348 
their thin feet cat-like, their snipy jaws 
more powerful; that their owners, indeed, 
ought all to be barbers and that the variety 
was unworthy to be shown in competition 
against the honest smooth, the latter being 
a genuine article, the former a spurious one, 
and so on ad infinitum. Some of this sort 
of exaggerated nonsense is still to be heard, 
and all that can be said about it is that if 
there is truth in it, if a wire-hair’s bad points 
can be hidden successfully in this way, it 
does not say much for the judges; for the 
slightest amount of handling by them 
would at once expose any such deception. 
A silly little stab—as silly and little as it 
can be—that has been given the wire-hair 
by secretaries of clubs and others, supposed 
to be fostering the breed, is that until 
quite recently they would insist upon de- 
scribing the variety under notice in their 
schedules, rules, etc., as “‘ rough ” instead of 
giving it its proper title, the one approved 
by the Kennel Club, and on its registration 
list, viz. ‘‘ Wire-hair.” Their coats, so 
said the traducers, were not entitled to the 
name, and the proper thing was to call them 
“Rough,” just as you do some Collies, 
St. Bernards, and Pomeranians. Despite 
the old maxim which concerns glass houses, 
stones, and people, the greatest difficulty 
has been experienced in putting this matter 
straight, but it is believed that with one 
exception this child’s work has died out. 
The fourth difficulty referred to—‘ The 
incompetency of gentlemen appointed 
to officiate as judges of the variety at 
several of the shows ”—has always been a 
stumbling block to the proper advancement 
of the wire-hair. People have often judged, 
and still frequently judge, the breed who, 
on their own showing, on the statements of 
their own lips, have no right whatever to do 
so. It is the writer’s belief that no person 
is competent to judge a terrier, especially 
one with a wire-hair coat, unless he has had 
many years’ experience in breeding and 
keeping dogs with this peculiarity. With- 
out this experience a judge cannot pick out 
the sound, honest-coated dog from the one 
who has had his coat prepared; he is 
therefore unable to do his duty in penalising 
THE NEW BOOK OF THE DOG. 
the wrong-coated dog to the advantage of 
the right one, and thus encouraging people 
in the keeping, breeding, and exhibiting of 
the latter, to the total exclusion of the 
former. On many occasions a gentleman, 
who, because he is a breeder and exhibitor 
of the smooth variety, has been invited, 
and agreed, to judge both varieties, has 
been heard to declare, after he has finished 
his smooths, that he wished to goodness he 
had not to judge the wire-hairs, as he knows 
nothing of them, hates the sight of them, 
and is sure he will make a mess of them. 
He is invariably, or nearly so, correct in 
this latter prognostication, and at times 
most ludicrous awards are made. The 
judge himself feels he is making a mess of 
them, gets into a terrible tangle, and, sad 
as it is to admit, falls back then upon the 
well-known exhibitors who happen to be 
exhibiting at the time, and almost, irre- 
spective of the points of the animals led in 
by them, awards them the plums. 
It must easily be seen how great a handicap 
this sort of thing is bound to be to any 
breed. There are several small breeders of 
the wire-hair in the United Kingdom who 
are trying hard to breed the bond fide 
terrier; they exhibit some very good 
specimens from time to time, and their 
disappointment and disgust at this sort of 
business is naturally very acute. In fairness 
to the judges as a whole it must be said that 
there are, of course, very many able and 
capable men among them; this being so, 
it is a great pity more care is not taken by 
show committees in selecting judges for 
wire-hairs, and they should not take it for 
granted that the smooth judge is invariably 
able to officiate also on the other variety. 
No one can possibly make a good job of 
judging a class of wire-hairs if he does not 
properly handle every exhibit. The re- 
marks one hears about “ putting their legs 
and feet in water,” to judge their points, 
are senseless and beside the question. If 
the judge will pass his hand down the legs, 
right to the end of the toes, he can—if he 
has any mous—find out everything he 
wants, everything that is there. Re- 
cently a case occurred at an important 
