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THE NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC MAGAZINE 



Very slender and fine of line, he still main- 

 tains great strength, and his lovely "compen- 

 sating" curves and streamlines of form present 

 a wonderful example of the beauty that inev- 

 itably accompanies a perfectly adapted mech- 

 anism His motion is supremely graceful and 

 easy, and in repose his elegance does not di- 

 minish. 



This is a tall dog, measuring from 28 to 31 

 inches at shoulder and weighing from 60 to 70 

 pounds. The hair is short and close, revealing 

 intimately the wonderful surface muscles. The 

 slender legs have sufficient bone for strength, 

 and the arched back is well muscled, though 

 slender. The sloping shoulders allow for a 

 long forward reach in the spring, and the chest, 

 while rather narrow, is immensely deep, with 

 ribs fairly sprung, giving sufficient capacity. 



The head, while slender, has considerable 

 strength of jaw, and the eye is bright and re- 

 sponsive. While not as intelligent as some 

 dogs, the greyhound is by no means stupid. 

 His finely chiseled head, delicate ears, and 

 arched neck give him a distinctive and well- 

 born appearance equaled by few dogs. 



The Italian greyhound is simply a diminutive 

 greyhound. In both any color is permissible. 



As we look to the ancient Greeks for the 

 highest development of the human body, so we 

 look to the great hunting dogs of ancient line- 

 age for the highest development of canine 

 grace. These tall, powerful hounds, trained 

 for ages to match their speed and strength 

 against fleet and often savage wild creatures, 

 have attained that beauty found only in those 

 things which are perfectly adapted to the pur- 

 poses for which they are used. 



Swiftest and most graceful of all, perhaps, 

 is the English greyhound. Built, it would seem, 

 of spring steel and whipcord, and with a short 

 satin coat which offers no resistance to the 

 wind, this swallow among dogs cleaves the air 

 and barely touches the ground he flies over. 

 Even the fleet English hare is no match for 

 him in speed, and were it not that the hare has 

 a clever knack of dodging at the moment the 

 dog is about to overtake her, she would be 

 quickly caught. 



General Roger D. Williams, of Lexington, 

 Kentucky, who has done a great deal of wolf- 

 hunting in the West, states that greyhounds 

 can not only overtake a timber wolf, but will 

 close with him instantly, regardless of conse- 

 quences, which is more than some wolfhounds 

 will do. 



who holds the animal's fore paws on the mark, 

 and the "runner-up," usually the owner or 

 some other person of whom the dog is fond 

 and toward whom he runs. The starter, pistol 

 in hand, stands behind the "scratch." 



The owners now run away from the dogs, 

 each waving a rag and shouting, "Hi ! Hi I" to 

 attract his favorite's attention, and, still urging 

 the dogs, take their position behind the "over- 

 mark," which is 10 yards beyond the winning 

 post. Each handler holds his dog's neck with 

 the left hand, and with the right grasps the 

 root of the tail. At a word from the starter, 

 the handler gets ready by lifting his whippet's 

 hind feet well oil the ground, while its fore 

 feet remain on the mark. 



At the crack of the pistol the dog is literally 

 thrown into its stride, and with the other com- 

 petitors flashes down the track, crosses the 

 winning mark at top speed, slowing up only as 

 it approaches its owner, who is still frantically 

 calling and waving the rag. 



Each dog wears a colored ribbon about his 

 neck — red, w'hite, blue, yellow, green, or black — 

 and at4he finish of each heat a flag the color 

 of the winner's ribbon is hoisted by the judges 

 to announce the result. The distance has been 

 covered in 11J/2 seconds, or an average of 52 

 feet 2 inches per second for the 200 yards. 



Color is not a point in whippets, their sole 

 purpose being to go as fast as possible. They 

 come in all colors, like greyhounds ; indeed, 

 they are judged along exactly parallel hues. 

 If anything, they are even more extreme in 

 their peculiarities of form, being very roached 

 up in the back and clear of limb. The ideal 

 weight is about 15 pounds for males and 13 for 

 females. The head shows usually some Man- 

 chester terrier tendencies, and the tail has gen- 

 erally longer hair along its under side than 

 covers the rest of the dog. 



In spite of the fact that these slight little 

 dogs are rather deUcate and trembly, they are 

 staunchly declared by those who own them to 

 be very bright, affectionate, and loyal. 



As is generally the case, when "the fancy'' 

 takes hold of n utility breed an artificial stand- 

 ard, based almost entirely on looks, supersedes 

 the more erratic standard, based upon perform- 

 ance. The English foundryman would pav 

 more for a snipy, knobly little dog that could 

 run like a scared spirit than for the most 

 graceful and cleanly silhouetted beauty at the 

 bench show, should it lack in speed and racing 

 courage. 



WHIPPET 



(For illustration, see page 79) 



A small and very swift breed of greyhound 

 called the whippet has been developed in Eng- 

 land, and whippet racing is an old and favorite 

 sport among English workingmen, particularly 

 in the northern and northwestern counties. 

 The dogs are raced over a 200-yard straight- 

 away course, and are usually handicapped ac- 

 cording to weight and previous performance. 



There are two men to each dog — the handler, 



SCOTTISH DEERHOUND 



(For illustration, sec page 22) 



There is something about the shaggy hunting 

 dogs of Britain that makes a particular appeal 

 to those who are attracted to dogs. It may be 

 the touching contrast of their harsh coat and 

 rugged body with the soft, affectionate look in 

 the almost hidden eye. It may be the knowl- 

 edge of the indomitable courage and immunity 

 from fear that is latent in the friendly creature 

 that noses Qur palm and meets our advances 



