8o The Dog Book 



shoulder-blades are prominent the dog is said to be "loaded in shoulders"; if a little 

 wide in brisket, as dogs will get with age, "thick in shoulders" or "wide in 

 front" may be used. A bulldog with a broad brisket and shoulders playing loosely is 

 said to be "well out at shoulders." "Loose in the shoulders" means that Qiere is too 

 much liability to throw the elbows out or stand wide in front, when the dog could stand 

 straighter. Erroneously supposed by some to be a "desired defect" in setters. 



Skull. — The upper part of the head, from eyes to occiput. 



Splay-footed. — With the toes wide apart; an exaggeration of the flat-foot. 



Stern. — ^The correct term for the tail of all hounds and the pointer. 



Stifle Joint. — The Joint in the forepart of the hind leg, corresponding to the knee in 

 man. Youatt gives much more xmderstandable names for the bones and joints of the hind 

 leg than are in common use now. The hind legs of the dog are exactly like omr own. If 

 the reader will stoop forward, resting his hands on a chair for convenience and raise himself 

 onto his toes entirely, bending the knees, his legs vnH assume the natural position of the 

 dog's. His toes and the forward part of the ball of the foot are the dog's foot; his heels are 

 the dog's hocks, and Youatt calls them heels; his knee-joints are the stifle joints; Youatt 

 calls them the knees ; our hip- joint is called the knuckle bones, and what is called the hip- 

 joint or top of that joint in the dog is not a joint at all but the fixed bone corresponding 

 to that of our hip or haunch bones forming the top rim of the pelvic arch, the os innom- 

 inatum in both man and dog. The only reason for present-day change is perhaps to avoid 

 confusing the knee in the foreleg with the knee (Youatt) in the hind leg, but that could 

 have been better avoided by using "wrist" for the foreleg, for there we have shoulder, arm, 

 elbow, forearm in regular order and then the knee, which is rather absurd, more particularly 

 when it does not take the position of the knee-joint, but connects with the upper portion 

 of the foot. 



Stop. — Dogs having a raised frontal bone — ^the bone at the front of the skull — ^have 

 an indentation between the eyes. This is more particularly seen in the bulldog and toy 

 spaniels. Stop is the indentation, not the raised forehead above the nasal line, so that it 

 is incorrect to say in some standards, "stop hardly visible, except in profile." The stop 

 cannot be seen in profile, it being a depression between the bones forming the profile on 

 either side. 



Tight-lipped. — The reverse of the pendulous lip. The lips should do no more than 

 fully cover the teeth. An essential in the bull terrier, which is otherwise described as being 

 "Hppy." 



Top. — Applied usually to terriers, the top outline of the body. 



Trimming. — Trimming is the removal of hair from any portion of the dog, and may 

 be proper or otherwise. Usually when it is said that a dog is trimmed it means that he 

 has been barbered to an illegal extent, and has been "faked." To tell an owner whose dog 

 has a lot of dead coat on him that his dog needs to be trimmed is not a direction to do 

 anything wrong, so that it depends upon the application whether the term means any- 

 thing improper. 



Tulip-ears. — One of the terms for ears held erect, others being prick-eared, bat- 

 eared. 



Undercoat. — ^In some breeds there is a short woolly coat covered by the longer outer 

 coat, and this blanket coat is the undercoat. In the colUe it is an essential. 



Undershot. — The reverse of overshot. A protrusion of the teeth of the lower jaw 

 beyond those of the upper jaw, a prominent and necessary feature in the bulldog. 



Wire-haired. — :Terriers, other than the smooth varieties or fancy toys, have a rough 

 coat which from its harshness has been termed wire-haired. The rough variety of fox- 

 terrier is known by this name, but the Irish, Scottish, Welsh and Airedales all require the 

 wiry coat. Wire-haired terriers offer an unlimited field for the "talents" of the faker and 

 trimmer. 



