THE KENNEL.

Otago Witness, Issue 2672, 31 May 1905, Page 31

THE KENNEL.

Br Tebbob.

(Fanciers and breeders or do*« are rardiailj inyßed to conliLi department ,»» interesting and up-to date st* possible, but in beuoe he tru»t« thW invitation will hp chporfulh rctpouflecl to )

— Fanciers intending to exhibit at the ensuing Dunedin show will be glad to learn that arrangements may after all be made, to hold the show at the Agricultural Hall, where, certainly, much better conditions are possible for the dog section than could have been, provided elsewhere in Dunedin. —Mr R. Turnbull, the well-known architect of Wellington, and Dr Campbell, also of the Empire City, have decided to enter the collie lists at the forthcoming' show, and with that intention have secured from Mr H. P. Finemore, of Sydney, two splendid puppies by eh. Wishaw Jock ex Craigforth Peeress. A litter sister of these has been secured by a wedl-known Dunedin fanciei-j and the three puppies will compete for the Collie Club's trophies at the Wellington fixture. These puppies are probably the most aristocratic youngsters that have reached New Zealand for some time, as eh. Wishaw Jock is at present the champion dog of Australasia, while Craigforth Peeress has rrat down every bitch she has yet met. — I have had the pleasure of seeing a drawing of the Collie Club's new champion trophy, which is being manufacturd by Messrs Fattorini and Co., of Bradford. It i 9 without doubt one of the most artistic productions it has been my privilege to see, consisting of an immense silver star, in the centre of which is a raised shield, on which rests a- collie in solid gold. This shield, when it arrives, will cause more competition than anything of its kind the Collie Club has ye* offered. The price paid for it, I ana informed , is £25 in England, to which must be added importing and other expenses, so I ana well within the mark in saying that it will be worth at least £35 ordinary price. The shield will be competed for by collie fanciers all over Australasia, as several of the olub members in the Commonweath have signified their intention of sending dogs across to compete. — A veteran dog judge, who is well known to Victorian fanciers, was once judging a Queensland show. His ring steward tells a good story at the expense of the veteran. The awards were being made in a> big class of terriers, when the judge made his choice of the winner. "Give that 'un first," said the judge, and the steward entered the winner's number in due form in his book. The dogs were all paraded again, including the winner, when the judge stepped forward and called the winner into the ring, remarking, "Give this second, Mr Steward." Faithful to his duty, the steward marked "No. 17, first and second," anct again the dogs were sent round the ring. To the consternation of the canine fancy, the judge again called in No. 17, and on being informed that he had given first, second, and third prize to one dog, the veteran responded, "Ah, I thought he was a good 'un !" ' — A. correspondent of the South-Eastern Gazette records an amusing incident during a run with the beagles of the Welsh Regiment stationed at Gravesend. A day or two ago the pack met at Stone Castle, near Dartford, and a hare led the hounds from that place straight into the grounds of the Metropolitan Lunatic Asylum. A merry little hunt inside the big enclosure ensued, only to be interrupted by an ndignant official, who demanded the names and addresses of the intruders. To get out again was the first desire of the sportsmen— a matter not so easy of accomplishment, however, for at the main gate they were confronted by a porter, who refused point blank to allow any of them to leave the confines of the asylum without an assurance from the superintendent that they were sane and not a posse of escaping lunatics. For fully half an hour the superintendent could not be found, and during that period the master, Major Morland, and his officers, with a magistrate or two and several ladies, were, greatly to their disgust, kept prisoners, the hare meanwhile getting clean away. — A tragic incident is reported from Taiga mo, New South "Wales, on the Murray. Mr Kenneth' Lobban, a wellknown farmer, was out fencing and clearing timber. He was accompanied by his dog. As he did not return to tea, and darkness had set in, the family were becoming anxious. A scratch was heard at the door, and on opening it they t found the dog .there whining. The animal at once ran off into the bush, but they could not follow him on account of the darkness. A search party went in the direction taken by the dog, and about 1 o'clock in the morning they found Lobban hanging to a wire fence with a, terrible wound in his head, and only partially conscious. It appeared that a branch from a falling tree had struck him on the head, and he had remained in that position from some time in the afternoon. The night was bitterly cold and wet. He was conveyed to his home, about a mile away, and medical aid was brought from Tallangatta and Albury, but his case from the first was regarded as hopeless, and he died the next morning. The dog was with the man when the search party found him. The deceased was 40 years of age, and has left a wife and family.

— The bloodhound rasiks as one of the oldest, if not the oldest, cf our breeds, and from time immemorial his wonderful power of scent, possessed in suoh a marked degree by no other breed, has been made the subject of prose and v<?r a e. In byg-on© agos a hound of the bloodhound type was used in war; in later times they have been used in.

the detection of sheep stealers and other ' miscreants. They are mentioned in history. After the battle of Sedgmoor the Duke of Monrnouth was tracked by bloodhounds, wht> were the means of his capture. Robert of Bruce, the defeated King of Scotland, was also followed by these hounds, but he possessed a cloee and intimate knowledge of their characteristics, and baffled them by wading down a stream, eventually drawing himself up into a tree by the aid of a friendly branch, and thus eluded capture. It ie recorded, however, that the hounds tracked him to the ditch. —As lato as the reign of James I slough hounds, as they were then called, were used to track criminals and frequently deserting troopers; whilst in the days of slavery it is well known that a species of these hounds, not the gentle beast we now know, was kept by many inhuman slave dealers for the purpose of hunting down the escaped slaves. Bloodhounds (then called sleuth hounds) were formerly used in certain districts between England and Scotland which were much infested by robbers and murderer?, but when the arm of justice extended itself to these re-gione and robbery and murder could not be done in the dark the hounds fell somewhat in the back ground. Some, however, were kept in the north in the lodges of f the royal forest, where they were used either in the pursuit of wounded deer or in discovering deer and sheep stealers, who were by no means uncommon. j — A case is on record which occurred i in the New Forest in 1810. Several sheep j had been stolen and some deer killed. A j pedestrian getting over a stile into a field ] in the New Forest noticed there was blood upon it. Thinking this might be from one of the deer that had been killed the previous night he gave information to the keeper. After some delay a bloodhound was taken to the spot and laid on the scent, which he quickly picked up, eventually tracking the depredator to a heap of faggots outside a cottage, and refusing to leave the faggots or the cottage. The sheep stealer was found inside the latter, and the deer and sheep buried under the former. This circumstance is worth relating, as it is estimated that fully 16 hours had elapsed after the man had passed over the stile before the dog was brought to the scent, and presumably others had passed over the spot. — The judging difficulty in India has long been a burning question owing to the scarcity of people who "know a dog when they see one." The subject is mentioned in the following 1 terms by the- Stockkeeper, and a remedy suggested. Dissatisfaction has frequently been expressed in India at some of the awards made by judges who have adjudicated upon various> breeds, some of whom, it is said, the judge knows little, if anything, about. It is stated that there are few men in England, certainly in India, who have had the time i to make a life-long study of the various < breeds. Therefore, there are_ few capable i of judging, perhaps, 20 varieties. This feeling of dissatisfaction has led to the openly-expressed desire that ladies shall be appointed (as in England) to judge those ; breeds of which they have made a life-long I study, and thus permit of more judges being appointed at the various shows, and so lighten the task of the all-rounders, and give more general satisfaction. 3jb is more than probable that India will follow England's lead and appoint ladies to officiate in this capacity at the various shows, for there are many of the fair sex who devote much time to the canine pets, and who are thoroughly conversant with their different points and characteristics. Ladies judging at some of our best shows have been in. vogue for some years here, and I think the system could be advantageously enlarged. Especially in the smaller breeds would the services of ladies be of advantage, for it seems natural for them to take an interest in toys and ornamental breeds. The prejudice against ladies judging publicly is a thing of the past. Ladies judging neither implies boldness on their part nor weakness in their decisions. — A Home paper says : "It appears that the idle rich of NewYork are following the eccentricities of a former "Earl of Bridgewater, who, in the early part of last century, was one ■ of the best-known society characters in Paris. He had many whims and fancies, one of the oddest being the manner in which he treated his doge, of which he kept a large number. They were of all sorts and sizes, from the large St. Bernard down to the tiny toy terrier, intermingled with medium-sized creatures, bulldogs, poodles, etc. He dined with some dozen or so of hi« canine favourites each evening, they sitting upon chairs with napkins around their necks, and lacqueys behind to wait upon them and attend to their wants. From Newport, U.S.A., word comee that the , frivolous set there have organised somewhat similar dinner parties for their fashionable doge. The owner of the dog invites, through theiv owners, other dogs to a banquet, at whioh all the dainties imaginable are provided, and, as in the ca«e of the late Duke of Bridgewafcer, servants in livery see that the canine guests have all they wish." ■ »