NOTES BY TERROR.

Otago Witness, Volume 11, Issue 2280, 11 November 1897, Page 40

NOTES BY TERROR.

• .• The Auckland show appears to have been a very successful fixture, about 200 dogs being benched. Among what may be classed as local exhibitors I notice that Messrs Brodie and Dunlop took first and special in cockers (dogs and bitches) with Waihopai Signal, and in open class Waihopai Daiker took first. These were the only exhibits sent by this firm, and I learn that Daiker is to remain in Auckland, having found a purchaser there. • . * Waihopai Dacker, another of Messrs Brodie and Dunlop'a cocker spaniels, remains in- Wellington in the bandß of a purchaser there. •„ • The death of Sir Everett Millais, the eldest son of the late great painter, at the early age of 42, will come with a shock to all up-to-date fanciers in these colonies who have followed the late scientific breeder's record. The amount of information he has supplied on caniology will keep bis name fre*h and .respected for many years to come. " The Problems of Reproduction" and "Rational Breeding" are most valuable treatises. His numerous articles, . reviews, and retrospects are faithful indices of a master mind, and one that has been taken away $M too soon. He

sneceeded his great father, Sir John Hillais, in the baronetcy last year, and leaves a sod, John Everett, aged eight, and his widowed mother to mourn their loss. Sir Everett Millais was tbe first to introduce Basset hounds and Dachshunds into Ea«l*nd, and wai, up to the time of his death, the acknowledged authority on these breeds. All the modem works on the dog quoted extensively, or were supplied directly with, articles from his pen, aud it is not too much to say he was a scientist of a century. His latest achievement was the successful introduction of the bloodhound blood into the degenerating B**sct hound, with a view of resuscitating the weakened blood and constitution of the latter, feats which he so successfully accomplished. His withdrawal from the Kennel Club some years ago' was caused through his failing to carry a pet scheme in the canine assembly — viz., the thorough disinfecting of dog bcneb.es after every show. His system of inoculation for distemper he thoroughly proved. Artificial fecundation in the dog bo aleo successfully carried out. He was one of the founders of the British Fanciers' Journal, also Our Dogs, ani was on the directorate of the Utter at the time of his demise. He frequently acted as judge, and in thi-j capacity did so once in New Zealand, early. in the eighties, when on a health-recruiting trip. As a writer he stood cut prominently, and his works will be valued »s long as the "dog exists. — Melbourne Sportsman.

• . * At the September meeting of the Kennel Club a petition was considered from the National Bull-terrier Club asking that a clause be inserted fo the following effect among the ••Exceptions" to the Ktnnel Club's regulations for preparing dogs for exhibition : — " Baitterriers n>»y have the hair remored from the under side of the tail." The petition*, rs statrd :: — '* (1) Not the slightest pain or inconvenieuoe is inflicted on the dog by this practice. (2) Such preparation is necessary for the smart appearance which is so essentially a characteristic of a typical bull-terrier, as wssoing for exbibition makes the dog's stsrn very ragged, and in regard to those specimens at present on the bench iho periodical clipping has greatly strengthened Ihe growth of hair, with ttee result that in the untrimmed state many of the* c dogs have tail^ resembling the brush of a fox. (3) The practice has been a general one for many years — no secret whatever in made' in regard to it, and, consequently, by so fining his dogs' tails no bull-terrier fancier takes an unfair advantage of his fellows. If, however, such preparation is in future to be contidered an offcnee, many fanciers will abandon it ; but others will continue to trim tails in such a way as practically to defy detection, and therefore in this particular breed the consequences of the new rules will be the very opposite to those intended." After considerable discussion, the committee decided to accede to the petition. • , * AMelbouraeeontemporary thus comments on the foregoingdecision : — The English Kennel Club has accedtd to the request of .the National Bull-terrier Club to the effect that bull-terriers may have their hair removed from the underside of the tail. Bull- terrier brtedere contend that -it adds much to- the smartness of the exhibits, and as it causes no p*in it 'should be allowed. The 'decision, however, lets in the tbin edge of the faking wedge, and being' a reveival of a previous decision, shove's that at times even the Kennel Club of England otn be week. It detracts much from the interest of breeding dogs for show if they are to bench*d, not as Nature forms, but as man manipulates tbem.

' . • The following information about the " bearded sheep dogs " will be read with interest: The "bearded "collie — or." be&rdiee," as they.are sometimes ca'led (advertised at the head of this column by Blest*' s Alnn and Cuthbertson) — if, it is said, practically ident : cal with the bobtailed sheepdog, the difference being his possession of a tail. He is, says Vero SUaw, "* qnaint pic'urefque-lookiag animal, brimful of intelligence, a capital companion^ and a most valuable worker amongst sheep and cattle." Though "picturesque, he is by no means a pretty animal, his coat consisting of long shaggy lock*, each lock or tuft of hair apparently bent on following an obstinately independent course of its own. 16 was said that ia the severe winter of 1895, when tv great mauy smoot h-co&ted sheepdogs perished, the " beardiea " survired uninjured.' According to Rawdon Lee, it is impossible to determine from which part of the United Kingdom there' dogs originally came, various countries claiming original possession. " Idstone," a writer quoted by Mr Rawdon Lee, bowever, reFers to him as th<* EngHsh sheepdog. Dr Ker, another autb!ority quoted by the same author, thus writes of this breed : —

• . • •' Many hundred years ngo, when our island was principally primeval forest, with but few clearings, it must necessarily have been infented witk volvee, bears, aqd the les«er British carnivorse, and to protect the flocks and herds it matt have beeu requisite to have a arge and powerful ,ddjf, t aWe to cope with *uch formidable and destructive foes, able to undergo any amount of fatigue, and with a jacket to withstand all vicissitudes of weather, for his avocation was an everyday one. Day and night, and in all weathers, tvrs he watching and battling with heat and storm and marauding foes. What other dog but the old English sheepdog possesf es attributes necessary for the nrnltif arious duties urged upon such a business P There we find the sagacity, tho activity, enduting strength, the dauntless courage, and the weatherproof jacket combined to such a degree in no other British dog. His origin is lost in the dim obscurity of buried centuries. To my mind his antiquity and concentration of purity of strain are fully ehown in the fact tbat if there be a strain of old English sheepdog blood mary generations back in any breed of dog you may stake your life that a typical specimen will every cow and again ihow itself in the litter produced by utterly disiimilar breeds, no matter whether it be a retriever, lurcher, spaniel, or cur of low degree. I have known it occur in many instances, and have owned first-class sheepdogs whose parentage would make one's hair stand on end with amazement at the fearful incongruity of its component parts. Apparently not one drop of sheepdog blood for generations, and yet there is the unmistakable youngster — sometimes tailless, more of test with a 3in stump — brought into the world, jet black, with, his characteristic white msrkiDg*, and in a. few weeks, 'chameleon-like, he gradually assumes the silvery lilac livery of his ancient Britiih ancestors, and makes his bow to the public as a pigeon blueand white English sheepdog, ' breeder and pedigree unknown.' Does not all this point to his ancient purity — this powerful concentration of janguinity which is irrepressible ? One sees many theories put forward with regard to his tailless heritage, but I am convinced that originally nothing but a sport, this peculiarity has been carefully selected by shepherds and stockmen, who preferably bred from a naturally tailless strain to save themselves tbe trouble of docking their dogs, and so rendering them exempt from the penalties of the forest lawt. With regard to the sagacity of this breed, I consider it has few equals, and certainly no superior. In a large dairy farm I know of there is a dog which will fetch up individual cowa as they are required to be milked, distin-

gutahiDg those which ho tuts already fetched np and after being milked are allowed to mix with the rest of the herd. When quite a lad I remember seeing an old grizzle and white sheepdog lying outside a farmhouse here in Suffolk which three weeks or a month before was purchased in Dumfries. He worked a herd ot bullocks all the way from his Scottish home to the eastern comer of Suffolk by-road. After remaining comfortably for a fortnight in his new quarters one day he was missing, and no tidings could be gleaned of him iv the neighbourhood. And no wonder, for within the week his Suffolk purcbassr received a letter informing him that the old dog was safe back iv Damfriea. This incident occurred to Me Edmund Tye, of the Moat Farm, Dallinghoo, Suffolk, who was my informant. . . .

" I admire a heavy coat on the show bench, for there ought to be a superabundance of jacket to allow for wear- and tear in the bushes when at work, but let us carefully avoid anything that approaches Ihe curlinesß ot the poodle. Steer clear of big ears and curly coats, but do not go to the contrary extreme and get an absolutely straight coat. An old English sheepdog's coat should be shaggy, and all I can liken it to is that peculiar style of growth of hair frequently seen on a clod-hopping countryman's head — in a word, shock-headed ; one lock "growing this way, and another that way ; no carl, but a sort of head you could wipe your' boots on ! I remember, as quite a boy, that the generality of old English sheepdogs' were grfy or blue in colour with wbito feet, and white head and neck."

*." Southland papers tell of a "solitary dog" which has been roaming for a long time in the wild country between Waiau and Preservation Inlet. It has bean seen by a good mauy people, but could not be enticed or oapturrd. Mr Bites, a resident of laveruargill, hac, however, at lesb succeeded iv ensnaring him, and has conveyed him to town. Ho is said to be a rather nice-looking animal and not at all savage, but bfta lob the canine instinct to follow a m»n, and has to be led. Mr C. Campbell has photographed the vagrant, which has been roving about the dreary district for a long time, as previous parties have seen him. • . • A cocker puppy Bent by Mess-B Brodie and Dunlop to Wilson River (Preservation Inlet) met its death in a very tragic manner. It appears that "my noble" wa3 one day disporting himself outside the hut of his owner when he came across — by no means an unfamiliar object in the country — an empty meat tin, and it is reported tha + ., after a few preliminary suspicious *n'ffa and sundry skirmishes around, be ultimately fiuished up by rolling it to the edge of a cliff, over winch he ultimately followed it into the angry billows below, no doubt with his nose inside the tin. He was too absorbed, in his efforts to reach some scraps of meat at the bottom, to be aware of his proximity to danger.

• . •Mr R. S. Kingston hhs taken to the fancy once mor<\ Ho is goiog ia for collies, having purchased a very promising puppy by Heather Pluck ex R^-ne.— Southland New«.

- ■ . ' The bulldog aud bull-te'rier imported from England by Mr Massey in the steamer Waikato some time ago were releesed from quarantine at Lytteltoa on Saturday afterneon.

• . *Mr James Robertson's black cocker Cora visited Mr Richmond^ Jack at Oamaru recently, and witb' ordinary .luck Mr Robertson should have something, good for (he show bench from this union. Jack is .by Jack Obo from Squaw. He is a little heavier than Cora, but possesses fine quality. ■ . * According • o the London Daily Mail, a collie has recently lienn the means of saving the lives of the occupauts of a mission station in Rhodesia. At 4 a m., iv July la*t, the station was attacked by native "witch doctors," but the dog gave timely warning <o the three occupants, who were cons quently prepared, and drove off their assailants. The faithful do; was, however, assegaied by the savages and died.

* . * The smallest electrician in the world is a fox-terrier named Strip, belonging to a firm of electric light engineers in London. She is only 3£ years of ngc, and her business is to carry the wires through the narrow tubes which connect the dynamos at tbe central, station with the private houses, which duty she performs with the greatest t kill and quickness never faiHog to find her way through the most intricate passages.

* . • An amusing illustration of the sour uqreftßonablenesa of the exacting exhibitor was supplied in the office at Birkeaht ad on the morning of the first day («a\s the Stockkeeper). Enter gentlemanly-looking person, demanding to see the secretary "forthwith," his basinets beingof aeerious and urgent character. Shown in by obsequious clerk, who took the viaifcor for a Queen's messenger at least. Tfce important personage explains that he has entered his dog in a cl*Bß which he finds on his arrival at tho show contains several other exhibits, and all better thatfhisown; Consfquently,he desires to transfer his entry to another clas*, in which there are only two competitors and three priz-s, and demanded that the change should be made with despatch, so that the judge might be advised betimes.

. • A dog with an interesting history has just died in France. He was a Newfoundland named Sultan, aud he connted among hi b exploits the arrest of a thief, the capture of an assassin, the rescue of a child from drowning in the Marne, and of a mau who attempted to commit suicide by jumping from the Pont-N«uf into the Seine. For this gallantry the Society for the Protection of Animals presented him with a collar of honour three years ago. Latterly Sultan was owned by the Comtesso Foucher de Careil, who" relied on him to protect her cattle at Perdy, near Corbeil. Quite recently he prevented the castle from being robbed. The noble dog has paid his devotion to duty with his life, for he was found dead in the park, poisoned by his enemies.