52 



THE NATIONAL, GEOGRAPHIC MAGAZINE 



dent reference to the requirements of the dog 

 as a working ally of man. 



No one feels more deeply the debt of grati- 

 tude which we owe to the many inteUigent and 

 unselfish breeders who, often at great sacrifice 

 of time and money, have given us our long list 

 of useful and beautiful dogs. But there is ten- 

 dency in the very proper enthusiasm over dog 

 shows and show dogs to forget that the pri- 

 mary object of breeding most dogs is to pro- 

 duce animals which are useful in different 

 fields of activity, and not to conform to a par- 

 ticular standard unless that standard is the one 

 most likely to develop dogs fitted in mind and 

 body for the work required of them. 



With the idea of making as ugly and surly 

 looking a beast as possible, the present stand- 

 ard for the bulldog demands a type that is all 

 but unfitted for existence, so great are the 

 deformities exacted of this unfortunate dog. 

 Undershot so that he can scarcely eat his food; 

 teeth that should normally meet never being 

 able to do so; the nose so jammed in that 

 breathing through it becomes almost or quite 

 impossible ; the shoulders so muscled and legs 

 so out-bowed as to make locomotion difficult, 

 he is indeed a tribute to the art of man in its 

 most perverted manifestation. 



The large, square, heavy head has the face 

 deeply wrinkled, the lower jaw three sizes too 

 long for its mate, the nose thumbed back into 

 the face, the eyes very wide-set and low on 

 the face and the ear -wrinkled back to form a 

 "rose." A straight-edge laid along the top of 

 the head should touch forehead, eyebrow, nose 

 and lower jaw; the neck is thick and short, 

 the shoulders very wide and low, the back 

 curving up to the hips, which are a little higher 

 than the shoulders. Hind legs strong, arched, 

 with the stifle and toes turned out a little and 

 the hock correspondingly turned in. Brindle 

 is the favorite color, but white, black and 

 white, fawn, red, brown, and even solid black 

 ,are met with. A good bulldog should weigh 

 from 30 to 40 pounds. 



He is a good-natured, gentle creature, in 

 spite of his forbidding appearance, and makes 

 a safe and dependable family dog. When once 

 aroused to anger, however, his tenacity and 

 courage are proverbial, and he justifies every 

 claim that could be made for him, being totally 

 without fear, under whatever odds he may be 

 placed, and apparently insensible to pain, stay- 

 ing at his battle to the very death. 



There has been developed in England a so- 

 called "miniature" bulldog with a maximum 

 weight of 22 pounds. A perfect specimen has 

 been described as the larger variety seen 

 through the wrong end of a telescope. As the 

 weight would indicate, he is not a toy, and is 

 highly regarded as a companion by those who 

 require a staunch little dog not quite as active 

 and excitable as most terriers are. 



THE FRENCH BULLDOG 



(For illustralion, see page sg) 



The French bulldog, we are told, was origi- 

 nally a Spanish bulldog, a much larger animal. 



formerly used in Spain for baiting bulls. But 

 dogs of the original type found their way to 

 France, where they were eventually reduced 

 in size and "beautified," until today a normal 

 specimen of this breed is not unlike a minia- 

 ture bulldog, except that his teeth do not show 

 when his mouth is closed, and that he has well- 

 rounded "bat" ears, which form perhaps his 

 most noticeable characteristic. 



This bat-eared, flat-faced little gnome among 

 dogs has a wide and enthusiastic following. 

 The reason for this is doubtless that he is such 

 a nice little dog in spite of all man can do to 

 make him unfit for life, by condensing the 

 nasal region and developing an oversize jaw. 

 The bulldog tendencies are exaggerated. The 

 head is similar, but the face is flatter and more 

 vertical in profile, with the jaw somewhat less 

 turned up. They are perky, inquisitive little 

 things, but much given to asthma and the 

 sniffles, which is not their fault but ours. The 

 proper color is dark brindle, though light brin- 

 dle is not frowned upon. More than a trace 

 of white on toes and chest is discountenanced. 

 The tail, carried low, should be either screwed 

 or straight. 



In form he is all bulldog, the only radical 

 differences being the flat face and the large 

 upstanding ears, graphically called "bat-ears" 

 by the fancy. These are important, and should 

 be wide at the base, tapering up to a rounded 

 point, carried high but not too close together, 

 and with the orifice directed forward. The 

 light weight should weigh under 22 pounds, the 

 heavy weights from 22 to 28 pounds. 



Next to toy dogs, the French bulldog and 

 the "miniature" bulldog (see preceding sketch) 

 are among those best suited to city life. Nei- 

 ther of them requires a great deal of exercise, 

 and with intelligent, thoughtful owners may be 

 kept successfully, even in a flat. But life in a 

 flat, even for dogs of this kind, is a hard one 

 unless they are the care of some conscientious 

 person who will give them daily exercise. 



THE TERRIERS 



(For illusfratioris, see pages ^c), 62, 6j, 66, 

 67, 70, and yS) 



The terriers, as their name suggests, go to 

 the earth (la terre) for their prey — dogs pri- 

 marily intended to unearth foxes, badgers, rab- 

 bits, rats,^ and other comparatively small ani- 

 mals which seek refuge in burrows in the 

 ground. 



"Ay. see the hounds with frantic zeal 



The roots and earth uptear; 

 But the earth is strong and the roots are long, 



They cannot enter there. 

 Outspeaks the Squire, 'Give room, I pray. 



And hie the terriers in ; 

 The warriors of the fight are they, 



And every fight they win.' " 



Though dogs of this general character have 

 been used perhaps for a thousand years, little 

 attention was given to classification until com- 

 paratively recent times. For example, the 



