THE KENNEL.

Otago Witness, Issue 3662, 20 May 1924, Page 46

THE KENNEL.

By

Terror.

fanniera and bleeders of dogs are cordially >». Pited to contribute to this column. "Terror" vrllj endeavour to make this department as iwterestina and up-to-date as possible, but in order to do till* b« must hare the co-operation of his readers, hence he Jrusts this invitation will be cheeriuU* teapouded to. r E. P. —I have handed your letter to an Irish terrier breeder, who will communicate with you. The schedule for the Dunedin Fanciers’ Club’s annual show, to be held next month, is to hand. The judges appointed are Mr B. Ellis for all terriers and Mr A. Kidd for all other breeds. Every dog exhibited has to be registered with the New Zealand Kennel Club. According to a notification in the schedule, a veterinary surgeon will be in attendance to examine all dogs before they are chained up. Entries run large at English shows this year. The Kensington Canine Society’s show, held in April, closed its books with the wonderful entry of 437 b ! Truly a grand total for a one-day show! The Home Country Distemper Fund now amounts to £9518. It is reported that £25,000 is required to carry on the work as at present organised. The breeds of dogs providing the largest entries at the last Manchester Show were: Alsatians, 254; wire-haired fox terriers, 326; Airedales, 230; smooth fox terriers, 216. No other breed reached 200. The total < ntries were 3957 by 1298 dogs. Puppies during teething troubles (five to seven months) often carry their ears irregularly. If at the end of that age they do not get them erect or correct, accordingto breed, try sticking a piece of leather, according to shape, on the inside of the offending ear with cobbler's wax. A travelling dog-box should be in size such as will enable the dog to stand upright and then turn round in comfort inside, and be well ventilated, the ventilators being in such a form as will prevent any obstruction outside to the due ventilation. When in a luggage van the dog-box may have something loaded on top of it, or at one or other side of it, and this contingency requires to be guarded against in arranging the ventilation. The trimming of the coats of certain breeds of dogs intended for show has been practised to such an extent that the art of the trimmer has a great deal to do with the position the dog occupies in the prize list. As the powers that be merely wink at such wholesale trimming, it is no wonder that artistic owners devote so much time to the removal of the portion

o£ their dog's coat, which (according to the standard) should not be there. At a recent fixture (says an Australian writer) this trimming was performed openly, and the quantity of soft coat that was taken out of tne dogs which were subjected to the process known as stripping caused amazement to the onlookers, who did not understand tlie game. The removal of so much nuir must cause considerable pain to the dog, and I maintain that, even if stripping the coat permissible, the operation should not be allowed at any show or in close proximity to the ring where the dogs are being judged. -there has been so much written of late in adulation of the Airedale’s intelligence displayed in wartime and as a police dog, that it is no wonder fanciers are now taking more interest in the breed than they formerly did. The origin of the Airedale is not quite dear, but it is known that several breeds have been used in bringing it to its present standard. In clays gone by the Airedale was a much coarser and heavier dog, possessing a rough, and sometimes ragged coat. The Airedales now winning- in England, however, are very shapely and active dog's, of medium weight, and built on more racy lines than the earlier specimens. A most valuable importation of this breed to the Commonwealth is Ch. Lluii Eireaway, whose price is stated to have run into four figures. Record Snake-killer.—Mr W. Grey Rattray, of Craig Hall, Johannesburg, is the owner of a half-bred Irish terrier bitch who holds the record as a snake-killer, with a total of 259 snakes, chiefly ringhals and cobras. This large number are those actually recorded, and the snakes the dog kills when out hunting on her own account must also be considerable. On sighting a snake she makes a furious dash at it, and seizing the. reptile in her jaws she shakes and bites it to death. In the early stages of her snake-killing career she- was severely bitten by a ringhals cobra, and lay for nearly two days comatose. She is one of nte very few dogs that have been repeatedly bitten without fata! effect, and now she is immune to at least the venoms of the snakes she so frequently kills. —Cape Argus. * Comedy of Two Dogs.—Here is an amusing counter revolution story which is famous in Moscow, but has never reached the outside world. Four men, newly grown rich as the result of the new economic Policy, named Margolis, Ivanoff, Stein, and Kovalessky, being overburdened with wealth, decided on the importation of two setters from England, one being named Black Prince. A telegram from England, reading “Black Prince and his mate on the way,” was sent-, intercepted by the Cheka, and all four were arrested on a charge of being engaged in a counter-revolutionary plot and detained for three months, until the arrival of the dogs confirmed their story as to the identity of the “Black Prince.” They were tried all the sanio, however. Iho court then decided that they were innocent of the counter-revolution charge, but declared that they had all made too much money, and exiled them for three years to an Archangel prison.