THE KENNEL.

Otago Witness, Issue 3115, 26 November 1913, Page 29

THE KENNEL.

By Tkaaom.

Faaotera and brooder® of d®go era cordially Incited to conitrlbnto to this column. “ Terror ” ’Brill ecdsarour to mat* this department aa Intcreatmg and up-to-data as possible, but in order to do this ha ntal haro tho co-operation' of hla readers hanoa ha truata tU* IcTllmtioa will bo cheerfully ffaaponded to.

An effort is being made by some of the Dunedin Fanciers’ Club committeemen to form a specialist club for cocker spaniels. A meeting of cocker fanciers is to be called for Monday, December 1, at 8 p.m., at Messrs Hutton and Hcrriot’a rooms, for the purpose of arranging preliminaries, and also to hold an evening parade. I understand the movement is already meeting with support from some specialists of the breed, so it may be taken for granted that the meeting will not be an abortive one. Judging by the number of really good cooker specimens to be seen at large, the membership of this new club should bo a strong on© from the very start; but it is to bo hoped that all will turn up to the meeting and not, as is often the case, trust to the idea that the others will see it through. During the summer pay particular attention to cuts, bruises, and abrasions of the skin, for, if these are not seen to at once, dangerous germs, carried by flies, etc., may attack the part, and make serious trouble for both the dog and owner. Th© part should be promptly cleaned with a teaspoonful of boracio acid in half a pint of hot water, and, after perfectly dry, apply boracio powder, bandaging the part to present th© dog from licking. Dog-owners in country districts should always have small quantities of the remedies mentioned at hand. Now for a few suggestions anent external accidents. These are more likely to happen to sporting dogs, whose work amongst goree and bramble, in hedgebottom and brake, exposes them to greater danger—at least, of cjuts and scratches, not to mention the more serious possibilities connected with barbed wire, which I have seen rip open a dog’s belly from end to end, much as a horse gets ripped in the hunting field from the same ghastly obstacle. Again, many injuries of a similar character are suffered by dogs as a result of fighting. There is usually not much difficulty in getting these injuries put right, but the great thing to bear in mind is the importance of antiseptic treatment, especially where it is necessary to stitch up a wound. Here it is very essential to use a sterilised seton-needle and medicated catgut or silk, such as might bo used , in human surgery—-there being a real danger of suppuration, which will involve serious trouble subsequently. I,© ordinary small matters no! needing stitches, the first thing to do is to wash the wound carefully, and then the application of carbolised vaseline will usually set the cure going. Repeat the process of washing and anointing twice daily at least. Again I sav surgical operations should, wherever possible, be entrusted to a vet. In many cases, even where there is a large incised wound, it is possible, after cleansing the place, to get it healed by skilful bandaging. A bandage will almost always be necessary, even where stitches have been put in. It would never do to trust to stitches without covering the place up as well, for the average dog will quickly get the wound open (especially when it begins to heal up and is irritating). But simple adhesion, such a s becomes possible with clean-cut wounds, is not possible with what are known as lacerated wounds. These are apt to take bad ways if not very carefully treated. Apart from the necessity for sewing up any large “ rips,” there must be careful treatment of the whole surface injured—first by thorough cleansing and subsequently by bathing with some lotion of antiseptic qualities, and then again by anointing with suitable ointment. I might also add a word or two as to the desirability of- giving the dog something in the way of an internal blood-cooler. Compound rhubarb pills arc as good as anything, or a capsule of cascara sagrada—anything. in fact, that will clear the bowels, afid thus assist in preventing the development of feverish symptoms. A Manchester dog healer (says Our Dogs) was prosecuted c.n a charge of cruelty to a dog. The animal, which measured 31in from nose to tail and 14in high, was sent to London from Manchester in a box ]f>iui long. 16in wide, and 9in high. An official at the Marylebone Station, seeing that the box had only two small air holes, broke it open and found the dog dead. The evidence of a veterinary surgeon was that the dog must have been doubled up and forced into the box.- It was undoubtedly suffocated. The justice said the dog muet have suffered intense agony from the time it waa placed in the box until it died. He

sentenced the defendant to two months’ hard labour, without the option of a fine. A surgeon, writing to the Home papers relative to bulldog “type,” says he quite agrees that breeding for too short backs in bulldogs is thoughtless and cruel. He adds;—“Bulldog breeders expect Nature to perform a physical impossibility —he., a bitch with a narrow pelvis to give birth to pups with wide shoulders, large skulls, and blunt muzzles! If the exceedingly narrow pelvis is what the ‘ standard ’ advocates, then the ‘standard’ is making for the extinction of the breed. But does not the ‘standard’ only mean that compared with the width of the characteristically broad shoulders of a bulldog the hindquarters necessarily will appear narrow? Surely it is time that bulldog -judges recognised the imperative importance of this matter and penalised bitches which are anatomically unfit to reproduce their kind. This is a matter that should be taken up by all the bulldog clubs and seriously d:3cussed. If there were a few more actual breeder's of bulldogs on the committees of these clubs, this vital ■ question would have received more attention in the ‘standard’ description of what is required in a bull bitch. But, so far as I can discover, no special mention of a bull bitch’s points is made in either of the two existing bulldog .‘standards.’ With regard to the vexed question of ‘type,’ are there not too many amateur specialist bulldog judges? Does not the confused placing of the many ‘types’ in the prize-ring follow inexperience and ignorance? I ask these question merely because I have invariably found the judgment of the all-round judge to bo the most consistent to ‘type.’ ” One of the oldest breeds found in Great Britain, greyhounds, have occupied an honourable position in British sport from the Saxon period downwards. Compared with them the foxhound is a parvenu; indeed, but for them, he would not have come down to us in his present form. Of course, hounds that hunted by scent are as old as the swittly-running dogs, perhaps older, but they are vastly different from the beauties that hunt the fox at the present day. So far as .England was concerned, the virtues of greyhounds were appreciated before those of the slower dogs. It is generally supposed (according to the Daily Telegraph) that William the Conqueror brought over the black St. Huberts in hie train, and there is no reason to question the authenticity of this statement, beyond the slender evidence of a passage in Malory’s “Mdrte D’Arthur.” You may recall.how, when Arthur was wedded at Camelot, a great feast was given, and, as the company were seated, a white hart ran into the hall, pursued by a, white braohet and 50 couple of black running hounds. Brachet, old French for bitch, is derived from the old High German bracco, a hound hunting by scent. Malory may have been guilty of a picturesque anarchronism in ascribing these hounds to the time of King Arthur, or perhaps he translated without question trom the foreign originals upon which he drew so largely. The story continues with the relation of the quest'of the white hart by Gawaine and his brother, the death of the noble- beast by the fangs of three couple of greyhounds which the knights slipped, and the tragic consequences of the deed. Two of the hounds were slain by a knight, to whom Gawaine said: “Why have you slain my hounds? For they did but their kind, and I had rather ye had worked your anger upon me than the dumb beasts.” Quite the British spirit, one may observe, and not the first bickering over dogs. A correspondent of the Field relates how at Looe, Cornwall, on August 28, his retriever killed a blue shark weighing over 201 b. “The fish was sporting about in a small pool left by the tide,” he says, “and as it made a dash for the sea my dog sprang at it and fastened his teeth well into its side, causing a lot of blood to gush forth. For quite five minutes a keen struggle between dog and fish took place, first one and then the other gaining tee upper hand, the fish making many ineffectual attempts to bite its assailant. Gradually the shark got more and more feeble, and was finally dragged to the shore in triumph by its canine assailant.”