KENNEL NOTES

Evening Star, Issue 21636, 3 February 1934, Page 23

KENNEL NOTES

[By Tail-wagger.]

A little dog that is going to make his presence felt if he is entered at show time is Miss Dawson’s Scottie pup. He was bred by Mr Taueher, of Ashurst, North Island, from Batanui Mac and Batanui Lorna. He is a brindle, and rejoices in the name of “ Sammy.” The Batanui kennels, from which he hails are about the biggest of their kind in the North Island, if not New Zealand. The owner, Mr Taueher, is an indefatigable breeder, turning them out with regularity, and nearly every one is a good one. “ Sammy ” bids fair to uphold the family reputation, and it is to be hoped that Miss Dawson will show him. Ho is a well-put-to-gether youngster, with good legs, ears, and tail, a good coat and nice dark eyes, which could he a trifle smaller and deeper perhaps. His mouth is just not quite level, but plenty of bones to chew at will, or should, cure that easily enough. At present be is wonderfully straight in front and plenty of exercise will keep him so. If he must be on a lead wheir out, let it be fastened to a collar, not this abominable harness, which is the surest known contraption for pulling a dog “ out at the elbows.” Little Sammy does not appear to have been afflicted with harness, fortunately. Another terrier of importance to arrive in this country is a Wire-haired Foxie for Mrs F. Wall, of the Mahaki kennels in Martinborough. This is the bitch Florate Fine Art by that great dog eh. Beau Brummel, of Wildoaks. One of her grandparents is the famous Talavera Simon, the sire of Mr W. M. Jack’s (Christchurch) fine dog Talavera Adonis, imported. Shortly after arriving at the Wallaceville quarantine station she whelped a litter of puppies, of both .sexes, to international gd. ch. Gallant Fox of Wildoaks. Fine Art has a splendid list of wins at Home to her credit, among them being a first in the novice class of twelve entries at the Glasgow championship show, at which show she also won the undergraduate (7) and graduate classes. With the Hock of imported dogs, bitches, and puppies already in her kennels, Mrs Wall must be holding about the strongest hand in these dogs in Australasia.

A wee puppy that is going to be very noticeable at the show, providing her owner can be persuaded to bench her, is Mrs Richardson’s Australian terrier. 'This baby is muck like her dam, rather better if anything, especially if her ears can be got right. A real little Aussie, with a good hard coat, she should be hard to put down when show time comes, although the chances are that she will change hands before then, and in all likelihood someone will get her who will not wish to show her, in which case their gain will be our loss. in the January issue of the ‘ Australian Dug and Cat Gazette ’ is a translation from the ‘ Zuchtwart ’ on ‘ Utility Breeding in Alsatians ’ that should be of interest to lovers of the breed. “ Students of breeding throughout the world are constantly reading the demand ‘ Away from type breeding and back to breeding for performance.' This is not meant for Alsatians only, but more or Jess for all utility breeds. It is quite openly stated that as you breed more and more for type only, so the adaptive value of the dog is decreasing. Since its inception the S.V. (Germany) has favoured the utility dog and has always stressed the importance of attaining the ideal dog, combining performance and beauty. “ An early philosopher said: ' Steminata quid faciunt,’ which means, in doggie parlance, ‘ The pedigree does not make the dog.’ He who lived in the first and second centuries after Christ tried to make a strict distinction between inherited and acquired characteristics, and probably was inclined to prefer the latter as essential for the making and development of the individuality.

“ Old fanciers may remember my article, which appeared about thirty years ago, when i commented upon the dreadful state of things in England. I prophesied that the breeding for type only, which was done with several breeds, must eventually affect their mentql qualities to such an extent that they (would be useless for practical work. It has happened as I predicted. The families that are bred for show purposes only have lost eye, nose, and ear. Even to-day the English breeders and their Continental buyers cannot see that breeding for performance can refine the utility dog, but never will breeding for outline make a utility dog. .” . . Their racehorses are bred for performances only, and to-day they represent the best that can be obtained in thoroughbreds. One has only to compare the pictures of famous racehorses of to-day with the champions of the middle of the last century to see how tremendously improved performance has - improved the outline. “ Such facts force the serious-minded breeder to take a stand against meddlers, aiul to employ his full innuence that the Alsatian has to be bred for performance above everything else. A good dog cannot have faulty angulation, and so the breeder who would have a faultless body, with a small mental capacity, and a dog which is not perfect, but with a far higher standard mentally, would certainly choose the latter, because through this way only is it possible to obtain the ideal dog with the necessary refinement of outline through higher performance.