686 The Dog Book 



"Until three years ago the black tailless spits had been the dog of the 

 working class of people, especially butchers, shoemakers, and not unfre- 

 quently he was seen on the canal boats, whence they gave him the name of 

 schipperke, but he might as well claim the name of 'beenhouwerke' 

 (little butcher), or 'schoenmakerke' (little shoemaker). Until a year ago, 

 and sometimes even now, when a wealthy man was taking a walk with his 

 spits he was looked at with enquiring eyes by all who passed him. The 

 only ones allowed to live among gentlemen and ladies were the toy spits and 

 some were really very small and pretty. Now however the black Pariah 

 is becoming a favourite and, many a gentleman takes a walk with his spits, 

 which has taken the place of the fox-terrier." 



The question of tail or tailless puppies was fully as open then as it it 

 now and the statements by Mr. Lysen and other fanciers of Antwerp who 

 wrote at about the same time that he did, are to the effect that old breeders 

 said that tailless dogs were formerly produced in greater numbers and that 

 introduction of outside blood caused this peculiarity to become less pro- 

 nounced. These claims we are inclined to doubt, because it is not a nat- 

 ural condition of affairs. To hold that the appearance of the dog is im- 

 proved by the gouging out of the tail is purely a stretch of the imagination. 

 Such a claim would apply with equal force to the Pom or the pug, or any 

 dog with a closely curled tail, and why the English Kennel Club should 

 prohibit ear cropping and not stop tail gouging is one of the inexplicable 

 conditions of the dog world. 



On the subject of the absence of tail, the late Mr. George R. Krehl 

 wrote as follows as a supplement to the standard of the Schipperke Club of 

 Belgium, this being the standard adopted by the St. Hubert Schipperke 

 Club of England: "The tailless breed theory is a myth. None of the 

 canidce were originally tailless, but some hold that the regular removal of 

 the stern for generations will cause any breed so operated upon to give birth 

 to tailless pups. " Mr. Krehl was by no means pledged to this supposition, 

 but he had knowledge of schipperkes born without tails and of terriers bom 

 with stump tails and while theory against the perpetuation of a mutilation 

 is ably supported by men of scientific research there is this experience in 

 breeding which crops up to cast doubts upon theories. This reference to 

 Mr. Krehl and the schipperke club reminds us that on the occasion of our 

 calling to say goodbye to him on one of our visits to England a messenger 

 came in and handed him a small package, which contained a letter and a 



