THE KENNEL.

Otago Witness, Issue 2666, 19 April 1905, Page 31

THE KENNEL.

Br Terror.

[Fanciers an.l breeders of doss arc cordially invited to ron t.ibute items to this column. "Terror • will endearour to maY hisdepaitaicut as interestine and up-to date as possible, but i cider to da this he must have the co-oneration of hii readrr hence he trusts this invitation will be cheerfully ltoponaed to

— Collie fanciers in New Z-ealand, and, in fact, throughout the whole of Australasia, will learn with deep regret of the death of Mr CockbilPs champion Graceful Perfection. This dog undoubtedly was one of the best, if not the very beat, collie in Australasia. As a show dog he was never beaten, and his stock is now holding all the best positions in the fancier world wherever shown. In Dunedin, and Dunedin alone in New Zealand, we are fortunate in having several sons and daughters of this celebrated sire, Mr Hayne having Zeala-ndia Perfection and young stock, and Mr Reimie, Roslyu, Rcnneil and puppies.

—Mr Finsmoro sends me, in connection with the interview published la^t week, the following notes: — "Sinco your interview with me I have paid a viait to Mr Alex. Begg's kennels. Of course Mr Begg has not a great variety, but what I saw were of fair quality. The two Wishaw Joek — Sunnydale Floss bitches, although out of coat, are in fairly good bloom, but the tricolour Sym-

phony is far the better bitch, and if properly mated should produce some promising youngsters for next year. The puppies by Mr Ronnie's Graceful Perfection dog ex Melody are too young to oiitiche. 1 ai»o had the pleasure of inspecting Mr Hayne's kennels, and I was very much impressed with the whole arrangements — although ho has a very limited spate; — and especially on his mode of preparing and icedisig I must congratulate Mr Hayne. I have visited most of the kennels of collio breeders in Australasia, and have never v-et scon anything so managed as th© kennels of Mr Hayne, c,l Dunedin. Regarding hit stock, I had the pleasure of seeing Zealandi.i King', but I was not impressed with this dog, as he is of a similar type to the average New Zealand eolli° ; but. doubtless, when fir-t shown he was far in advance of his competitors ; promising youngsters rarely develop into good adults. The mc^t promising do<y in Mr Hayne's kennel is Zealandia Perfection, and if benched in a;oocl coat he should sweep the boards this coming sca=on. I aleo saw Hempie and Zealandia Queen, Iwo good brood bitches which have produced some winners; and there arc several youngsters in Mr Hayne's kennels ex the above who doubtless will give a good account of them-

selves when shown. In conclusion, I mu«t say that of all the- collies I have seen in New Zealand, Mi Hayne's stock arc the nearest to the present-day type-, and I have no hesitation in saying a team from this kennel if sent to Australia would uphold the honour of New Zealand- I regret, through pressure of business. I was unable to avail myself of the opportunity of seeing Mr Payne's kennels, but hope to have that pleasure at «ome 'future date. I wish to thank the collie fanciers of Dunedin for th-e many kindnesses extended to me during my stay in that city, and hone to have the pleasure of paying- them another visit in the near future."

— New Zealand Fox Terrier Club.— A meeting of this club was held on the 12th inst. There were present Messrs S. Hall (chairman), J. Philpot, S. E. Hairop, A. Minogue, and the secretary. The business of the evening was the allotting of clubs' trophies for the North and South Island chows. Applications were received from Wellington, Dunodin and Invercargill. The following was tho decision of the committee after very careful consideration : — Produce Stakes, Club's Silver Shield, C. H. St. Hill" Trophy, J. F. Mills's Wire Hair Cup, Wir Hair Puppy Trophy (now being subscribe to), W. A. Smith's Special, and two gold medals (one each to the best smooth-coated dog and bitch) were allotted to the Wellingion Konnel Club, subject to the appro\al oC the judge. The Delegates' Trophy was allotted to Invercargill, .F. Philpot being t h dissenting party. In that gontlemn-i opinion the competition is too weak at In vercar^ill. It was resolved that in all oases where'trophiee are allotted the prize-money must be paid in full. Noxi year's Produce Stakes is to be held at Dunediu, and the secretary was instructed to get same printed on new "forms.— T. F. FitzGerald, lion. sec.

A New York papov saytf that it is now the fashion in that city for dogs to have visiting card-, routaining th-o : r n:unc= and address. — Distemper nas ravaged ie\era! koiineiu in Ireland, and many noted dogs have succumbed to its attacks. Although a Royal Commission was appointed to deal with this terrible disease, and much information was •elicited, no reliable remedy appears to have •vet been discovered. " —The Melbourne Weekly Times reports that the woll-known Irish terrier bitch Alta Melody has been sold to Messrs Janson and Clark, Auckland (N.Z.). This bitch has had a notable career in the Commonwealth, and, although only abcut two years old, has won 36 first and' champion prizes. Mr C. H. Griffin sent the bitch to her new owners by the s.s. Rangalira, and she has arrived safely in Auckland, when-© she should certainly hold her own in the best of competi'"L'Mrs Lilian Cox!* w-ell known as the writer of "Lines for Ladies, by Lilian, in Our Dogs, is now residing in Sydney. ±ier hobbies wore black field spaniels and bulldogs. Her spaniels Kin^l^y Planet Bogie, and Bonnie Beauty were winner- ai the best English shows. — Craft's 'how was a remarkable success, but. very few new faces put in an appearance, and in most instances the principal awards were secured by well-known exhibits. Tho champion of champions wae Mrs Vale Nicholas's shaded sable Pomeranian, The Sftble Mite, an almost perfect sp-ecimen ol this charmiug variety. The sporting challenge bowl was won by the black spaniel Bridford Jappy. the runner-up being the famous pointer Coionation. Mr Woollend, the owner of -Tappy, also won the cup for best team of dogs in tho show, with a drait cf black spaniels. Saks at Cruft's show were not v-ery numerous, and prices ruled low, considering the large nuumber of American and Continental buyers present. The principal sales were as follows:— The Borzoi. Strawberry King, £100; the bulldosr. Lady Elgiva, £40 ; and the Great Dane, Lady Cairo, at £4-0. At the auction sale, th© * bulldog Thackery Primstone brought the top price of £4-0. — Straight Tip. the champion Irish terrier, has just left for America, in return for a draft of £400. At 30 shows in 1904,_ ho won 105 prizes and specials, 21 championships, and 21 times the special for best in the show. He is a proved sire, and his late owner tells me he has some grand youngsters coming on to take his place, otherwise no money would have bought him. An excellent portrait of Straight Tip appears in ihe Illustrated Kennel Ne-ws, of February 17. —Writing to Our Dogs, Mr A. H. Wallace, F.R.S., etc., touches in the following interesting fashion upon the question of tho homing instinct in dogs. He say:— More than thirty years aeo there was a long correspondence- in Nature (vols. vii and viii) on the supposed "sense of direction," or "homing instinct," of dogs, cats, horses, and other animals. Numerous cases of such supposed instinct wore narrated, but at its conclusion nothing was settled as to the means vised by animals to find their way homo in tho various cases given and others still more remarkable which are recorded in innumerable works on natural history. After the discussion had nearly ceased I gave a general summing up of the facts established (vol. viii, p. 65), showing that all wove inconclusive, either from want of knowing tho route by which tho animal returned, or the rrcans it adopted to discover that route ; while, where most was known, th© facts pointed to observation and memory rather than to instinct. I then suggested that the mystery could be solved only by experiment, several times repeated, for the puipose of afcccrtaining exactly what

a dog does when left in a Ptrange place, many miles from home to which it has been brought by a circuitous roi^te, and so confined as to be quite unable to use its sight. For such an experiment to be conclusive it ib essential (1) that the dog s history bo known, so that it can never po-sibly have been in the district it is taken, to ; (2) that a person quite unknown to the Jog i» present \\h«n it is turned loose, and keeps it in sight during the whole day, making careful notes of all its actious. if this were <lone with, say. half a dozen carefully chosen dogs, two or three times with each, a groat -deal ot r-pal knowledge would be obtained, which would probably mottle th« qi?"^tion as to the po-session of a. sense of direction. In these- first experiments tlvo distance need not be great, 10 to 20 m'los being sufficient if it was quitecertain that the Intervening country was unknown to tho dog. In one of the best cases recorded in Nature, a dog was taken, about 30 miles by boat along a lough in Ireland, then Ly railway to a place only 15 miles from his home. Alter living some time contentedly with its new master, it; went off one morning, and was seen taking the road parallel to the railway, and three days later arriv-ecr at his former home, very, tired and worn out. Here again we v.aut details; but it is clear that the dog had no sen?e of the direction of his home, but simply w-ent back upon the route he had come (and apparently seen), thus travelling two or three times as far as he need have done if ho had gone in a straight line. I venture to hope that some of your readers who have the needful facilities will carry out a series of experiments such as hcr-e suggested. Till that is done the .ocuia.u a.Uop "cases, ho\ve\er well at Lesteu, it-Io tIS t o solve the problem. — Ib is .so often thought that if one animal is strong in the points the other is deficient in, the resulting progeny will combine the good points of both, and the result will be perfection. We have never heard of any soof -^logs having been bred in this way. tt.^.i^. .-^ ihe puppies reproduce faithfully the baa points of their respective parents, and fail to amalgamate the good. The best hope ot getting good results is io breed! tho \ery bosfc together, with due regard to pedioivcK It must bo remembered that the* greatest r.riz-e winners are not always the 'n^r ' d that many a dog or bitch a bad point, and yet nofc Animals for breeding nou... ->„ chosen for their absence of bad! points of confirmation, and should be pub to mates with equally (and the same) goodf points. Naturally, if one parent has one or m«re bad points, he <r she should not be ijui to an animal which fails in the same '<• •, but in any case let both parents naving a? many and similar de-

-tiui. i haracteristics as possible, and the oieeder may then hope to get puppites with these good points emphasised. By mating a long-headed dog of a breed in which length of head is a sine qua non, with a. short-headed one, the result will be to get heads which are certainly no longer, and? probably shorter than the longest parents^ ; wh-ereas if both parents excel in havinglong heads, some of the progeny may vary in this direction and come with heads slightly longer. A good bitch is a treasure not to bo lightly parted with. A choice ofi good dogs is always available to the public at reasonable fees; but the bitch must be the property of the individual breeder, and! the bettter sho is the more likely is her owner to be successful. If a bitch has proved herself capable of breeding winners early in h<n* career, she should be of more value to the exhibitor than a successful stud dog. This leads up to the vexed? qxiestion of in-breeding. Some people are as firmly convinced that in-breeding is injurious as others are that it is beneficial, and each party brings what appear to be conclusive proofs to support their views. The fact is that the results of in-breeding depend entirely upon, the use which is made- of it. and the skill with which it is handled. In inexperienced hands an enormous amount of harm may be done and no good. A man requires to study the subject* of breeding before he commences to experiment, just as he miwt learn any particular, branch of business before he can embark on it with reasonable hope of success. Ifc is our intention here to try and point oura few of tho elementary rules which should! guide the amateur in his first attempts at breeding prize dogs, so that- lie may, with' a minimum of study, acquire a >2ximum of success. — From Breeding, by C. J. Davie. —The following amu-ing- poem appears in cur contemporary, the American Stockkeeper : — —A MIDSUMMER NIGHT'S DREAM.—

[The owner of the Bonnybred bull terriers us a valued officer of the Brooklyn Fire Department, and the following little dream is from the imaginative pen of his friend, Charles MacKaraess, editor A.X.C. Gazette.] The Captain pulled oft his rubber bocts, And hung his clothes on the floor. "I'll try to get forty winks." said he, As he turned the key in the door. In a, very short time he was fast asleep And dreaming of roanv things — Of Jiutomobi'es and hunting trips, Cool mounfai n camps and springs. When there floated in on the midnight air, A horrid, fdinihar sound ; "The blooming terriers are at it again!" And the "Cap." came out with a bound. And this is what the Captain saw, And sure 'twas a gieat "hubbub"', Just twenty minutes of actual time He swnng his big stuffed club. Captain Wood^crte was down on his back ChewJHg away- pe-H me!!, While Bioomsbmy Blanche had a strangle hoTi On the throat oi Yorkville Belle. Hiawatha was eating a niece Of the tail of Snowy Meg. While Fire Fistiana slowly dined On Regent Royal's hind leg. Brave Ouster, too, "with one ey© gone. Was holding his end up weil ; He had chewed the ear off Richfieltl Chi And the cheek from American Belle. Annie Laurie and Nancy Hanks Had piled on Mignonette. While Fire Watch and Cottage M^ : d Growled bass in the same quartet. Rose of Plymouth and "Western Belle Were having ,a scrap of theii own, And the Duchess of Blcomsbury woiriecl away 5 Ai the neck of poor Don Juan. ,^ WJien quiet reigned in the yaid o..cc more The Cap. returned to his bed, "Oh. anything for a q,\uet lifq/ Was all the veteran saud.