THE KENNEL

Hawke's Bay Tribune, Volume XXII, Issue 269, 28 October 1932, Page 4

THE KENNEL

THE ELKHOUND A HANDSOME DOG, I ■■ (By "Speed.’’) A breed of dog that I have always been fond of is the Elkhound, and I often think that if this breed had world-wide advertising instead of the Alsatian it would have better deserved universal popularity. It is a very ancient breed and while it has equal intelligence and endurance to the Alsatian and a higher courage, it does hot attack human beings. Elkhounds belong to the Pomeranian or Spitz group which includes Samoyeds, Kocshounds, Chow Chows, Pomeranians, Schipperkes and Alsatians, but they are more distinct in type. They have been used in Norway from earliest times for hunting bear and elk and the Russians used them for many purposes. The Vikings bred these dogs and that they go back to the Stone Ago was proved when the Viste Cave at Jaren in Norway was excavated, for amongst Stone Age implements and skeletons wore the skeletons of dogs identified by Professor Brinchman of the Bergen Museum aa Elkhounds, thus taking the breed back to 400 or 500 B.C. ,The Elkhound is a showy dog, a most companionable dog and his general appearance is a delight to the eye of the dog lover. In oar carriage and general alert bearing he is something like the .Alsatian but his average height is only 20J inches. The neck is short and thick, chest broad nnd deep back straight but not long. The coat is long and deep on the body with a dense woolly undercoat, the colour being grizzle in all its shades, grizzle brown, black brown or black, but the grey strain now predominates in England. The tail is thick and heavy and is carried curled .over the back. About the neck and front part of the chest the longer coat forms a sort of ruff which, with the ears pricked, the dark expressive eyes and the curled tail give the dog its unique and alert appearance. This dog has remarkable power of scent, a fact which hunters take advantage of in an unusual way, the' dogs being trained to indicate the direction in which deer or bear will be found within a distance of up to three miles. Elkhounds are also used to "point” to the neighbourhood of wild fowl and as tracking dogs they are superb. In some places they are used for transport or draught work for which their stamina well fits them. Averagely, a dog weighs about 401b5., but he is a very powerful, compact animal. At birth the pups are black, although the shoulder markings can be seen, and the eyes are blue, gradually turning to brown. The ears of the pups droop but become erect at six months, the change taking place between the second and the sixth month. Until about three months the top of the head is fawn. After three months the pups are like their parents but they do not reach maturity for three years. in 1923 the British Elkhound Society was formed and since then the breed has become more and more popular in England. One of the earliest dogs of note shown in England was Lady Catheart's Jaegar which seems to have set a standard type. Another great dog was Skoll which went back to Thora Woodbythia bred by Lady Irwin from her favourite Musti, ex Gerda, sister of that great champion Woden by Mrs. Soames’ dog Jansen. Thora Woodbythia's first litter contained no less than seven first prize winners, including challenge certificates for dog and bitch. Odin Woodbythia, a great show dog,- went back to Jaegar. Woden was probably the greatest elkhound ever seen in Britain. The Hollow strain has lately won much favour in England and this, I think, goes back to Woden. THE KEESHOUD. Another very attractive dog to which considerable attention is paid in show dog circles in England is the Keeshoud. He is of a smaller type than the Elkhound, the dog* standing but 18 inches high. This breed is the one from which the present day Pomeranian is descended, the “Pom’’ being the Keeshoud, skiffuly dwarfed, and this explains the inclusion of the Pomeranian in the Spitz group as the Keeshoud is the Deutsche Spitze, elsewhere known as the Wolfspitz. The derivation of the breed was traced by Leighton, one of the greatest cynologists in the world, back step by step through the dogs of Lapland, Siberia, Norway and Sweden to the Eskimo dog, the wolf’s first cousin. The Keeshoud is a very showy and stylish long-haired dog with tightly curbed tail and he is compact and nuggety in appearance, with dark eyes and. well defined “spectacles,” and small and well set on erect ears. His coat is dense and harsh and witfi dense ruff, the colour being wolf, ash grey or tawny. In Holland, nowever, there are blacks, whites and- greys, the -greys being subdivided into three shades, the silver grey, the ash grey and the Wolf grey. In Germany the three colours are accepted but there is no differentiation between .the greys, all of a grey colour being ' called Wolfspitz. The white breed is very common in France but in England only the grey is recognised. The puppies from the greys are bom a mofe colour, almost black, like Persian kittens, and at about a week old change to chinchilla grey, steel grey or tawny grey. At about the fourth day the flesh coloured nose begins to turn black. Very delightful bundles of mischief the Keeshoud puppies are and few dog lovers can pass them by without notice. The best Keeshoud at Crufts’ Show in 1929 was Ado the Thierstein, winner of many prizes in both England and Holland. He was a son of Geron Am Ziel, a great Continental champion. All the Keeshoudeu with the kennel prefex Guelder were of the Ado v. Thierstein strain and were bred by Mrs W. E. Gataere, a well known English authority on the breed. Both the Elkhound and the Keeshoud are used to draw little carts. Tn Continental countries dogs are greatly used in harness but this is not permitted in Britain. They are both lovable eompanions and excellent watch dogs and they are decided acquisitions to our lists of kennel friends.