THE KENNEL.

Otago Witness, Issue 2809, 15 January 1908, Page 35

THE KENNEL.

Br Tebbor.

Fanciers «n-l hrefdero ol dogs are cordially invited to contribute items to this column. "Terror" will endcai our w make order to do thi» he must have the co-oneratiou or liin render*, iicuce be trust. tliU imitation will he cueerlull^ revponded to.

— Messrs Neil and Rennie, of Napier, have sold their collie dog Roslyn Recruit, recently imported from Australia, to Mr^O. Grub, of Feilding, at a very satisfactory figure. Recruit is by Horus of Boston (.imp.) ex Ideal. — Several deaths are reported in Wellington as due to distemper. — According to Theo. Marples the size of the larger bulldogs is usually divided as follows: — Dogs: Exceeding 551b; exceeding 451b, but not exceeding 551b; not exceeding 451b. Bitches: Exceeding 451b; exceeding 351b, but not ex-seeding 451b; not exceeding 351b. The weight of miniature bulldogs should, according to the rules of the Miniature Bulldog Club, not exceed 221b, 'but classes ere often given" and encouraged for dogs and bitches not exceeding 201b. —Mr W. M-. Shand, of this city, has imported another Gordon setter pup of good type from Melbourne, which will -be an acquisition to Dunedin fanciers of this fine breed of sporting and show dogs. Mr Stand's last importation, Melthorpe Sparklett, competed at the last Dunedin show, and although nursing a litter of pups when shown was successful in the setter bitch class, beating last year's firet prize bitch, which also took a special prize for the beet Gordon 6etter in the show. Melthorpe •Sparklett also took the special prize for the best- setter bitch in the show. There were 10 Gordons in the last show held here, and they made a fine exhibition. The class should bo very strong again this year, as tUx B. J. Finnegan has procur-e^d. a fine young bitch from the north to add to the number of thi« breed already in Otago. Mr Shand purposes sending his bitch over to Melbourne on a visit to Scott's champion Blackwood Mack, who is 6aid to be the best dog in Australasia. Besides a. fine show . dog, the Gordon setter is one of the best dogs for shooting over, as they can be trained very easily to carry, and they eet naturally, and axe very steady when working. Last winter a party of six guns took 105 hares off the Waipiata district for two days' shooting with two- Gordons, and stated that they never wished to shoot over better dogs. — Mr George M Donald had the bad luck to lose hie fine Gordon Chris, the • animal having- been killed hs the" cable trams. ■ This dog has competed in Dunedin and -Invercargill regularly for the last six years, -and was a good type of .a Gordon' setter. - —In the * dog fanciers' records the most famous -bulldog was that which "was called after the hero of Sir A. Conan Doyle's "Rodney Stone." This animal. was bought for lOOOdol by, Mr Hichard Croker, and died in America. There grew up across the Atlantic quite a craze for descendants of this bulldog and animals with a strain of the "Stone" blood are eagerly sought for. It is stated that three American dog fanciers are now in London endeavouring to form a corner in "Stone" bulldogs, and as the animals fetch nearly lOOOdol each their experiment is likely 'to be expensive. — The strength of a dog's jaws and teeth was never better exemplified than in the case of a Ross-shire gamekeeper, whose dog was unfortunate enough to be caught in a steel vermin trap. The gamekeeper, gun in hand, was Boon on the scene, but in a short time the dog had become quite in~ furiated by the pain. Having nothing suitable to muzzle the animal, and fearing to place his foot upon the trap spring with the dog's jaws free, the gamekeeper placed the gun barrels in the dog's mouth and held them. there while easing the spring. With .a vicious snap- the teeth closed on the cold steel ere he regained his freedom. The barrels, which were of steel, were holed .through — an almost incredible performance — and were examined shortly/ after the occurrence by out northern correspondent, and can be seen at any time. The dog was an ordinary black-and-tan collie. — Shooting Times. . —Mr T. Snow, one of our popular bulldog breeders, is fortunate in having a litter of pups from his bitch Little Dorrit. There are only three pups in the litter," but Mr Snow is confident the quality will more than compensate for quantity. There is one dog (fawn) and two bitches (one fawn and the other brindle). The pups were sired by Mr Stanton's recently-imported dog Gentleman Jack. It is interesting to note that the heavy-weight fawn is siring brindle puppies,- the colour of his sire, Long Tom.

— Major . Richardson, well known as a trainer of do?** for war purposes lectured on "War Dogs," at the. Dore Gallery, in November last, in aid of the funds of the , Royal Waterloo "Hospital : — Major Richard- ! son commenced his lecture by saying that"' most of the Continental countries have dogs trained to war attached to their armies, and that in England, though various efforts have been made, our Government up to the present have refused to employ them. That dogs have been so employed in ancient times is proved by Pliny and Plutarch having both alluded to them. The Huns used them in war. Attila, their king, employed mastiffs. Columbus sent dogs over to j America when he went to conquer it. I Philip -of Spain employed them. The Knights of Malta sent them over. Freder- , ick the Groat used collies as sentries. '.Napoleon had dogs for scouts. At Austerlitz a detachment of the army lost its way. They placed a dog in front, who led them back to their^ own tracks, and in six hours brought them" again to their camp. In the Franco-German war the Germans employed dogs as sentries. • In 1887, in the RussoTurkish war, dogs were utilised. In theAmerican war bloodhounds were employed. In the Russo-Japanese war Russian sheepdogs were set to guard the entire Manchurian railway down to Port Arthur, and sentry dogs were used by both -Russians and Japanese for ambulance work. The Emperor of Germany sent dogs as a present to the Czarina. A Russian monk who had spent some time on Mont St Bernard took back some -trained dogs to Moscow, and the third consignment were sent from Major Richardsoh'/s own kennels in Scotland. Major Richardson .states that there are two duties a" "war dog has to perform— ambulance work- and sentry ■' work. In the former, be- is sent to search the ground after an engagement for any wounded - the stretcher-bearers may have overlooked, and not mans escape the »osq of well-

trained dcg. The lecturer has been working for 10 yeaa-s among the soldiers, and can testify to the immense use of the dog in warfare. Ho next spoke of the equipments of dogs in actioa. In Sennany tlie.y have a sort of sadd.e containing bandages, etc., brandy, and a waterproof round their backs j but this, Major Richardson thinks, is too heavy, and prevents their running or getting between barbed wire fences. They must have some sort of uniform when with their regiments to distinguish them, but, he thinks, as little as possible. The ambulance dogs hare the red cress on a white coat -over their backs, of course, and the lecturer brought two dogs thus equipped for the audience to see. They were cross-bred bloodhounds, -very gentle, and with most intelligent faces. In some armies the dog carries a bell ; in others it has luminous paint on it. The keenness of scent is the ohief thing necessary in a war dog, and Major Richardson thinks a cross-bred bloodhound has the best nose of any dog. Their sense .of hearing, too, is very acute. They can hear, when the air is still, 400 yds away, and are placed between the sen ones. A well-trained dog is not allowed to bark, only to growl, when he wants to give the alarm. In the Austrian Army a detachment .one night, being tirod out with the day's manoeuvres, all s'.ept, even to the officer, when the dog who was with them awoke the officer by -growling. He at once roused V~e -Jfren, - who discovered the enemy waa making a night attack. They were 6aved from- disgrace by means of the faithful 'uog. Ai xnuspruch an officer told his men to repair a bridge over the river, but did not place them under any cover. All at once their 'dog began to growl. The officer, understanding the dog, instantly ordered his men to hide on either side of the road behind the hedges. In a few minutes the enemy dashed through, the men in hiding cut off their retreat, and the whole squadron was taken, entirely through the dog. The captain of the United States cavalry always took dogs with him when he went into an ambuscade. The Germans place a line of dogs (they use their own sheepdogs now ; they formerly bought Airedales, collies, etc., from us) outside their sentries, so that if we ever fight that nation we must be prepared to meet their dogs first, says Major Richardson