FANCIERS' COLUMN.

Otago Witness, Issue 3489, 25 January 1921, Page 23

FANCIERS' COLUMN.

Th« Otago Witness has been appointed the official organ tor the publication ot announcement* et the Dunedin Fanciers' Clob.

THE KENNEL.

BY

Terro.

Fancier* and breeders ot dog* are cordially laTlted to oontribube to this column. ‘'Terror 1 ' will endeavoar to make this department as interesting and up-to-date as possible, but in order to do thl* He must have the 00-operattau ot his readers, hence he trusts this Invitation will be oheeriuliy responded to-

“Cocker.”—You are overfeeding. Feed him only once daily, and that in the evening, for a couple of weeks, and you will find him lively and active enough. One good satisfying meal is ample for an adult dog, but see that water is always available. Mr O. Barlow, of Allanton, has disposed. of several of his cocker spaniels by Vogel Gunner ex Trixie. Mr Allan Johnston, late of Southland, has now settled in Dunedin. This fancier will, I feel, prove a decided acquisition to the local fancy, as he has bred several tiptop bulldogs, including the late Awamoa. He has also judged on several occasions with entire satisfaction. By way of reminder I may mention that the Otago Kennel (Hub’s Show is scheduled for 9th and 10th February, and entries close on the 26th instant. The secretary reports that he has had inquiries for a large number of schedules, and this he believes to indicate that the show will be even better than the last. I understand that Mr Fred Rogen has procured something good in the fox terrier line for a local fancier and that it is to be here in time for the show. Something in the way of novelty at the forthcoming show is a couple of entries from Australia. Mr Harry Rawson, in “The Kennel Encyclopedia,” gives the credit of establishing the “blue” Chows in England to Lady Granville Gordon, her daughter (Mrs Fandel-Phillips), and Miss Ambrose. The blues, he remarks, are most favoured in China. In her monograph of the breed Lady Dunbar of Mochrum writes:—“Tire Chinese mostly prize the blue Chow, which finds it origin in Manchuria, where it is jealously guarded by the monks, and is consequently very difficult to obtain, except through the agency of a mandarin. This variety is somewhat larger than the ordinary Chow, especially when bred in the East. Many of them have light shadings on tail and breechings. Comparatively few have been imported; but the monks, it is said, turn out of the monasteries all those not true to colour, and in this way blue-brod blacks have been picked up and brought to England, and have transmitted some of the blue colour to their blue progeny. The young blues carefully paired together or mated with blue-bred blacks reproduce their own particular colour and type, which latter does not differ materially from that of the ordinary Chow. The blue colour is more pronounced in their own country than here, where, owing partly to climate and partly to inbreeding with reds and blacks, it is generally more slate-coloured and grey with a rusty tone than genuine blue.” “Our Dogs” reports:—“Bulldogs at the Palace Show, although not numerous, were good _ in _ quality generally. The gallant captain judged them in his usual independent and don’t-care-for-anyone’s-opinion-but-my-own style of way. There was some controversy over the challenge certificate winners. The question was: Should a dog who buttons his ear win a certificate? As there is no rule to decide the Question, it is a matter left entirely to the judge, and if ho considers the dog with a button ear or ears can give the points he loses in ears and in general appearance (which must amount to a fair number) and then beat the next best dog to him, then there is no reason or rule to prevent him from giving the dog the certificate. Not that we consider button ears should be encouraged ! Just the reverse, as they are certainly an abomination in a bulldog So long as the club raises an objection to black-and-tans and black-and-whites, why not make some rule as regards button ears! It would be more satisfactory to all concerned. Nevertheless we congratulate Mr Hubbard on his .vin with Caulfield Monarch, and Mr Hickmott on getting Farleigh Phosferine in the front line. We were very pleased to see some of the old breeders on the ringside, and from little whispers we heard there is no doubt that we- shall again see some of them once more in the fancy. The sooner the better.” Mr Foeman Lloyd reports to “Our Dogs : Around Christmas there is always a large call for all kinds of dog's in this country, especially in New York. Dogs are looked upon as suitable presents for the festive season. The draw by the many dog emporiums on the suburban kennois then becomes great, and capital prices are given to the breeders. Some four or five years ago Mr Robert Lobban. formerly of Aberdeen, Scotland, and a noted purchaser of some of the best bulldogs the Old Country has produced, opened the London Dog Shop on Fifth avenue, the Regent street of New York. There were many who perdicted failure because of the enormous rental. The business, however, has prospered amazingly, and now Mr Lobban tells me he has purchased - premises within half a block on. the avenue from the famous Waldorf Astoria for the sum of £25,200. ITe goes into his new quarters in ’ the spring.” The Ghost Fox. —The South American ghost fox was believed to he extinct, but a London periodical recently reproduced a photograph of one. This animal was presented to the local “Zoo” In- a Brazilian mine manager. From the illustration he appears to have outgrown in height his other proportions. The legs are big boned, but altogether inappropriate to a somewhat scanty body. This South American prodigy possesses a snout of the accentuated “foxie” type, large ears cocked forward, coat rather like that of an ill -conditioned Pomeranian, and a good brush. The disparity in his proportions would doubtless give the animal a weird appearance if one ran across it in unexpected places. The ghost fox is distinctly doggy, but looks only half as alert as our own specimens. SHE. I.l* DOG NOTES. Dear “Terror,”—As the season of dog trials is again fast approaching, it is sincerely to he honed that club officials, and especially secretaries, will get busy and see

that the interests of the sport are kept ' well before the public, particularly in the matter of dates fixed for their annual competitions. Judicious advertising certainly mean 3 patronage, both in the form of competition and public attendance, and also avoiding the clashing of dates. It is surprising the deterring effect “outside” competition seems to have on the timid tryster, whereas they should reflect and realise that an outsider generally competes at a disadvantage. Local conditions always tend to favour the local man with his knowledge of the conditions. This, of course, applies in a broad sense; hence—to give credit where honour is due —a dog going to, say, the North Island, or vice versa, arriving practically direct out of field of action, is handicapped, even if the judge is not trammelled with local club conditions, which are essential, as about the only bar to the work becoming standardised —a most undesirable position—such as probably accounts for the general running by instinct so often seen at a good many trials, especially a few years back when the lack of brainy work vvas the rule, and command the master nine times out of ten —the man “the winner,” and not the dog’s work. This state of affairs possibly accounted for the fact that the more dog trialing about, the bigger the price. . The true worker or genuine hill mustering, and also huntaway dogs, were commanding high prices owing to the neglect being shown them by so many who were pinning their faith to trials to bring about that much desired improvement. 1 have to acknowledge receipt from Mr J. Lillico of a copy of programmes of late international trials held at Hexham, for which I thank him. Anything pertaining to sheep dog competitions, and the general well-being of sheep dogs in general, has long been a studied subject of the. writer, consequently I am pleased at having an opportunity to compare such an important club’s efforts with those prevailing in our own land. Though whole columns could be written re the programme before me, two brief notes must suffice for the time being. The one point is the evident care taken to have the test of a set order, and the other the evident stress manifest in the laudable effort to bring about an innovation in the form of “blind running,” a point the writer has long commended, and in return has been just as consistently ridiculed by Mr Lillico and other champions of a certain class of dog. However, the fact that the international officials have awakened to the necessity of breaking away from their former limited courses speaks for itself, and will, 1.0 doubt, lead other similar institutions to move and make their competitions “tests,” and not mere repetitions of mere carpet performances of little or no practical value. In conclusion, it would be interesting to have suggestions from some of our armchair critics as to how they would carry out the international tests —with sheep usually used for the game—in New Zealand. It would also be instructive to learn how long and how often the dogs had been trained to just such, a course. —“Black and White.”