THE KENNEL.

Otago Witness, Issue 3097, 23 July 1913, Page 33

THE KENNEL.

Bt Tkbbob.

F»ao;er» and brcader# of dogj aro rorJlaUy io»it«d to contribute to thia column. “ Tcr~or ” will endeavour to make thii department at interesting and up to dale a* poeeibio, but in order to do tblj he must hare the co-operation of his readers, hence h* Iran* tV , invitation will be cheerful!? reaponded to. The South Island British Bulldog Club had a, very good attendance at their meeting last week, Mr Hutton occupying the chair. It was decided to write to a- number of Christchurch fanciers asking them to join the club, and pointing out the advantages of doing so, one of which is that all financial members aro eligible to compete for trophies. At least five trophies are open for competition, and probably a number of half-guinea trophies will be offered to bo won outright. this, of course, is to encourage novices. Two now members were elected. The matter of championships for New Zealand was brought up, and, after discussion, the conclusion was arrived at that the South Island was not treated quite fairly for championships, so far as bul.dogs were concerned, by the Kennel Club. One thing that struck the meeting was that, although their chib had a membership of 60 and that there were two large shows (one at Dunedin and one at Christchurch), yet they only got championships awarded to the South Island once in three or four years. Mr Mcn/.ies, a member of the local club, who used to be on the Kennel Club committee, explained that there were so man smaller shows represented that ho did not see any chance of their getting the conditions altered. The opinion that the South Is'and was not being treated right, however, it was explained, was also held by Mr Court Rice, the judge at the last Dunedin Show. Mr Meiizics has throe puppies by Amin rst Baron coining down from Wellington. He also lias three very nice puppies of similar breeding, which are available for anyone anxious to make a start in the fancy. has decided to hold a match next Friday, the 23rd, between bitches owned by Messrs Meiizics, Hutton, and Cardham, and Mr Adair has consented to judge. The meet takes place at Mr Hutton’s auction rooms, and fanciers attending will find it worth while, if only for the information regarding points which will fill the air for the time being. Mayor of Dunedin is on the look-out for a bulldog puppy. It is to be hoped for the sake of the fancy that one qualified to attract Mr Downie Stewart will soon bo to the fore. Mr Statharn, another well-known Dun- . din citizen, has recently purchased a bulldog, and there is every reason to believe that this means another good fancier recruited into the local ranks. Mrs (Dr) Mil's (low, of Wellington, advises some local friends that she is likely to take up residence in Dunedin next year, bringing with her Burbank Counters. "This ladv is very anxious to form a ladies' club, and. cons'dering tliat there are quite a number of ladies at present in the fancy here, her object should not be a difficult one to attain. The third annual meeting of the Fox Terrier Club of Wellington was held the other evening. Mr U. Triggs presided. During the course of the evening a letter from Mr G. 11. Hutchinson, of Auckland (a vice-president), was rend. The pith of the letter was that the Wellington members had not entered for the Auckland terrier shows, and with til’s fact in view - it was decided that the Auckland members could not see their wry clear to enter in!o anv more of the Wellington competitions. It was subsequently mentioned that the reason We] Ington men had not entered was the scarcity of blood terriers. Notice was given of the motion to amend the rules governing the competition for the Inter-island Shield w : rh the object of equalising the chances of north and south, and to alter the rules governing the annual sires’ produce with the object of allowing enir'es of sires at date of entering progeny. These were left jn the hands of the incoming camndt tee Tt was also decided to increase the subscription to 10s per annum for active members and 5s for bon. members. The following were elected officers for the ensuin"- vnr President M- T( T'if's: vicenreshl ■. .Messrs -T. F. M : lls J. Webster, .1 I’hlhiot. T.eo f’lni'iio. J. .Jamieson. J. W, Tli 'isM- ("!. R, Hutchinson. J. T. Sin-lair, •r yr vrqford. J. F. Atkins; bon. niTt-r, Mr -T. W-b-rer; hon w-t •■•riparian. M>- F. Drossier; bon. secretary Mr H. Sh-nh v; bon.treasurer. Mr A R’obnrds; Mmsw. merit f'onmatco — Messri -T. Hardy .1 TTar. ~M>. C. S. M ‘Fean. A. Mir.oguo, D. Ware-

ham, C. Charlc-svvorth, C. Fitchett, and Mrs Winter. —Mr Clark’s (Mornington) black cocker bitch gave birth last Saturday to six dogs and two bitches to R. H. Bagshaw s stud dog Toronto Laddie. —Mr W Cock-bill's collie bitch Amictta Heather was placed as best collie in show at the Victorian Collie Clubs (Show last month, and Lea brook Madge and Leabrook Graceful both beat Amictta Heather in Adelaide. . _ Mr George Woodward writes from London as follows: —“ About one lady in every five is either leading or carrying a dog about. Anything from bulldogs down is m favour whether purebred or mongrel. It is a disease here at present, and ccrtainlj looks grotesque; but it is fashionable, and ihat settles it Pekingese arc bringing fabu'ous prices, one being poisoned recently for which £IBOO was refused. Thirty guineas is asked for stud fees. A fancier writing on the trimming question to Our Dogs says; “Primarily it may be honest for the owner, inasmuch as lie" wishes to show under a regulation authorising the removal of hair, which ho dors, and means to. continue to remove; but what does it lend to? It. leads to anyone soiling a clog of the breeds * excepted selling them dishonestly.” He contends that it is difficult for even a judge to t l ll whether a dog has been trimmed, and consequently buyers wou'd be at the mercy of skilful trimmers, for with license to cut, clip, singe, or rasp clown the bad-ooated dog will bo on a par with the ordinary coated dog. and the consequence must be that coats will deteriorate. A remarkable instance of maternal affection on the part of a dog comes from Beaumont, in the province of Saone-ct Loire. The other day one of tiro inhabitants went out of the town into the forest to gather firewood. He took with him his dog, which he loft to guard his coat and basket of food while he gathered wood. When he camo back some time later he found that the dog had given birth to three puppies, and when he started home he forgot to p’aco the puppies in the cart with their mother. During the night the dog jumped over a fence and ran the whole distance, some 10 miles, to the spot where her puppies had been left, and brought one back in her mouth. Then she made two more journeys to the spot in order to bring back the other two. Altogether she covered a distance of about 60 miles in a. night, and in her weakened condition it killed her. As a result of the poison indiscriminately laid at Lower Hutt at the end of last week 16 or 17 dogs lost their lives. In this number there were some of the most prized animals in the district. 01 :R TREACHEROUS FRIEND THE ESKIMO DOG. (By Felix J. Koch.) Probably it’s because, scientifically speaking, he’s not a dog at all, but a wolf, that the Eskimo do", beautiful and useful as he is, is so treacherous and so dangerous. You who land for the first time at. one of the lone posts of the Hudson Bay Company in the north, and see the great white dogs coming out to the dock to meet you, fawning upon you, or stretching their forepaws far out and wagging their bushy tails, cannot resist the temptation to pet them. You raise your hand and the dogs flee, believing you are about to strike them; for the people of the North know their nature too well, and so do not pet the dogs, but use the law of strength. The first piece of advice they give you is not to pet or stroke the dogs, and, above all, not to stumble and fall among them. Instantor the pack would be upon you, and you would be half devoured before they oou’d be beaten off. Again and again that has happened. In the lirtle post-cemetery at Cartwright, for example, is a monument set to tho few bones of two trappers. Tho men had come in witli their furs, and bartered these to advantage. Their sled well packed, they left in high spirits. A few days later some of their dogs slunk back to post, their torn harness about them. The trappers here suspected something amiss, and followed the tracks into tho woods. There they came on tho rest of the pack, crunching the bones of the drivers. Evidently of a sudden the dogs had turned on the (one drivers, and, before these had shot each the nearest one, the rest were upon them. Still, again, children playing among the dogs may wholly unconsciously rouse their ire. and. again, at once, all the dogs arc on them. Stuart Swaffield, the factor’s little boy at Rigolet, will bear the marks of such an encounter for life; and, but for tho harking and yelping of a Scotch dog dose at hand help would not have come in time to save him. Strangely enough tho Eskimo dog docs not bark, but gives a cull much like a wolf's. In order to try to decrease his rapacity cooked food only is given him. and in the bitter winters this is often served to him steaming hot. For driving the dogs are hitched tandemwise, or e’se in one broad fan form. There is a so-called “ storm-leader,” or guide dog, whom the driver directs as lie might a horse, and tho rest follow as lie leads. Often a given dog will shirk, and so an 18ft whip of seal hide is along, and drivers become export in wielding this, so that they can hit. whichever dog may for the moment, bo lazing. Latterly, in sections, a movement is on foot to supplant the dogs with reindeer; but as the dogs will scent a deer for miles, and have no rest till they get him, the people must ho induced to part with a!! their dogs before tho deer can be introduced; and. as a strong affection often exists between man and dog, and, moreover, the people are accustomed to tho dogs, while the reindeer is an unknown quantify, it is difficult to get them to consent to the change.