NOTES BY TERROR.

Otago Witness, Issue 2263, 15 July 1897, Page 39

NOTES BY TERROR.

• , • I learn from my Christchurch contemporary " Sirius" that the letter to Mr Wark from the New South Wales Kennel Club stated that his election was unanimous, and assured him that he would have the biggest entry of collies yet exhibited in the colonies to adjudicate upon. Mr Wark has accepted tbe appointment offered in this highly complimentary manner. I . ' I learn that Mr J. H. Jowitt, tbe wellknown collie and retriever fancier, has obtained the services of Mr Wm. Watson, of Wyndham Valley, as keeper of hia favourites. It is said that Mr. Wm. Watson's "doggy" knowledge and his inherent love of animal life well qualify him for the position ha is about to take up. • . • The New Zealand Kennsl Club having applied for affiliation, the Now South Wales Kennel Club have appointed a committee to peruss the rules of the New Zealand Club and report thereon. ■ . ■ Speakiug of the New South Wales Sheepbreeders' Association's third annual exhibition, a Melbourne contemporary says ifc proved very interesting to the public, who were struck by the remarkable cleverness which mauy of the dogs displayed in the performance of their work. These competitions are doubtless productive of grod, and nhonld be encouraged by every agricultural society in the colony at their annual shows, which would tend very much to the utilisation for practicable purposes of the characteristic* o? the collie, the kelpie, and other breeds of dogs of ihis class. So far encouragement Las been confined for the most part to the improvement of the breed, with some degres of success. No classes at our leading metropolitan canine exhibitions are so well filled, and none have more admirers, but there the matter ends, and quality remains a matter of pure faucy. The necessity of workiug trials is therefore manifest, and the Sheap-breeders' Asiociation is not only providing a feature in connection with the annual shows which is attractive to the public, bub is setting an example that might well ba followed, when practical, by all societies having for their object the improvement of the breeds of dogs. The entries were very large for theFe trial competitions, beirn? no less than £7. The first priz^ was £24, second £5, third £4, fourth £3, fifth £2, and sixth £1. • . • The two dach*bunds, Warrior snd Trilby (registered names Woodcack and Wildfowl), wbich were brought out fcom England by Dr Thomas, of Timaru, were released from the Lyttelton Quarantine Station in good health and good order. Thf ir pedigrees ehovr them to be of tb.B very best blood that ciuld be got in England amongst young unshown dogs. Wildfowl has been shown once, when she took a first and special prize at the People's Palaca Dog chow. Wildfowl's sire Jackdaw was by far the biggest champion prizs- winner ever known amongßb diciishuuds on tbe English benches, whilst Pierodacfcyl, the sire of Warrior, was champion among3t dichsunds for a long time until he was beaten by bis own son Wiseacre, I who is champion now, and has be*u ever since ho beat his own father. From tbe strains which are intermixed and blended in the fiwo pediI grees, Warrior and Trilby should "nick" very well, which is a most important point in maintaining the true type of the breed. ! •. • I take the following from the Fox Terrier j Chronicle: — "Our friendly contemporary, tbs I San Francisco Field Sporis, recently chroniclei the advent of a big litter of fox terriers in tbts following terms : •MrC. A. fc-umner'* f l>x terrier i bicch Richmoad Reason, we believe, has broken the world's record, having whelped on April 5 nine strong aud healthy poppies. This, we believe, is the largest litter yet recorded from a fox terrier. If we are right in this, Los Angeles will undoubtedly issue another pamphlet setting forth the great advantages of its climate.' No, you don't, Mr Editor. The record for big lifctscrs ia fox terriers remains in Euglaud at

present, we think. We call to mind a litter of 10, bred by the Rev. C. T. Fisher, by Dickoa — Diligent ; and we remember a litter of 12 puppies out of Mr G. L. Ainlot's Tanuio, by Petronious. The same bitch in her nexb litter, had 10, and within one day of completing the year had another 10, when in possession of Mr Manning, of Bath. These oome before your, nine, though, all the same, we congratulate Mr Sumner on a good litter, and hope we may hear of some of them winning later on." ' . * From the same source I also take tho following — to terrier fanciers — raqst interesting letter on "A Danger to Dogs " :: — •• It is now 25 years since first, in fear and trepidation, I led into the ring an inferior for terrier puppy, which I fatuously looked on as an embryo champion. I was only a lad at the time and my heart beat high with hope. Alas ! so soon to be dashed, for even the barren honour of a • commended ' card was nob vouchsafed me. I remember the show was at Hanley, and I had travelled from Gloucester by slow trains and iaany changes to bring my treasure to face the music. Since that day I have been a constant exhibitor, and one generally content to taka luck or reverses as they come. My successes have elated me, and when I have been unexpectedly beaten, I have murmured • Kiemet,' and solaced myself with the philosophical unction, ' Better luck nexb time ! ' " In dne course ie became my turn to- weigh out the awards and brave the scowls and grumblings of the disappointed majority with outward indifference, but many a time and oft have I felt a tender glow of pity and sympathy for some inexperienced tyro to whom it has been rudely brought home that his, or her, cherished ' cygnet is nought but a goose, when believed to be a swan ; remembering, as I ever shall, my first youthful disillusioDS. I claim to have been a close observer of canine matters, and I have always been deeply interested in discussions on the subject; of the tendency of dog shows for good or evil, as regards its effect on the canine species in general, bub more particularly as concerns thosa breeds in which I have taken a special interest as owner, breeder, exhibitor, or judge. For many years I was good to maintain ■ that dog shows were an unmixed blessing, and that the levelling up of quality wag advancing -. by leaps and bounds. I pointed triumphantly to the increased number of good specimens j inhibited, to the diminution of those hopeless I abominations whose presence on the show bench j proclaimed the utter ignorance of their owners. ' I "As time went on che latter became rather i enlightened or disappeared from the list of ' exhibitors, and one might pass between the , benches and identify every dog as being i approximate to the type it was supposed to represent. • • Some four or five years back circumstances : kept me from a close observation on the show ring ; and - when I returned, inflated with i renewed enthusiasm, I was not long in dis- ; covering an imminenb danger arising from a j diametrically opposite cause ; and there is no ! doubt that breeders have, so to speak, become ' j fanatics or ' faddisti.' Juogea have insisted j on some particular point in conformation, and > this ha 3 bsen bred to the detriment of wellbalanoed symmetry, and has in consequence produced monstrosities or oripplea. I think this evil may be detected in most breeds ; bub r for example I will call special attention to such as I feel qualified to criticise. And first I will deal with, thai popular little favourite, the fox terrier. "In hia excellent book on terriers, Me ■ Rawdon Lee opines that the number of first* j rate dogs of this breed is not greater than, if as I great as, that which could have been produced two or even three decades back ; and here lam with him. But what I chiefly deplore is the i deterioration of type, for which the mischievous \ craze for speed is alone responsible. I "In the early ' seventies ' there was a reaction against the • cloddy ' or cob-built terrier — the ' < ' brick with the four corners knocked off,' as if; was facetiously called ; this was, as is usual with reactions of all kinds, carried to extremes. The fist went forth that fox-terriers were to have narrofr chests and oblique I boulder* — 1 good ! But what was and is the consequence ? We now have dogs so narrow in front, and so oblique in shoulder, that as a natural result! they have flit sides, weak back ribs, long couplings, wedge-like and feeble quarters, with enough daylight under them to absorb a Norwegian summer. This is not the first time I | have fallen foul of those misguided enthusiasts [ whose ambition it is to breed terriers to live ! with hounds. I have no hesitation in positively ; stating that no fox-terrier that ever was bred could live with any decent pack of fox-hounds ' when really carrying r head. When hounds • are dragging along en a cold scent, or flashing ! down wiud, friend Jack may be all there, but j he will soon be left behind when heads go up , and sterns down. On the other hand, the ; stout-built little terrier of the days of yore is | always quick enough to follow on, and when . Png is marked to ground will generally appear ! on "the scene whilst hounds and followers are ' ! taking a breather, and before 'pollice inverto' ' ! is the master's sign. Again, I claim that for - ' purpose* of going to ground, and staying thera ; an long »s required, I would back a well- \ balanced sturdy terrier, with good chest and ' ; ribs, against, any of the leggy, narrow, and ' spirfty ' dogs of the show bench of to-day. 11 When hunting tha Old Berkeley country, which is a p^rticularly trying one foe terriers, there was a local dog that was a most enthusiastic vorary of the grand old sport, and there ' was seldom a meet: to which * Matter i 'hippy' did nob find bis way; the first notes of the horn re-eshoing over the hills would bring him in hot haste to join the i chase and aff jrd his valuable services asejector- ' in-chief, if haply Joshu* gob to ground. He ,' would st&y all day over the stiffest ploughs or : flintiest hills and never tire ; of course, he could not live with hounds when they ran in earnest, bub as sure as ever thero was a check he would hppsar on the sceno like migie from goodness kaows where, aud oft-titnes would pick up tha liae, and whea a fox was rolled over or run to ground he was there before ycu could invoke the time-honoured but somewhat mythical ' Jack Robinson ' ; and yet this dog was coarse and cloddy in the extreme, having a coarse head and big care, enormous boue, rather broad, deep cheat, and -\rdl-3praDg ribs, powerful bsck, and broad, nrascu'ar loins— such a deg as wonld, i£ brought into the show riDg. ciuse a ee'.f-respect* ing judge to be carried out iußensible ; albeit, he \ was a dog in whose veins ran the bluest of, ■ blood, and who claimed as his breeder no less * . perpouage than that prince of sportsmen and ,' pattern of the fine old English gentleasan— th« late Fred Burbidge. " I have now said more than enough to mdi« c&te the danger to the dog that has been insidiously creeping on, and so 1 leave, the subject uutil I can exclaim audi aiteram parlem! "Hahdixg Cox."

SHEEP-DOG TRIALS. Dear Terror, — I saw in the Otago Witness recently a letter quoted from the Daily Times, ' in which the writer, who signs himself "A Runholder," objects strongly to sheep-dog trials. Ido not think " R-unholder " can hava j studied the supposed evil much, or he would hardly have advanced such weak arcumente Ml

he does. He says :—": — " I wonld rather have a pup by the winner of a well-Gontested dog trial than by an ordinary dog." Against that, however, he says that "if one of my shepherds won a trial I shonld ask him to look out for another place." " Runholder" wonld like what he would at the same time prevenb his men from obtaining — a pop by a dog capable of winning a trial, — as ho would bar his shepherds from competing. Therefore, they would ba unable to breed from winning dogs. It is unnecessary to specially train a dog for any trial ; the 'ordinary work is sufficient. No dog at any trial is asked to do any more than he would do if mustering or yarding sheep, and certainly a dog that rushed or hunted sheep about would not be worth his keep either for mustering or trials. •' Runholder" again completely gives himielf away whea he aays : " One would be inclined to remonstrate with a shepherd who picked up a small mob a little way oub and joined them at a winning pace." I would remind " Runholder " a dog trial is not a dog and sheep race — first in wing. A fixed time it allowed for a dog to head and bring back— a length of time thab has been proved by experience to be an ample one. Smartness in heading, quietness and steadiness in bringing b*ck are everything. I may say, as one who has had some experience in these matters, thab I never saw a dog that had not these qualifications win a trial. That they improve the breed and work of dogs is amply proved by Ihe way they are supported by the squatters. The wily squatter does not give the large subscriptions I have known him give to various clubs for pure love of his shepherds. He knows full well that by encouraging them to have decent dogs bis sheep get knocked about less, and he gets better and cleaner muttering. •' Runholder's" head shepherd never heard of dog trials in Scotland — the home of dog trials, I might say. " There are none so blind as tho?e who won't see," and probably •♦Runholder's " head shepherd finds ib profitable to think of dog trials as his master does. — I am. &c, Waipiro B*y, Gisborne. Ccmipetitob.