THE KENNEL.

Otago Witness, Issue 2861, 13 January 1909, Page 35

THE KENNEL.

By Tkrbob. VMot*r* and breedera of dogs are cordially invited' t» contribute to this column. " Terror " will •ftdeavonr t* make this department as iot«r«»tkj* •ad h po«*lbl«, but in order to do thi« lie aoft hare the co-operation of hii re»deri, iMnoe be tract* thii inrltfttion will b» chterfully Mcpended to. — Blood-hound hunting is engaging 1 a considerable amount of attention in England. Purebred blood-hounds are used; but crosses with the foxhound, old southern hound, and the Vendei Nivernais are also worked. Cups and medals are oompefcod for; the hounds to work or«r a. course of 3JD miles of country. Great numbers of people interest thameelves in watching the trials, and those who love the blood hound as a man-hunter and those interested in fox-hunting ioin hands in this particular iar.ey. The following is an interesting account of a trial rum in Gloucestershire at ■K-hich the hounds excelled themselves: — The runner had been allowed 80min start, and as ha had left no trace behind- him to show where he had started, I had to cast for his line at the bottom of a field. I, of course, had no knowledge of his intended route, but- it soon became clear to me tljat he was out to puzzle hounds if he could. They hit off his lir.e immediately, and e-t «, £ood gallop caxued it ovex 1 roatk wid

then at right angles over a nasty unjumpable brook, vnrougii a iarmyurd, a neru 01 milkers, and a nock of enoep, all m th-3 first mile. They Jijd also to take it over a mam road twice, and down a eiixi3r road (with, plougtt on each side) for a quarter 01 a mile. It was when the fugitne left this road on the plough that tne only Teal cnecs occuned. i±e uoubledi on his track on the plougJi or th-e edge 01 the cinder road, and came buck tne wiiole quarter of a mile, beiore he started to ciocs. the plougn, the going and returning lines only t>eing lour yards apart ! rioldtast carried the lins back all right (but at the time I did not bslieve her), and it turned out aiten\aidi» tna,t the hue the runner tooK when he did actually cross the plough had bean completely obliterated by the cnain harrow alter tne drill, so their inability to own it was excusable, I think. On settling to the line again, when they had got off the plough, they ra.n very last, and as th© country was an awkward one, 1 am afraid nobody could live with them, so their work and pace over the last two miles was only seen at inierv ab, and from some way off. Revelry again beat Holdfast on the whole distance (between four and five miles). At one time 6he was seen by two men who were following the^trail to leave a field, carry the linedown 40 y-ards or road, and into another field, like a flash, and established a . lead of 300 yardson Holdfast, -which she maintained for nearly a mile, taking it all by herself over a main road. I do not think Holdfast could ever have got up to Revelry again, unless the runner (still bent on baffling them) had crossed and recrossed his line in a grass field, and it was here shs got up and helped to puzzle it out ; and the runner (up in a tree) wa^ very enthusiastic in describing their work, and ultimata recovery of the line, but nobody but he saw it. Other men and women ws passed during the run might not have been there for all the notice the hounds took of them and their lines. They raced th© last mile neck and neck, a-nd found their man in his tree, from whom I gained my information about their work over the last part of the run. Revelry winded him up in the tree first. I asked him if the hounde were ready for the pieco of cooked meat he threw down to them, when they had found him, a,r.d he said, "Yes; that's the only thing they didn't bother- to smell !"' — A contributor to the columns of a Home kennel paper speaks of the question of dark eyes in Newfoundlands as a fad of the fancy, and as th© question of colour of eyes is interesting to fanciers generally some reference to the arguments used are legitimate in this column, even though Newfoundlands are practically non-existant in the Dominion. The writer asks, "Can a dog see better with a dark eye?" and he replies that he {hinka not, and argu-ea that so long as sight is not impaired it becomes nothing more nor less tjiau a tad to contend that a light eye is a fault. He nointe out that the greatest oculists of the day are inaecord "that th© colour of the eye effects their strength, and those whose eyes are brown or dark-coloured; are weaker and more susceptible to Injury from various causes than lighter eyes. Lisrht "blue eyes are the most powerful, and next to those are grey. The lighter the pupil, the greater and longer continued is the degree of tension which the eyes can sustain. He has seen dark-eyed Newfoundlands suffering from scalding of the. eyes, but never saw this in light eyes." He says, "When a dog faces you it may be more pleasing to see a nice "dark hazel eye than a light one ; but Ihe light-eyed dog should not be run down, because he is blessed with greater strength of vision, and if in all other points it is near perfection it should not be passed over, a3 he had seen done at the Palace show with the comment : 'Light eyes ; take it out.' " — The Czar ot Russia has presented Major Richardson, through General Yermoroff, Rusaian Military Attache, with a magnificent goUL watch decorated with the imperial arms in diamonds, as a mark of his Majesty's appreciation of the work done by his ambulance dogs in Manchuria. Major RichardsoD has previously received th© Red Cross war medal from the Empress Marie. The dogs survived the campaign, and are at present in St. Petersburg. — A good many dogs suffer from stomach trouble in various forms, and ono of the commonest of these is what is known as colic — a condition of acute pain in the intestines, due in most eases to the presence of undigested or indigestible food, or it may even be due to a stoppage such as would be caused by a piece of bone becoming ledged in one of the passages, and preventing, i.n this way, the carrying on of the dige»»tiva precede?. Frequently puppies are euffore-rs from colic, and the first idea that suggests itself 10 the owner is naturally the question whether or not the puppies are suffering from worms. Most puppies do suffer in this way, and in mc*t cases it will bo found that an attack of colio is due to this plague. It is not so in every case, liowe* er, and if tho owner be fairly satisfied in his own mind that worm* are not the cause, and if his puppiesr whine and howl with what are apparently colicky pains, the probability is that the food which they are having is to blame, and a change should "be tried at once. Puppies are fed on all sorts of food nowadays, many of ■which avo. entirely unsuitable tor them. Too often the food is of too easy a, naturo for digestion, rathar than of a.n indigestible nature. It is just the tamo with puppies as it is with babies ; nowadays there is a tend^ncv to this sort and that sort of "easily digested" food, specially reconinieixTed for the purpose, when as a matter of good ?enr>e it would be far better to give foods which require more digestion. These patent foods, if used unwisely, when there is no real need for them, have a tendency to allow the digestive powers of puppies to deteriorate. There is nothing like plain, wholesome food for puppies — a little fresh meat, some hard biscuits to gnaw, and bones to bite. i They are hardy little chap** as a rule, and it takes a sjreat deal Cjf plain, natural food tp upset -their systems. What does upset them and cause colic and things of that sort is to give them sour food of a mealy type. which has started to ferment. This should #R>st carefully be avoided, and all food givem to puppies should be absolutely fresh and sweet and wholesome. — Black-and-tan terriers are, without doubt, making headways on the Continent, and fast gaining in popularity the ground the-y have of late years lost in England. Indeed we venture to &a-y that Unless breeders at home wake up to the interests of the breed they will be outdistanced by the German breeders, with whom the "black ''ds" are go.iijtf strong. The Blftck-

and-tan Terrier Club (Berlin) is one of the- ' strongest Continental specialist clubs, and caters w ell for the interests of the breed. We would particularly impress upon breeders not to overlook those esssiitial points,- leg's, feet, and shoulders, as it is in these respects we have noticed the greatest failing in tho breed in Germany, and the^e points count so much in the formation of that tout ensemble of smartness which should always be a leading characteristic of the Manchester Terrier. — Our Dogs. I