points laid cown 
by the specialist clubs are usually admir- 
able guides to the uninitiated, but they are 
often unreasonably arbitrary in their in- 
sistence upon certain details of form-— 
generally in the neighbourhood of the 
head—while they leave the qualities of 
type and character to look after themselves 
or to be totally ignored. In the estimation 
of many judges and reporters in the canine 
press it seems to be necessary, in order to 
gain a high place in the show ring, that a 
dog should, above all things, possess a 
magnificently shaped head —a “ grand 
head” is the stereotyped phrase—and 
breeders, conscious of this predilection, 
AND WHELPING. 
579 
concentrate their efforts upon head quali- 
ties. To be successful, a Bulldog, for 
example, must have a good turn-up of 
under jaw, whatever his body failings may 
be, and a specimen which has straight legs, 
short back, massive bone, and the charac- 
teristic barrel and hindquarters is passed 
over if he does not happen to have the jaw 
that is looked for. The Bulldog has suf- 
fered more than almost any other breed 
from the desire for a “grand head” and 
front. His body behind the arms and back 
parts generally have been so neglected that 
one is repeatedly hearing of prize dogs that 
are useless at the stud and of bitches that 
are incapable of producing a healthy litter, 
or a litter of any kind. It is the same with 
many of the short-faced Toy varieties, in 
which the head is considered of paramount 
impertance, with the consequence that it 
is rare to see a King Charles Spaniel with 
good body action. With the Fox Terriers 
straightness of forelegs is the one thing 
aimed at; in the Scottish Terrier it is a 
“punishing jaw ” that is desired, and many 
an otherwise excellent dog has been thrown 
out because his teeth did not meet with the 
precision of cogwheels. A “ level mouth ” 
is a desideratum in most breeds, and the 
Collie may as well be an inveterate sheep. 
worrier as appear in the ring with an over- 
shot jaw. The eye is another point upon 
which many judges hang their faith, and a 
dog with a light eye is condemned as a 
criminal. Dark eyes are indeed more 
beautiful than light, but oculists are of 
opinion that the light eye is the stronger 
and more permanently useful instrument. 
These are a few of the anomalies which 
come of the custom of breeding to points, 
and it is necessary to assure the beginner 
in breeding that points are essentially of 
far less moment than type and a good 
constitution. The one thing necessary in 
the cultivation of the dog is to bear in 
mind the purpose for which he is supposed 
to be employed, and to aim at adapting or 
conserving his physique to the best fulfil- 
ment of that purpose, remembering that 
the Greyhound has tucked-up loins to give 
elasticity and bend to the body in running, 
that a Terrier is kept small to enable him 
the better to enter an earth, that a Bulldog 
is massive and undershot for encounters in 
