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Otago Witness, Issue 2244, 4 March 1897, Page 37

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• . *It is a very long time fiince I heard anything about tbe Dunedin Poultry, Dog, &c. Society. I doubt very much whether they have met since the annual meeting. * . * Seeing that other societies throughout the colonies are busy preparing for theu* annual shows, surely it is time for the local society to be at least in evidenoe. ' . • In view of the apparent torpidity of the society, I am reminded that my remarks re the suitability of the new Agricultural Hall for show purposes are a little •' too previous." Let us hope that the executive will ere long be on the move and showing themselves all the more vigorous for their long rest. • . • Skye terrier fanciers will perhaps welcome the news that Mr W. G. Borrm, a Victorian fancier, has bsen cabled from London aa follows :—": — " There has been shipped by the steamship Thermopylte the Scottish terrier His Royal Highnens. He was whelped September 189^, and won first Belfast and second Bristol 1895," and is sire of the puppy Alexander M'Gregor, who won two firsts at the last Kennel Club show at the Crystal Palace 1896. I have not had time to look up the fanciers' papers as to his other wins or his description. He was purchased for me by Mr Neil Gow, of Perth, ScotUnd, from Mrs W. B. Hall, Blairgowrie, and is a blackooloured dog." ' . • I learn that some Aucklanders propose sending dogs to compete at the New South Wales Kenuel Club's show in June next. It is to be hoped that the dogs sent will meet some Victorian as well as N.S.W. exhibits, and do credit te their owners. I am still bearing in mind the uncomplimentary remarks made by Victorian fanciers upon the exhibits at the lato Auckland show. • • "Terrier" asks: — "Oace more, what are Canterbury fanciers doing ? Is Christchurch not to have a dog dab ? She ought to be able to boast a strong one. And surely the defunct Chriatchurch society is not still allowed a delegate on the New Zealand Kennel Club." I make no comment re this, but will patiently wait some signs of life on the part of the Dunedin Society. .• . Considering that Mr Alf . Matthews'* English setter slut Mittagong Bang had had to travtl to Victoria to meet Mr D. C. Morpeth's Champion Richmond, it was rather hsrd luck to lofe three dogs from the litter reported last week. However, I wish the plucky fancier every luck with his solitary dog and five slut pups. I hear that they are at present all doing well. " . * I have received the first eight numbers of " Wideawake ! and Exchange and Mart," a new weekly, to be devoted to the interests of poultry, pigeon, and dog fanciers. Iv tbe 14 quarto pages which constitute each number there is every evidence that the publishers iatend to provide matter of interest, not only to the fancier proper, but to the fancier family, old and young. In welcoming the newcomer, I wish it all the success that a smart, wideawake periodical deserves. • . • The following letter, in reply to a paragraph of mine last month, ia from one evidently possessing very decided views on the subject. I should be glad to hear from others before again discussing the matter :—": — " Reahon collies for working sheep. I think what you say on this head is a bit off. For instance, there are three reasons against mating & prize-taker at sheep dog trials with Pearl of Cree : 1. Dogs which take prizes, and deserve them too for show work, are often fit for nothing else. I know one dog which scores highly every trial, but that is the only work his owner gets out of him in the 12 months. 2. The act of crossing snch a dog with Pearl of Cree might possibly affect her future products. 3. Ifc is a fact, as absolute as unpleasant, that real tip-top all-round dogs do not beget pups worthy of themselves. Any shepherd will swear to this. Mind, a good dog will now and again reproduce himself — in appearance fairly often, and_ in working qualities less freaueatly. This is tbe oxcention to the rale.

To my mind the only way to find out if the progeny of show collies will work is to give away a pup or two. I believe they could be operated on to prevent reproduction without removing their animal propensities. If pedigree pups could be so dealt with, and one were given to a fairly good man to take out on the hills, that would be a fair test as fat as that individual pup went. Think for a moment how maoy pups are kept till say from seven to 15 months and then shot. You may go over a litter as carefully as you like, and then pick the woet dog. Most chaps like a dark eye, and broad, bluff forehead — and so on. Well, pick one with these characteristics, and you mt.y have the worst of the lot. It is the case of the ugly duckling. In a litter of six got by a good dog out of a better bitch I have seen rouen excitement over picking the first five, the sixth no one would take, so he stayed on the station. Tbe others were shot within the year, and the unchosen one turned out a dandy ! " As regards the working of pedigree dogs, I should say their weak spoc would be want of bardnest, both in nature and constitution. This idea may be quite at fault, but I am inclined to think that the sbow collie has been too kindly nurtured for some generations to stick to it on a hot and hard day. Grt up at 145 a.m. to see a team of up-country musterers start at 2 o'clock. If this is very early in the season, and the day before has be n n one spent ou shingly tops under v broiling tun you will be rewarded by an exhibition of courage on the part of the dog«. Some are so done that they cannot stand up to be unchained. One and all eschew the bounding rush which signals their morning release later in v the season. The dogs walk in a style which would be ridiculous if it were net far the heroism of it. Po a sibly a couple are riding in front of their matters. B\ -nod-bye the soreueti, &c, wears off, and the dogs brighten up a bit and so do the stones on wtiioh they tread ! This is no wildly exaggerated picture. "At a matter of fact the sheep dog of the past has passed so far as the more populated districts of Otago and Canterbury go. Dogs nowadays are nob required or asked to do such long stops and so ou as was the ease 10 yeara ago. Closer settlement and S G. R'* have nearly exterminated the old style of dog — if not the rabbit. Good dogs at their best can, however, still be seen in Cen ral Otago, Mackenzie country, and the ' bank country ' of Canterbury. Not so very long ago wethers were shorn on the Strath-Taieri, turned out of the shed paddock, and went straight back to their own srround. there being no fences to stop them. Part of their ground was a swampy peak at the back of Dunedin ! In those day« men mustered the ground and cheep dogs ran ; now only too often galoots ask for a billed at mustering—fellows »s useless as the curs at their heels. The breed is increasing— more the pity !— Broken Mouth." • . • "Wideawake" reports that Do Owen's recently imported Eogliah setter dog pup has sustained the loss of his tail owing to carelessness on the part of the railway officials. I agree with my new contemporary that " importers of valuable dog* and fowls have enough to contend with already in their efforts to improve New Z aland stock without being at the mercy of tome wooden-headed individual on the railway, who is supposed to give his best attention to his duty, but mi«er&bly fails if he has anything out of" the ordinary run to attend to." The pup is by Rokeby Royalist out of F. W. Young's bitch. Rokeby Royalist is by Champion Royal Sam (imp), ex Rokeby Kivulet, and F. W. Young* bitch was got by Champion Rippleshot-, ax Champion Rose IV. It is to be hoped Dr Owen will recover heavy damages, which may partially compensate him for the trouble he has beeu put to and the disappointment he has experienced. • . • It has been decided to hold the next annual show of the Victorian Poultry and Kennel Club in the «econd week of August — 11 toU. • . • "Sir Bedevere," of the Town and Country Journal, «aya : — "The necessity for a change in tbo championship regulations seem* to be felt in Victoria, for the Australasian state* that • many fanciers are making ioquiries as to what steps are being taken to alter the existing rules now in force. A modification of the English Kennel Club definition is regarded by many as the moit desirable form, whilst others again think that the English classification could be adopted in its entirety. In any case the majority of Victorian fanciers appear to think that the champion certificate should go to the best *p*cim<sn of its particular breed in the ■how, irrespective of the class in which it is entered.' The subject has received but little official attention iv this colony so far as the Kennel Club is concerned ; still, it in one which is almost vital to good show clatsification, and must be gone into if the club intends to be thoroughly progressive. Will any fancier be found original and enterprising enough to bring it before the members at the annual meeting?" • . • The handsome Borzoi, or Russian wolf hound, which has of late years become such a favourite in England, is in Russia * decidedly practical canine, being used to> hunt the wolf, which requires a little more training than is necessary to show off a dog in tbe judging ring. According to a writer in the Btockkeeper, the Russian method of training is barbaric to a degree. "As an old wolf can more than hold his own with a full-grown houpd, and can hurl one away from him like a puppy— often escaping scot free himself — it needs a special method to encourage young hounds to attack. Wben, therefore, a young wolf is caught, he is held by the hounds (uot killed) till the whip, or the huntsman, or whatever his official name is, can gallop up. Ho dismounts, flings himself on the wolf, and, holding him by the ears, muzzles him strongly and effectively. He is then tied, placed in a carr, and taken to the kennels to be released — atill muzzled — for the young hounds to chftae and pull down. They are not allowed to kill, only to hold and worry tbe muzzled wretch, who again and again is allowed at intervals, measured by his endurance, to play the comedy of escape. At the end of each day's exercise (!) some food is given to economise the staying power of the subject ; but erea this merciless mercy cannot prolong life beyond a few days, and he is goon finished by exhaustiou or broken heart " And yet, if there is no other method available, cruel a* it may be, the practice may be held justifiable in view of the depredations of the wolves. • . • I have the authority of the Oamaru Mail for saying that "she paid up ! " A lady who was volubly assuring the local dog-tax collector that she .wouldn't keep such a dirty thing as a dog about the house was somewhat surprised when her favourite poodle inopportunely crawled from under the house and grabbed the collector by the calf. • . • The famous bulldog King Orry, which was bought for, it is said, £1000 in England and taken to America by Colonel Hilton, was jold recently at auction in New York for 160dol (£32). He was sold owiog to the crash of the drygoods house of Hilton, Hughes, and Co., of which his owner was chief partner. King Orry won a number of prizes at the annual dog t shows of the American Kennel Club, held in New York every February. He was shown in

England before his importation by Colonel Hilton, and, besides winning prizes, won a, walking match for £50 a side from Dock Leaf. • . • According to the Stookkeeper there is at the present time quite a boom in bull terriers on tbe American continent. Cropping js still allowed, and is liksly to continue— at least to judge by the firm stand taken by the devotees of the breed a few months ago when the matter was under discussion before the American K'-nnel Club. » • . • The following article from the Stockkeeper should prove interesting to , Irish terrirr fanciers and assist them in forming an opinion upon what is the correct type :—: — - THB iniSH TERBIER— LONG LEGS OB SHORT EEQS An Irish terrier admirer writes to me from Melbourne, and if he has really represented the true state of that fancy in the colony, then breeders out there must fairly be perplexed. Mr J. H. Green says they cannot make jsrp their minds as to whether an Irish terrier should be high or low on the leg ! I oan flee nothing in my correspondent's letter ro lead me to suppose that he is joking. He. tells me that Mr R. J. Smytbe, late of Portglenone, Ireland, "and a few others argue that a dog low on the leg is the right st»mu." I caunot believe it ; suoh a statement would amount to high treason. That the lucky breeder of Champion Erin once owned a notable dog that was low on the leg I well remember. Hia name was Prince, and he was supposed to have been the sire of the great Erin. At a matter of fact, -although I mvßelf bought Prince under that belief — a belief which, be it said, was conscientiously entertained by »11 concerned — I must s»y that when I now unaffectedly look buck to' that time, and the dog resumes its shape in my mind, I do not think that tbn reputed- sire of Champion Erin wai an I^'t'i <-.«rrier at all. What was most certain abouc Prinoe was his awful temper, and that is uot au Irish terrier characteristic. He would bite anybody- that vexed him, and for preference his own master. Punishment never availed, nothing could cow him ; while be was being thrashed he foamed at the mouth, and his eyes turned red with rage, and the moment he was let loose and invited to come and make his peace like a dog that has erred and been corrected, he would rush openmouthed for the nearest human lego, and the atxmpede in my kennel was general. The idea of breaking his fierce spirit had to be abandoned, he became a terror to everybody about, ao fiually, with considerable reluctance, for te win a game little brute, it was deoided that it was unsafe ro keep him, and poor Prince was mercifully disposed of — through tho columns of the Stockkeeper. How his next owner got ou with him I am pleased to say I never heard. Prince was nothing more nor less than & Diehard, a Scottmtn. But there is not a Diehard alive th&t he could nob have beaten on the bench and eaten afterward*. He had a small pointed ear, a loug body, covered with a coat that was dense and sufficient, without being profme and hard — aye, harder than an old friend's new hatred, and more wiry than a fence in an unpopular country. It was red. of course, but more burufc in hue than is correct;. His head was long an.) deerhoundy, and at the same time very powerful. But his legs — whab legs! If dogs can blush, sweet Moya Doolau, who was kennelled opposite his irate highness, must have felt uucomfortable at thoie short and bandy legs ; while if dogs can thtnk, Sporter must, have felt secure in Moya's affections with such a wrylimbed rival on the scene. I have now no doubt about it — Prince was not n Paddy ; he may have been born and reared iv the Green, lsle, but a thist'e planted in Ireland will notbecoma a potato. This conviction respecting Prince's race has occurred to me lato in life, »> before adverted to, and it is necessary to reiterate this affirmation, as cUimaats might risn oub of the past to demand the return of stud fees paid for the favours of Erin's reputed lire. Mr Smythfl bounded into fame as the breeder of Erin,* and he cleverly took the ball on the bound and bounced it up and down to tho tuneful chink of guineas. And let; me my of the f*noinr, < who is now in the antipodes, thab his deals were always straight and fair ; whoever, like myself, went to bis kennel for daredevil* gob dog fur money. That he should prove an apostats from the right type, and only type, • long in tho back and high on the leg,' I refuse to believe. That animals of Irish terrier pedigree exist which are low on the leg, and smooth in cant of (.he colour of old mahogany, must be admitted with fOTOW, but they are abortions, and likeonr other failures Rhould not bo obtruded upon public notice. Your true Irish terrier should look ' racy ' ; he U built rather to run than *tand and fight, not that he cannot fight if he is allowed to. Sting and Spuds (as depicted in 4 Sbonehenge ')i Sporb (see illustration in Vero Shaw* ' Book of the Dog '), Poppy, and Brickbat were all models of thn correct build. Then, a« to size, every breeder of experience knows that this racy symmetrical outline cannot be obtained in a 20Jb dog, and, therefore, in spite of the standard judges who know that the Irish terrier is not required to go to earth continue to. give prizes to the Jarge dogs like the invincible Brickbat, who was nearer 301b than. 2olb. A typical dog may weigh 261b, and a bitch' 21b lens. A fault th&t has become noticeable nowadays is scanty coats. It is not sufficient that an Irish terrier should have a wiry jacket on hie baok ; hi* sides should be covered, he should have coat all over, like the picture of Sport already referred to, and like Mr Billy Graham'« little bitch Gaily, who has long £one to anothei world — and whichever way she went she will be a credit to her country and tae breed, for ehs was hot as mustard, and *s gentle as a oberub — which is the Irish terrier's character : ' G»me and good tempered.' " — G. R. K.