THE KENNEL.

Otago Witness, Issue 2950, 28 September 1910, Page 35

THE KENNEL.

By Tebrob. .

Pincers anil breeders of dogt are cordially iftfited to contribute to this column. " Terror " will endeavour to make this department as intereatraic and up-to-date as possible, but in order to do tali he must have the co-operation of hi« readeri. hence he trusts this invitation will be cheers uu> ' responded to. - —"*" i —There is an art in washing dogs, just as there is in most things in connection with the management of a kennel. One great point to be remembered is to supply plenty of water, and if it is possible to provide two tubs for the ablutions it will be so much the better. The baths or tubs should be large, and if they are raised upon chairs or trestles over a drain it will be easier both to scrub the dog and to empty the tubs out afterwards. The latter operation is facilitated by having a hole, which can be plugged by a cork, in, the bottom of the tub, and this is easily arranged if the bath is a wooden one. The first water should be fairly warm, and should be deep enough I to come as far as the dog's stomach. In j the second bath there should be a good supply of tepid water for rinsing purposes ; —in fact, this water may be quite cold- if the weather is warm' and the animal a 'strong one. A sponge or a basin of some I kind—a jam pot Will do—should be- proi vided, and also a sufficiency of clean towels for drying the patient after the operation, ■ and with these, with one exception, the list ! of accessories is complete. The exception is a piece of good sound soap, and for the purpose of washing a dog there is nothing i better than Sunlight soap. Some people ! . add soda to the water, but many object to j it on the ground that it is injurious to the coat, and upon the whole it is perhaps best to avoid the use of 6oda. It is better ' to leave the face and head to the last, as then the soap ■vvTiich finds its way into the i eyes is quickly removed in the subsequent 1 rinsing, and the dog is kept in discomfort ! for a shorter period. As soon as the. dog comes out of the bath the water should be | pressed out of his coat by the hand, and ] he may be allowed to shake himself if the attendant does not object to getting wet, ! but care must be taken to prevent his, ' running away and rolling on a dirty bed or on the ground. When thoroughly dried the ! dog shoukL be given a clean bed, else his bath will not have effected its object, and I before replacing his collar, if he wears one, it should be thoroughly cleansed, else his neck will be stained. Fractures of the different bones of the limbs, also of the body and head, are very common in the dog, especially of the firstI mentioned parts. Symptoms: The symp- : toms of a fractured part are deformity, pain I and swelling at the seat of fracture, crepitus or grating together of the broken ends of the bone when the parts are moved. There are three kinds of fractures—simple, when one or more bones are broken in two pieces, as in fracture of the two bones (radius and ulna) of the foreleg or arm, and an absence of serious injury to the skin ; compound, when, besides fracture of the bones, the skin and other tissues are torn, exposing the bones; and eomrmnutive, when a bone is crushed into several pieces. It is of course, possible to have a compound oomminutive fracture. There is a false form of fracture that occasionally occurs in puppies, especially of the larger breeds more particularly when affected with rickets—that is, the separation of the epiphyses from the shaft of the bone Ine epiphyses arc the ends of the long bones, and in young animals they are joined to the main shaft by cartilage; later this becomes ossified or converted into bone. In treating small dogs with fracture of the leirs it is very important that the bandages should be as thin and light as possible. In these cases have bandages made of thin muslin or buttercloth about an inch and ahalf wide and four yards long, which soak in a thick solution of gum acacia This is put straight on the broken leg after it has Eeen set straight. A good many layers may be put on, and over this four thin unpadded splints are adapted, and then a few Favera of ordinary bandage to keep he splint* in their place, and they, wiA the outside bandages, may be removed in. a couple of days, by which time the gum has dried and set firmly. Fracture o tibia: This bone extends from the stifle o nt, to the hock, and is often broken when a dog L run over across the hind leg Treatment: A spnnt made of thin pine is the most suitable for these cases. . It must be we 1 oadded. When the patient is a big dog n Fs advisable to have two .splints one on either ride of the leg. They should extend from the foot .to the stifle joint above The joint should be in the oenx™ of the splint but this i* not absolutely recessarv though it has its advantages. One is, the joint does not become ,o Stiff, as it allows just slight movement. .Over the bandage a few strip, of Mead . pla.tei should always" be used to prevent the ban Robert W. Martin, a fox terrier

specialist, writes: —"In looking through the list of the registrations of wire-haired terriers for the last eighteen months one cannot help being struck by the frequent occurrence of the word "wire." As an adjective, and also as a noun,, the word frequently appears, and.where it 16 not actually used as either it is suggested in many cases by another word. Examples of what is meant will present themselves to mo3t show-goers, or a glance through the Kennel Gazette will provide them. Undoubtedly the idea in. every case is to convey the impression that the dog so named possesses a. hard, wiry coat, and "wire" to-day is used with its associations in much the same way as "bristles" was used in the old time befor the formation of the Hard or Wirehaired Terrier Association. This same striking feature in nomenclature is no doubt directly consequent upon the foundation of the association, and lightly may be considered an eloquent tribute to its work and influence. M the same time such tribute ie more graceful than tangible, arid we must confess that we could wish for more substantial results. Over-trimming is still rampant, and. whilst harder coats are evidenced, it oannot be denied that the curly coat is on ■ the increase. The hard, dense, straight coat is still a rarity, and the very short, curly coat holds the held. However, we make haste slowly, and no doubt all's W€ "- / . , t. A lady reader living at Queen s Park suggests that society ladies should make pete of other people's babies if they want something to cuddle, and leave little doggies to take their chance. As a fact, they much prefer poodles to babies, which have gone quite out of fashion.—John Bull. THE "ALL-ROUND? DOG. Dear Terror, —The above title at firit glance is a very taking one, but when one comes to go into practical details we find that the all-round dog, generally speaking is like the all round man—viz., "Jack of ail trades and master of none." Here I may just say to start with that I have no intention of running down the all-round rouseabout worker. He has a place, and that is on a farm where only one dog is kept, or possibly as one of a team to use in case of accidents. We are, however, livin tT in an age of specialising, and the man who has to earn his living as a shepherd on high country, if he means to do his work quickly and efficiently, must have a tmm'of specialist-;, each at its own particular line oi work. His huntways should have noise, force, be under perfect control, and hunt, slew, or stop at a sign or word of command. His heading dogs should be game, stylish, under good command, and above all things, thoroughly reliable. It is .in this latter attribute where the all-round dog usually fads. He may do exactly as you wish nine times out of ten. and in the tenth just fail at a critical moment—say, far instance, when he is expected to head sheep going over a apuv, he hunts them, away, and they are lost for that day or possibly for that season. This.is not surprising, as though the wellbred working 'collie is' the most intelligent animal in existence to-day, yet he can hardly be credited with knowing his master's thoughts, and if hunted one turn and expected to head the next he is bound to get mixed in his work, as even his owner will .do at times. Let the latter, for instance, stand at a double drafting gate for a forenoon, and allow, say, lambs to run straight through, ewes to the right and hoggets to left, then when making a fresh start for the afternoon, reverse the running order of the different lots and 6ee how things will get mixed with him. Yet the analogy is perfect, and when we expect a dog to head, hunt, or slew, and do them all well every time he is asked, then I submit we are expecting an inir possibility. Of course I am perfectly aware that we have- hundreds of dogs in the Dominion which can do all these. I will even go further, and admit that there maybe one bene and there which may at times do them all passably well, but my contention is that if you keep on mixing their work -they 'will eventually become unreliable either to hunt or head, the latter more especially. I don't know how many of your readers will agree with me, but in my own experience I have generally found that "the- dog which had any real claim to be an all-round one was one which, when young and fresh as a lending dog, was almost uncontrollable, and it was onlj when broken down in body by years of hard graft, and in spirit by scores .of .sound "hidings," that ho becomes docile enough to hunt away, and then only under compulsion. This type of dog can invariably be relied on to get to the head, even on three legs, if allowed to do so, and' to convert him into a huntaway simply .mean* getting him under command. Even, however, assuming that, we had numbers of this claims of dogs, a very important question is how wouid they breed? By mating a dog and bitch of this class we would find that, like produces like in temperament as well as in physical features; therefore, according to all the laws which govern heredity we would breed into a rfice of hard tampered, unruly rowdies. which onbv become moderately useful when they reach the "'scar and yellow leaf." Taking no v the tractable natural heading dog, which can be readily converted into the useful, handy one. when the well-bred working collie begins to work he will make for the head of sheep just the same as a joung duck will make for a pond, and to endeavour at this stage to convert him into a huntaway is working directly against Nature, which will inevitably end \\\- snoiling him as a reliable heading dog. With a tractabh youngstei, keen of running, it, ia quite possible to have the so-called allround one —that is. the dog which can be made to head or hunt, but the trouble is that he cannot do either well, and at a crucial moment, ; t may turn out, that he will do neither. The safest course then to pur.sue is to endeavour to produce specialists in their several lines, and in awarding specials for most points at a trial more regard should be paid to the above views on the all-roi-nd worker. To give a prize to a dog which after running in several events without scoring is encouraging mediocrity, and is in exact, opposition to the initial objects of a dog trial. I trust your readers who ere interested may be able to follow my argument, which is put briefly at the beginning of this letter — viz., the all round dog is usually like the all-round man, "a Jack of all trades and master of none." —I am etc.. James Lilico. , Lochiel, September 16. CHAMPION TRIAL WORKERS. Dear "Terror." —As the mover of this discussion. I think it follows I should

have the right to reply, so with your per« mission I * sha,li. do so* I will be as brief as - possible, and I will also refrain from introducing new. matters. First, then, to reply to your last' correspondent, " Style," who staays straight away off " the cost"—just what most of these dog-trial performers, are sc wont to do if their worker is not constantly in attention —by accusing ms of running dowrr. Mr Lilico's Border Boss. Never. I merely expressed a hope, that that dog was not of} the class of several former "bitter pills". of which true sheep dog men* had expert \ ences, which query certainly has not • been answered yet. Secondly, the true workinaj. Cheviot collie I sent my sluts to are nob mere oraoked-up carpet performers?.. • Thirdly, re the dog Lilico. Yes, he cer* t».inly was fast and easily otherwise what good would he have been?,. Certainly his brains would never have won •him note any more than he would ever. , have won a trial had he to run a hundred j yards out of sight of bis master —just like : the tradesman: "style" must be ac- , quainted with, must over have their iffaster> •standing over them; so unlike a good, all.- I round man—as good out of sight of his master as in it. Oh, yes! an odd Kelpie is goorl enough for trial wpji, but even ■' there, try them in sight. I know fchenr, ' even Star, Cross, etc t • ( Mr Fraser, I can assure you. loses no- i thing of his fame as a jester by the several ; huge jokes in his letter of the 17th ultimo;. : In that issue a-lso Mr Lilico suggests B took an apologetic attitude in my previous letter. Quite a mistake, having .nothing to excuse. Nov iv there anything specially; to notice in the rest ef hi.-, length? reply, except the conspicuous faot that he does not. refute one statement of fact of mine, j but wanders around making insinuations J unworthy of a true sport, ar.d certainly i does not enlighten ns as to whrih&r this late importation is of the unfortunate class of dogs I spoke against at the outsit, and j warned those possessed of gocd. true sheep j dogs to "bow are" era being led into tha same blunders as those who patronised such dog?. Mr Lilico asks me to explain | why that mere mechanical worker got SO consistently into tho money. My arguments all through really answerer! that—viz., he was trained specially, and preserved fo» that special class of work. He was never; asked to put his sheep a tiur:dr:d yards' out of sight: so it is easy -Hough for. - a dog to -score under circumstances, especially when so many points are allotted for mere "style" and "command." Sol now, Mr Lilico, allow me to aslc vou ai' question. Is it a fact, thai more "Owd Bobs" had to be destroyed-for their worry-) ing propensities than ever essavi-1 to enter a trial ring? Replying to M'- Morton, if that gentleman had not given himself away in his praise of Roxburgh Tweed, I would) have been pleased to congratulate him to) the possession of a true sheep dog in Jed;! (but as it is evident his opinion and mine of what is required of a good dog are eo> foreign to one another, I must simply betf 'to differ on tliat point; hut in re stvle, his knowledge of trial work,ls evidently very limited. —I am, etc., Br-Aos axd White.