KENNEL NOTES

New Zealand Times, Volume XXIX, Issue 6384, 5 December 1907, Page 2

KENNEL NOTES

(By "Fitzroy.”) Mr F. J. Kipping, who is well known in London bull-terrier circles, in ado a sliort stay in Sydney recently, in.s fea voyage v.vik taken for LealtL reasons, and ho ki iiov.' on his way Home ojjain. He has bred many good bull-terriers, and jud'-'c/l the brood at important Enghs.a *hows. Among <log« of note from his kenncU may be mentioned Champion Delphinium’ Wild, liminm Wild, Trinity Fing, Trinity Dan, Trinity Spitfire, and Dervdemor.a. Mr Kipling veiled *omo Sydney bnlltc’nier kepnelo He is of opinion that special ettmitkm should be given to Shorter bee I:--, t trou;;n- bone, and gj-oalrr lav/ power iu bulMvrneie. he *-.aw W. MdU>rT Bracvide Duke ami Hraeside Violet, the latter of which boat the former for the elmllengc cerlifieelc at the last Kennel Club --how. UnSie Ue considers a litFc long in coupling*?, but idrong in muzzle, and a better terrier than Violet. An imported bull-terricm should soon arrive in Sydney, aa Mr Miller has bought the FngH-'h dog" Coburn Prince, wanner of two first prizes at Altrincham show. TSiis dog is* a eon ci : the well-known Kingdom Wild, and he should do good iu Sydney, where new bull-terrier blood is badly wauled.

The English Kennel Chib’s annual show, which was hold at the end of October in the Crystal Palace (London), attracted no less than 3505 entries. This is a record number. The entries at the Kennel Club’s shows during the past seven rears were; In 1000, 11175; 1901, 2147; 1002, 2837; 1903, 2802; 1904. 3210; 1905, 3503; 1806, 3320. The number of entries

received this year for the various breeds were as follow; —63 Airedale lerncii'. 15 bafisothounds, 16 beagles, 33 Bedlnigton terriers, 10 black-and-taii terriers, 4 black-and-ta n terriers (miniature). s‘bloodhounds, 54 Borzois, 45 boulcdogues Francais. 95 bulldogs, 25- bulldogs (miniature), 61 bull-terriers, 52 chow chows, 6b rollies (rough), 43 collies (smooth), 160. dachshunds. 10 Dalmatian®, 97 daudio dm•Y»onfc terriers, 41 deerhounds, 10 foreign ■logs, IS4 fox-terriers (smooth), 141 fox.erriers (wire), 78 great Danes, 19 greyhounds, 23 griffon bruxelloie, 10* Irian terriers, 42 Irish wolfhounds, 12 Italian greyhounds, 53 Japanese spaniels, 13 Maltose, 10 mastiffs, 50 Newfoundlands, 44 O.E. sheepdogs, 5 otterhounds, 136 Pekingese, 34 pointers, 259 Pomeranians. 38 poodles, 1 113 pugs, 41 retrievers (curly), 71 retrievers (fiat), £6 retrievers (Labrador), 64 St. Bernards, 76 Schipperkcs, L 3 Scottish terriers, 81 setters, 50 Skye terriers, 147 spaniels, other than Cocker and springers, 107 spaniels (Cocker), 22 spaniels (English springers), 26 eponioteWelsh springers). 104 toy spaniels, 46 Welsh terriers, 83 IVest Highland white terriers, 33 whippets, 45 Yorkshire terrier*. Forty-two judges officiated, and there were twenty judging rings.

In answer to “Brunsclon." —A bitch requires the same food up to say, a week before whelping, when all bone* should bo withdrawn, and sloppy nourishing food given.

Mr W. Cockbill, of Melbourne, is getting out a collie bitch for the next P. and K. Club show. Mr J. H. Connell, another Victorian fancier, once famous as tho owner of champion Jonathan cjkl other mastiflt?, has just imported King Charles and Blenheim spaniels, and Mr W. Beilby has lately secured two weiibred fox terriers. Concerning the lastnamed pair tho “Australasian” writes “Wenslcy Dale, tho fox terrier, are quarantined at the owner's kennels, South Varra (Melbourne). Both of the adults landed in first-rate health, bnt in light condition. The puppies, as is frequently the caso with eh ip whclpinge, were rather weakly. The dog is a remarkably fine terrier, a little smaller than any ot the recent importations. He has the legs and front of several ot hie illustrious ancestors, and has what is familiarly known in fox-terrier circles as a D’Oreay head. He hat; bct-idcs rare bone, short body, deep chest, and a remarkably good coat, beautiful lv Eet up behind. His sire, Darley D;do, is a well-known winner and a successful sire, bred by Mr F. Redmond, and carries tho blood of many oi that celebrated breeder's best dogs. In the male line it reads—Darloy Dale, by Champion Dukedom, by Dreadnought; ■the latter was the sensation of his year, and universally admitted to bo one of the best fox-terrier dogs ever owned by Mr Redmond, and was invincible until overtaken by distemper, which ended his show career.”

Wonsley Halo’s dam is by Champion D'Orsay ox Schoolmistress, by Champion Dominie. Aster, which arrived with Wonsley Dale, is quite a young bitch, and has not been shown. She is much lighter than the dog, but excels ip quality, character, and stands very true. Her father, Tho President, is one of the coming sires, his first round of puppies doing remarkably well. He is by Champion Oxonian, ex Champion The Sylph, the latter England’s champion of champions in fox terriers, whilst Oxonian is in the very front rank of show dogs, and is tho premier English sire. These importations should he" of great value to their respective races in Victoria.

“Spoorblatt”'relates an amusing siory in reference to the recent visit to Ger- \ many of the King of Siam. During his stay the Eastern potentate celebrated with usual pomp and circumstance his biithday. Whilst the guest of Emperor William, the King of Siam had seen and been, heard to admire two small Dachshunds, which are the Emperor's inseparable companions, The Emperor thereupon planned a surprise, and ordered It Dachshunds to be selected and sent to the King of Siam, with the request to choose the two which ho liked best. The King was delighted with this. expression of Emperor William’s friendship, and replied that the 14 dogs wore nil so excellent that he could not see any difference, and had therefore decided to keep the lot. THE ENGLISH SETTER. Few dogs which the show benches are more admired than English setters, and those who are looked upon as professional exhibitors, according tcT F, 0. Hignett (an English expert), .hare not been slow to recognise the fact that when a really good young dog makes its appearance it is a formidable rival amongst all other breeds when the special prizes come to be allotted. The same authority goes on to sav that if there be any truth, in the old saving that variety is charming the attribute must pertain to this breed, for they are of almost every conceivable colour, from pure white, which is exceptional, to all black, Probably

what arc l; r ,ow;t as the bluc-tickcd variety are the favourite colour, though they have verv little advantage over the lemon and orange coloured.

To!lowing is the latest standard of points issued by tho English bettor C 'llead —The head should be ’ong and le’-n with well-defined ctop. The skull ovci-’ f‘-oni oar to oar. chewing plenty of brain room, and with a well-defined occipital protuberance. The muzzle inoc'oratelv deep and faiilv square: from t!io stop to the point of the nose should be long, the nostrils wide, and tho laws of nearly equal length; Hews not too p-pcmlous. The colour of the nose slv'i’l'l be black, or dark, or light liver, according to the colour of the coat. ■The cvm should be bright, mild and intelligent and of a dark hazel colour, the darker the better. The oars of moderule length, set on low and hanging in neat folds close to the cheek; the tin shoul‘l be velvet'-, the upper part clol.ied with fine siiky hair. Neck.—The. neck should be rather long, muscular, and lean, slightly arched at the crest,' and clean cut where it ioinss tho head; towards the shoulder it should ],-> larger and very muscular. not throaty with an pendulosity bdpw the throat, but elegant and blood-like in apoearauce. Body.—The body should be of moderate length, with shoulders well set back or oblique; back short and level; loins wide, slightly arched, strong and muscular. Chest' deep in the brisket, with good round widely-sprung ribs, deep in the back ribs—that is, well ribbed up. Legs and feet.—The stifles should bo well "bent and ragged, thighs long from hip to hock. The forearm big and very muscular, the elbow well let down. Pasterns short, muscular and straight. Tho

feet very close and compact, and well protected by hair between the toes. Tail.—Tho taie: should bo set on almost in a line with the back; medium length, not curly or ropy, to be slightly curved or scimitar —shaped, but with no tendency to turn upward*; the itag or feather hanging in long pendant flakes; the feather should not commence at the root but slightly below, and increase m length .to the middle, then gradually taner off towards tho end; and the hair long, bright, soft and silky, wavy but not curly. . . Coat and feathering.—The coat from tho back of the head in a line with tho oars ought to b? slightly wavy, long and silky, which should be tho cats© with the coat generally; the brooches and forelegs, nearly down to tho leot, should be well feathered. Colour and markings.—The colour may be either black and white, lemon and white, liver and white, or tri-colour that is, black, white, and tan; those without heavy patches of colour but .flecked all over preferred. * . In an article on the English Setter, published in "Our Dogs" (September. i9uo>, Air Theo. Marples, the writer favours only a slight “stop" (or indentation between the eyes). Mr Mar plea says;—“Briefly, the English Setter is throughouti a symmetrically built/ dog. He should have a long telescopic head, with but little ‘stop,' equate muzzle, rather narrow skull, showing a distinct occipital development, yet not too proiiounccU. Ears small and set on low; eyes medium in sizo and full of intelligence, with a nice j soft expression. The neck should be slightly arched, of good length, finishing in obliquely set and well-laid-back shoulders. The body should be comparatively short, and ribs well sprung. Two common defects in English Setters are flat sides and loose-Jy-placed elbows. ' The former is always an indication of want of heart room, mid cannot be tolerated, but the latter docs not always imply want of galloping power. The out-at-elbows formation in the brersd is no doubt hereditary, and may in eome degree have been brought about in the dog's ancestors by his natural crouching habit iu the field. Idced, for 1 actual work, and this mode of prosecuting it, which is natural in the Setter, it is a moot question whether an o-ut-at-eibow formation is not h distinct formation. Ii is a requisite in. tho bulldog to enable him to get down to his ‘game,' and why should not the Better be bo facilitated, sine© it is the dog's natural mode, of approaching and ‘setting' hi® ganser 1 On the show bench such a formation, however, in both cases ii discourag.d, but straight forelegs are indispensable in a good specimen. The stifle® should be well bent, and hocks well let down. Standing broadside, an English Setter should appear a little taller at tho shoulder than at the rump, or slightly giraffc-like in architecture. His high poise of head, like that of the Pointer, is peculiar to these two breeds, and so is the pose of his hindquarters, another characteristic peculiar to the breed. He. should stand in a slightly crouching attitude behind something like a cat about to spring on its prey The coat of the English Setter should be flat, and the legs and tail well feathered. The latter should be short and carried straight out from its root. The eyes should lie hazel in colour, a light or gooseberry eyo m any sporting breed being objectionable. In breeding, the main points to guard against are Jong backs, flat, sides and snip.v muzzles, which always heavily handicap dog in the show ring, ami denote want of pace and scenting dower iu the field. Tor hie, size the Biiglish oAter is rather low in stature, mtro so than tho Pointer, and averageo in deieHt from -lolbs to 601bS, bitches invariably being u few pounds smaller than Hogs. ’ In the book "How to Choose a Dog/' bv Vero Shaw (brought up to date. late, bv Thro. Marples), reference to the English Setter is made as follows: "In tho opinion of many, the English Setter is the most beautiful breed

of dog in existence, and unquestionably the symmetry of bis outline and luxurious silky coat combine to render his appearance most attractive. He is, moreover, a very companionable dog, and, when properly trained, his services to sportsmen are inestimable, his trcll-Dadd-cd feet rendering him extremely heiniiil when stony ground has to be negotiated. The setter, however, is a dog that requires a good deal of water when at work, a fact which should net he lost sight of by those who intend to avail themselves of his services. “Points.—Head of good length, narrower behind the ears than in front of the same, tho muzzle falling away, or rather chiselled out below the eyes, but blunt and a. tritle raised at the note, which should be large and either black or liver in hue, according to the colour cf the dog. Eyes of nice size, dark and intelligent looking. Kars set on low, cf good length, lying Hat to the head, and showing a fringe of hair at the edge;. Ixeck of good length and slightly curved, shoulders sloivug, and chest deep rather than wide. —lody, ribs well sprung, back and loins muscular, iiio latter a little arched, lore legs moderately long, straight, and fringed with silky hair down to the ground. I'eet rather large and well , padded. Hind legs very 'much bent at stiiles. Tail rather short, with plenty of hair and carried with a slight curve. Coat silky, flat not curly, and luxuriant. Colours blue and white, orange and white, black and white, and sometimes all black and all white, but the latter colours axe very uncommon now. Points to look for in a puppy six weeks old: A long head, fairly long neck, sloping shoulders, straight forelegs, and short tail. Points to look for in a puppy six months old: A long narrow head, cars well back and sot on low, straight legs, compact thick-soled feet, sloping shoulders and a short straight tail/'

Th© English setter, fifteen years ago, waa a slightly different animal to the present day specimen, but it is interesting to note in the following excellent treatise the large number of distinctive features of the English setter of 1802, which aro retained in the present dog. According to ‘‘Stonehenge” (J. W. Walsh, lato editor of “The Eider'), all the various breed* of the setter are doubtless descended from the spaniel, •which dog has a natural propensity to pause before springing on liis 'game. ''Stonehenge** in 1622 wrote; “Tiiis xiGculiarily ha© been encouraged and developed until the innate point has become established, and tiro better puppy, if well bred, may be expected 10 point game on the lixst or second time of showing it to him, or, if very ‘ high-couraged, as soon as ho finds he cannot run it down by speed. In iho early days, after the breed was first established, it was used solely by the falconer and* nottcr, who were cemented with any animal which would find birds, and setiing down on the ground, would allow the net to be drawn over him, or the hawk to be cast off, without moving, {since the introduction of the plan of shooting flying, a faster and stouter dog has become necessary, and one also which will bear the heats of August and September. Hence the object of the breeder has been to get rid of the thick curly coat of tho spaniel on the body of the setter, and at the same time to retain, and even improve upon, the elegant feather beneath, the tall, or flag, as it is called, and behind the legs. The English setter is longer and more open in his frame than tho pointer, and has a proportionally longer stride in all his paces. He is capable of harder work than that dog, and as his toes are clothed with hair in tho intervals between them, he is not so liable to become "footsore,” either from very dry or very wet ground. In regard to his nose, there is much difference of opinion, but X am inclined to believe that the setter has a slight advantage in this respect. When well bred, the setter is as easily broken, as a pointer, to tho point and back, but he is seldom quite as tractable in regard to tho other elements of his education, and is, moreover, more apt to forget his lessons than his smooth competitor in tho shooting field. Thcsd remarks,’however, apply more to the Better of the early prat of this century than to the dog of tho present day, which is a groat improvement upon his ancestors. The head of th© English setter is lighter than the pointer is, and narrower across the ©are, out equally high at th© forehead. Th© nose is long, and shows a slight tendency to fall inwards towards the eyes, , the corners of’ which should bo not lees than four inched from its tip. This : should b© broad, with large open • nostrils. well bedewed with moisture, and •of a dark colour. Teeth level, add without the slightest tendency to the “snipe” form. Lips full at the angles, but not pendulous, even to th© extent allowable in tho pointer. Ears must bo about six inches long, set on low and -well forward, carried without any approach to the prick ©hap©, and rounded at th© lower edges. Eyes largo, but not protruding, and beaming - with love of approbation and intelligence. Neck- long, thin, and slightly ■' arched aliove, but showing » clean-cut line where it joins the bead. . Value of theso point© (according to tho now extinct National i)og (Jlub); —Head, 10; nose, 10; nock, 5; ears, s—total,5 —total, 30. In frame and outline, though different to the eye of the judge from that of the pointer, cannot be separated from the latter, by any verbal description, except that the chest is rarely bo wido or barrelled as is allowable in that dog. Tho hips are almost more Tagged and the loins ©lightly more arched. 'These points are:—Shoulders and chost, 15; back and hind quarters, 15—-total, 30 points. In tho foot and logs also tho remarks on the pointer are equally applicable, but there is some difference of opinion a© to the harefoot, which by many is considered to be necessary to tho thorough-bred setter, sin this shape the toes ar© longer than in tho cat-foot, more split up, and thickly clothed with strong hair between the toes. No doubt this last feature is of great service In keeping the skin free from inflammation when’ at work over marshy ground, but tho long toes which usually attend this development do not stand so well as th© stout cat-like formation of th© Other foot. It is somewhat difficult to strike the balance between these feet, as one form is best suited to wet ground and tho other to hard. If it is possible to get tho catlike foot with sufficient hair upon it, I should no doubt prefer that fonn, and though I have never Been the two fully united I do not despair of getting thorn by careful breeding. Legs and feet, 12; elbows, hock, and stifles, 8. In the general quality or character there is a similarity to tho pointer, but tho “stem” or ‘’‘flag” (tail) varies a good deal. It should be‘set on well up the back, but not carried with the slightest curl over it, though there may be a gentle and regular ©weep in ite upperoutline. Tho feather (of th© tail) should be flat, long, and silky, deep in tho centre and tapering to each end- This should b© as pointed in the pointer, and chould be carried in the same perpendicular plan© a© the rest of the Ang without the slightest approach to the “corkscrew” form. Total value, 10. The coat must be fine and silky, but still eomowbat hard to the touch, a combination that can only be felt and not imagined- There must bo little or no curl, while the shorter it is on the body, and the longer in the feather, the better for th© value of the dog. Value is conjunction with symmetry, 10.

The order of merit of the various colours met with is as follows, viz.: - First, orange and white, with, freckled nose and logs; second, orange and white, plain- third, lemon and white; fourth, black and white, specially if ticked slightly with tan snots on feet and legs, known as "Belton Greys’’; fifth pure white; sixth, black; seventh, fallow and Yellow; eighth, liver, or liver ana white; ninth, liver and tan.