THE KENNEL. By Terror.

Otago Witness, Issue 2509, 16 April 1902, Page 50

THE KENNEL. By Terror.

(Fanclers »nJ l.reedern or docs »r« cordially ihtHc.l to con ■ tribute it'cis to Una column. "Terror ' »ill endearn.r to mstbe pi* department us interesting and up-to date aq ponlMe, but in kence he trust* thi; imitation will be cheerfully n^|ioudcd to

— I learn that Mr R Young intend* hPnd ing Peri, his fox terrier slut, to the leading terrier kennel on the other side. — I learn from Mr Lilico, of Imercargill (late of Morton Mains and Wmton), that his old dog Captain is btill living, and though 12 years old, is by no means anxious for a rest. Not relishing town life in In.vercargill, Captain cleared away on his own account to the country (60 miles), to the (home of a person who had been using him 'during the lambing time. Though Mr Lilicci ttias given up the breeding of dogs for (profit, he intends, I understand, to experi orient with a Kelpie from the yards of Mr iM'Leod, the winner of the champion«hip prize at the great Sydney dog trial Mr fil'Leod is a very enthusiastic and successful troeder of working sheep do^s (Kclpien). and that they are clever with sheep i< e\i 'dent from Mr M'Leod's wins. As pre\iou?ly described in this column, kelpies are smoothhaired, prick-eared, and cither blue or red tliuh brown in colour. At work they '•how a strong eye, do a lot of clapping, and their quickness is pimply marvellous. Mr Lilico informs me that he will be pleased to give Mr M'L^od'.s address to anyone wihhing it —Mr W. L. Rae, writing from England to the Australasian on the trimming fjues tion, says that novices who purchase 'log» in Ehow form suffer more than anyone from the {practice, as many present-day winners, if Shown untrimmed, would fail to reach the xnoney; and he recommends Australasian fanciers to be specially interested m the trimming question, as dogs exported to the colonies are generally purchased on the strength of their wins. Take wire-haired fox terriers, for instance. Some of the big winners here, if shown in their natural coats, would not be recognised lv any decent company. Such dogs, if exported to Australasia, would ha\e to by got up for *how by an c\p": leveed hand, ,nul run the rii-k of bpin^ ('lt^qi'a! fird. or cl«p be i-liown in their natural condition, in winch they would eertaaily no I h& Lk&bi 10 miks iiumy.^fcfia.-

verts to the breed. The point to decide is where does legitimate preparation leave off and trimming begin? — Judge Collier, at the Liverpool CountyCourt, found for plaintiff under the following circumstances on the ground that there was no warrauty. Plaintiff's story was that at the Liverpool show, early in 1900, he met the defendant, whc said he wished to change his breed a little, and arranged to purchase from him a young bitch of his Wishaw Clinker strain ; that he sent a- bitch accordingly; and that the defendant kept her for 10 months, and then complained that she •was not a breeding animal, and sent her back. Plaintift refused to accept her, and she was told by the railway company. Evidence was called to show that the animal had had at least one- litter of pugs, and she was produced in court. Defendant said his reason for keeping the bitoh so long was that he wrote for her pedigree, which plaintiff neglected to send, and also because he was anxious to see whether she would come into breeding condition. There was also a condition in the purchase that the price should be £6, defendant to have_the service of one of plaintiff's prize dogs, condition could not, of course, be carried out. —It is related that a cabdTiver in England who found a dog, by the advice of a " young " policeman kept it to see if a reward would be offered — and subsequently selling it, was fined £5 in the Police Court. The moral of thr- story evidently is that waiting for a reward i» not altogether a paying game, and that "young" policemen are not invariably safe guide?. — Never experiment with a dog — that is to 6ay, never give one grain of medicine before you know, or have tried to ascertain, exactly what is the matter. It is the ridiculous habit of trying all sorts of 6tufF upon a dog that does so much harm. — A peasant sold 14 sheep, and agreed with the buyer that the dog which had nccempanied the flock should form part of the purchase. Mixing the sheep with some 130 others, the buyer left with them and the dog for his village some distance away. Night came on, and the dog decided to turn back. Hp managed, unnoticed, to sort out the 14 sheep nnd safely escort them back ts the old quarterp. Since then the sheep have been handed over again, but the dog has been retained. —As each lambing season returns one cannot resist a feeling of amazement at the risk which farmers run without taking any special precautions against it. There is hardly a limit to the mischief which a single ill-controlled do^ may cause to flocks of inlpmb ewes in January; yet you will see these grazing by hundreds in pastures through which a common footpath runs without any notice to warn pedestrians to keep their doge in hand, or, better, out of the field altogether. Visitors to the country, ladies especially, know nothing of the times and seasons for live stock. They do not e-\en argue from the plenitude of roast lamb in spring that there must be some periodicity in ovine affair*. To them very often the chief charm of a visit to the country lies in the "delightful scampers'' which their pet dogs enjoy in the fields and ih> ecfmper is so delightful to the town-bred puppy as that which sends hundreds of Eounds' worth of live sheep scattering before im in all directions. His mistress does not know, and he neither knows nor cares, how many valuable and, at that moment, very delicate lives are imperilled by his yapping career over the green grass. "So good for him, you know!" says his mistress, "and so different from the London streets; but the sheep are <-o silly — as if Tiny would hurt them!" Now, all this and the annoying aivl often costly consequences to all concerned might be guarded againpt if farmers used notice boards setting forth to the public the necessity for caution These could he light and movable, to be planted near the gates or stiles lea-ding into the pastures where the ewes happened to be, and when the season of danger was past they could be put away for use again next year. Men d-> not grudge any number of notice boards to protect the privacy of a coppice on their property or a quarter of a mile of fishing, yet they do nothing to inform the public how easily and unintentionally they may cause grievous injury. Indeed, not the least advantage of the notice boards would lie in the educ ation of the public in the rudiments of knowledge of the farmer.- difficulties. At present the knowledge of most men and women regarding sheep amount-, to little more than that they are found in fields and will always run away if a dog runs after them. — London Field. — The London Globe relate^ a case of canine faithfulness anc3*~sagacity. It appears that at a fire at Aberystwith the lives of a tradesman, his wife, and three children were saved by the loud barking of a dog, which drew the attention of a neighbour to the fact that the dwelling was in flames. The neighbour threw a stone through the window, and thus warned the people of their danger in the nick of time. Tint goes to show that no household <-houkl be without its canine guardian. — What breed i« (h<> " dog — Why a sky terrior, ooui^e'