THE KENNEL.

Otago Witness, Issue 3885, 28 August 1928, Page 33

THE KENNEL.

By Taißon. Fanciors and brs&ders of dogs are cordially invited to contribute to thia column. “Terror” will endeavour to make this department aa interesting and up-to-date as possible, but in ©rder to do this he must have the cooperation. of his readers, hence he trusts this invitation will be cheerfully responded to. A correspondent writing from Kurow asks for republication of notes which have appeared in these columns respecting the Alsatian, he being now the proud possessor of a dog of this breed. I am afraid that any notes I could republish would not be found particularly favourable to the Alsatian, as almost invariably reference has been made to their alleged wolf-like propensities. However, in next week's issue of the Otago Witness kennel notes will appear some particulars taken from Theo. Marple’s book on show dogs and the Alsatian Club’s standard of perfection. It is announced that Mr .Norman Wade (Auckland) is invited to judge all breeds of dogs at the Canterbury Kennel Club’s Show, to be held in November. As a contemporary kennel scribe remarks, the fact that the Fox Terrier Club (England) has a creu.it balance of £836 will excite envy in the minds of many show secretaries who are in perpetual worry trying to keep down expenses. It is reported that through difficulty in making suitable arrangements the Wellington Club has had to abandon the idea of running whippet races this year. Speaking of the popularity of greyhound racing in the Old Country, Briga-dier-general Critchley, who is managing director of the Greyhound Racing Association, says: “About 1 per cent, of the population of any district where there is a track go to the dogs. In Manchester, with a million people in close radius to the track, the average attendance last season worked out at 10,000 per night. In Edinburgh, where there are 400,000 people, the average worked out at 4000. The White City, in London, which taps a population of roughly 4,000,000, averages 400,000 per night. The consensus of opinion is that greyhound racing meets a popular requirement.” At the Australian Ladies’ Kennel Club’s Champion Show, held this month, an interesting* feature on the second day of the show was a competition to select the most beautiful dog from an artist’s point of view. A silver cup is to be given to the winning dog. For two weeks in succession remedies have been suggested in these notes for eczema in dogs, and possibly still another reference to the subject will be acceptable to some readers. The following is by an Australian authority:—“Eczema being a constitutional trouble, internal treatment must be adopted. Administer three or four drops of Fowler’s Solution in a teaspoonful of water twice a day after meals for one week, then once a day for another week or so. In this disease diet plays a very important part. Raw lean beef in most cases is the best, but very occasionally it will be found that the dog does not improve on this, and if such is the case the food should consist of bread and broth, with green vegetables given cold. Apply to the sore spots a soothing lotion. One recommended for this purpose by Mr Vero Shaw, the well-known English authority, consists of laudanum 2oz, glycerine loz, carbolic loz, carbonate of potash 2dr, and water 1| pints. The dog should also be given cooling medicine.” 111-trained Dogs.—An Australian owner of Alsatians remarks: “ These dogs would not be so disliked if their owners kept them under control, but few Australian owners appear to keep their dogs under control.” No doubt this is true, and most dog owners of experience will agree that it is so whatever the breed they keep. If a dog misbehaves in the street, park, seaside, or at home it is, generally speaking, a reflection on the owner as to his right to own a dog. Clever Sheep Dog.—At a sheep dog trial held in the Marlborough district a Mr B. Ward ran his dog Boy in the open event, which required that a dog should go away about 500 yards on a hillside, head three sheep that had been released there, and bring them down to the handler and yard them. Boy had been trained to be what handlers call an “ eye dog ” —that is, a dog that exercises a- form of mesmeric control over sheep. When proceeding up the hill the dog Unaccountably fell into a watercourse. On approaching the sheep he showed no signs of being aware of their presence, and would have gone right past them had not his master's whistle caused him to halt. He was then noticed to be sniffing the air, and only when orders were whistled did he move forward. The dog headed the sheep, and started to bring them in, but his behaviour was strange, and while the sheep went one way he sometimes went another. Mr Ward was puzzled that the dog took no notice of directive movements, but was quick to Respond to whistled commands. It was

only when the sheep had practically reached the yards that Mr Ward and the spectators realised that something was wrong, and they came to the conclusion that the dog was blind. This was found to be correct, and Boy could not see anything more than a yard away from him. Nevertheless he had headed and taken his sheep into the yard simply by the sense of hearing and smell. “ In Scotland,” says Rawden Lee, “ there are those who believe the hard-haired Scotch terrier, the deerhound, and the collie are one and the same dog. Though the bodies and general forms of the three are very diverse, their heads in shape and expression much resemble each other. Their ears are much the same in carriage and character, and the dispositions of the three varieties are similar, or would be so if they were all brought up and reared under the same system. The coats or jackets of the deerhound and terrier are both hard and crisp and much the same in colour, fawns or light browms being occasionally found in each, the prevailing shades being various degrees of brown or dark brindle. The collie on the other hand has a longer coat of a different colour, perhaps the result of crossing fancy rather than for useful purposes. No one who possesses any eye for a dog can fail to notice some resemblance between these three native dogs, so unlike in some particulars, so similar in others.”

THE CULTIVATION OF COAT. There are several breeds of show dogs which depend for their beauty upon the length and profusion of their coat —Skye terriers, Yorkshires, Japanese, Pekingese, Poms., Shetland sheep dogs, and collies. If these are “ out of coat ” they are withheld from exhibition or severely handicapped. In many breeds ’the coat counts for as much as 15 per cent, in the scale of points. A- good judge, of course, estimates a dog by its frame and not its covering, but at the same time he recognises that the condition of the coat is one of the best indications of the animal’s state of health. A good coat depends upon the health of the skin, and a good skin is impossible if the do" is not properly fed and exercised and kept perfectly clean and sound. But even when their dogs are kept in perfect physical condition, there are some owners who still fail in getting the coat into superlative bloom, and who cannot, in spite of all their efforts, succeed in making it grow long and profuse. This is especially the experience of exhibitors of the Yorkshire, the Skye, and the Maltese, in which extreme length of coat is so much a consideration. A breeder has asked me for advice on this matter. I am afraid I can give her no absolutely sure prescription, but I am bound to admit that failure or success is dependent upon method. In the first place the dog must be kept in perfect health and regularity. His food should be in concentrated form, little in quantity, but nourishing; he should be underfed and not gorged. He should be kennelled out of doors, not in the house, and his kennel should be very airy and clean, but dark. Some people believe that darkness is the whole secret of long hair, but coldness of atmosphere is even more valuable. The growth of the hair is always abundant in a cold climate, and, warmth and stuffiness are bad for the skin. Much washing should be avoided. The long-haired dog can always be kept perfectly clean and free from insects by careful grooming. He must never have cause for scratching, and his nails should be trimmed if thely cannot be worn down by running on hard pavement. Constant combing is not necessary. All that is needed is to keep the coat free from tangles and to get rid of the dead u hair, and the long-bristled brush is a better instrument than the comb.

There are many lotions on the market for promoting the growth of hair, but the best one is the simple mixture of equal proportions of paraffin and olive oil, into which the grooming brush is dipped. The oil keeps the hair supple; the paraffin is cleansing, and it has the great advantage that no fleas will go near it. As the paraffin evaporates it carries off the greasiness of the oil and leaves the coat

in good condition for the final process of grooming in preparation for the show. — The Dog World.