432 The Management and Diseases of the Dog. 
legs should be large and straight, not bandy or curved. They 
should be rather short in proportion to the hind legs, but not so 
short as to make the back appear long, or to detract from the 
dog’s activity, and so cripple him. The elbows should be low, 
and stand well away from the ribs. The ankles, or pasterns, 
should be short, straight, and strong. The fore feet should be 
straight, and turn very slightly inwards ; they should be of medium 
size, and moderately round. The toes short, compact, and thick, 
being well split up, making the knuckles prominent and high. 
Hind Legs.—The hind legs should be large and muscular, and 
longer in proportion than the fore legs, so as to elevate the toins. 
The hocks should be very slightly bent, and well let down, so as 
to be long and muscular from the loins to the point of the hock. 
The lower part of the leg should be short, straight, and strong. 
The stifles should be round, and turn slightly outwards away from 
the body. The hocks are thereby made to approach each other, 
and the hind feet to turn outwards. The latter, like the fore feet, 
should be round and compact, with the toes short, well split up, 
and the knuckles prominent. From his formation, the dog has a 
peculiar, slouching, and constrained gait, appearing to walk with 
short, quick steps on the tips of his toes, his hind feet not being 
lifted high, but appearing to skim the ground, and often running 
with the one shoulder rather advanced, similar to the manner of 
a horse in cantering. 
Size.—The most desirable size for the Bulldog, and at which 
excellence is mostly attained, is about 50 lbs. ; 
Coat and Colour.—The coat should be fine in texture, short, 
close, and smooth (hard only from its shortness and closeness, 
not wiry or woolly). The colour should be whole or smut (that 
is, a whole colour with a black mask or muzzle). It should be 
brilliant and pure of its sort. As “a good horse cannot be of a 
bad colour,” the same may be said of the dog if perfect in other 
points. The colours, in their order of merit, if bright and pure, 
are: first, smuts, and whole brindles, reds, white, with their 
varieties, as whole fawns, fallows, etc.; second, pied and mixed 
colours. Black, which was once most esteemed, is now considered 
undesirable. 
