FASHIONS IN DOGS

Evening Star, Issue 22327, 1 May 1936, Page 5

FASHIONS IN DOGS

GROWTH OF SHOWS “ There is nothing more commonly heard," wrote a clog breeder in the ‘Kennel Review ’ towards the close of last century, 11 than the pessimist cry that dogs shows are about piayedout,” says the ‘ Manchester Guardian.’ Looking back to the dogs before the foundation of the Kennel Club in 1873, he might remember how mongrelism prevailed among nearly all breeds outside the strictly sporting varieties of dog. This was inevitable, since virtually the whole of comraorcial dog breeding was in the hands of more or less disreputable dealers, men who were often ready to fake or steal a dog when it could not he legally come by.

The Kennel Club—that most exclusive and undemocratic association which has helped to popularise the dog throughout England by methods ot sheer autocracy—was amazingly quick to carve some- sort •of order out of chaos. One of the first acts was to draw up a stud book. Another was to classify 40 different breeds of dog. From the. .day of its foundation it fought tooth and nail to secure that all public shows should be held under its rules, - the object being to maintain strict registration, to prevent faking, mutilationand other'sharp practices which' had made dog-breeding disreputable,' and to guard 'the health of all dogs at shows. It was also willing to give - force to, any strong public feeling in favour of dogs or animals generally. It helped to put a stop to earcropping in .1889 and forbade exhibitors to bring .rabbits or other small live animals into the ring in order to excite competitors and make them look alert. ‘ MR CRUFT OPENS. Dog shows' which before 1873 had been generally held in bar parlours and smoking rooms, beban to find favour with women as well as men. In 1886 Mr Cruft held the first of his international shows. It was for terriers only, and there was an entry of 500. Each succeeding year Mr Cruft's show attracted more attention, and the shrewd publicity methods of this brilliant showman combined happily with the more conservative work of the Kennel Club to advance the cult of dog-breeding in public favour. By the end of last century dogs were being shown by people of every rank, from workmen to Queen Victoria, who showed Pomeranians and a collie, and the Prince and Princess of Wales, who exhibited; among other dogs, Skye terriers, clumber spaniels, Pomeranians, and borzois. Mr Cruft himself at this time was an ardent patron of several foreign breeds, and there is no doubt that by attracting prominent breeders from other countries to his celebrated shows he did much to bring alien dogs into favour. There has often been something rather comical in the -thoroughness with which English breeders have set to work upon the strangers honoured with their patronage. We know from contemporary remarks that the dachshund, brought over to this country in the middle of last century by the Prince Consort, and used by him for pheasant shooting in Windsor Forest, made a debut moderately ridiculous in the eye of the average British sportsman. Yet the qualities of this engaging little dog soon decided the English to take him up. Misled, however, by the notion that be was of “ hound ” type, they began forthwith to alter and improve his points to such purpose that by 1900 he had quite departed from the outlines of his German cousin. Fortunately a return to the original type was manoeuvred, and the dachshund of to-day is said to be nearer his slim prototype of 1850 than the rather bulgy animal of 1900. THE “MOUNT ST. BERNARD.” The “ Mount St. Bernard,” as he was sometimes called, was another wellpatronised stranger who underwent an island change. His immense popularity at the turn of the century seems to have been sprung partly from his own charms and partly from the romantic legends attaching to him in his native country of Switzerland. The disgust and contempt of certain English breeders was great when they discovered that the Swiss St. Bernard actually had no definable points, being required by his owners in “ that miserable little country of hotel keepers” fas one indignant Briton described it) to do his duty and look roughly like his parents. Worst of all, when an Englishman who had been at great pains to improve the breed took oyer some specimens to acquaint the Swiss with the strides that had been made on their behalf the latter impudently declared that, though very fine, the English version had the wrong sort of coat and was too big and, in short, was not a Mount St. Bernard at all.

Fashion in dogs is a. tricky thing. Sometimes it seems as irresponsible as fashions in clothes. The craze for Alsatians after the last war, the enthusiasm round about 1900 for collies that had been bred out of almost al] the homely charms of the wise working dog and looked instead like a cross between a borzoi and a fox, the mysterious decline during and after the war in the popularity of one of the most lively, affectionate, and intelligent of all breeds, the smooth-haired fox terrier—ail these movements of fashion seem more the result of whim than of any intrinsic quality or defect in the breed concerned. Mere fickleness, however, does not account for our preference to-day for the smaller varieties. Forty years ago Great Danes, large collies, St. Bernards, and borzois were the height of fashion. To-day we should plump for a Cairn,a Sealyham, a dachshund. These little ones do not get under our feet in the town dweller’s cramped house or flatlet. AA r e are always on the move, and the Cairn or Pekc folds up small in the back of the car or disappears in silent resignation under the seat of the railway carriage until it is time for him to be clutched under one arm, with bag and tennis racket, while we struggle to find onr ticket at the barrier.

Among the new comers are “ trail hounds from the noijh,” and Chesapeke Bay These are only the last of a long line of strangers that have made their bow before the Kennel Club since the Kennel Club drew up its first classification in 1873. But as the new favourites arrived some of the old timers began to disappear. How many people own Manchester terriers nowadays? AVhat has become of tht “ boule-dogue francai.s ” ? can one buy an old English terrier? In 1902 English terriers were struck off the Kennel Club’s list of breeds.