THE KENNEL.

Otago Witness, Issue 3890, 2 October 1928, Page 33

THE KENNEL.

B;

Terror.

Fanciers and breeders of dogs are cordially invited to contribute to this column. “Terror” will endeavour to make this department oa interesting and up-to-date as possible, but in order to do this he must have the cooperation of his readers, hence ho trusts this invitation will bo cheerfully responded to.

“■ Fox Terrier.” —You should take the dog to a veterinary surgeon. The trouble may be cancer or merely a tumour caused by accidentally being scratched by barbed wire, or it may be some infectious trouble dangerous to have about —particularly if there are children. A’ good wash for a tumour is:—Goulard’s water, _ $ pint; laudanum, Joz; tincture of arnica, Joz — mixed.

“ Dog Lover.” —I cannot answer your question definitely. Instances of the-' crossing of the Alsatian or German sheep dog with the wolf have been recorded, and Theo. Marples in “ Show Dogs ” says that there can be little doubt that this cross has been made, although there does not appear to be any exact record of this having taken place, for the simple reason that such a cross would be looked upon as somewhat illicit, carrying with it the possibility of a deterioration of the dog if indulged in to any great extent. We have therefore, this authority points out, to first ask ourselves is such a cross between wolf and dog physically possible, and, having ascertained that it is (but not between dog and fox), then the question arises as to what it was that induced owners of sheep dogs to resort to such a cross. The answer is not far to seek. There can be no doubt that it was to give the sheep dog greater fierceness and ability to defend his charges, the sheep, from marauding wild animals in the waste and pastoral countries of "Europe. This added faculty with that of the greater cunning of the wolf has been an acquisition to the Alsatian in the later vocation to which he was applied in the Continental countries, viz., as a watch, police dog, and guard. Apart from historical records of the wolf cross, which may not be very reliable, there are several physical features of the Alsatian wolf dog, such as a certain formation of the skull, feet, and tail, and the fact that the oestrum of some bitches of the alleged first cross were like that of the she-wolf (annual instead of biennial as in a canine bitch) which support the theory of relationship.

It is announced that the trophies owned by the Hawke’s Bay Kennel Club, which has been defunct for some years, have been handed over to the" Wairoa A. and P. Association for competition in its dog section.

The Canterbury Kennel Club holds its annual show on November 8 and 9. Mr Norman Wade, of Auckland, is to be the judge.

. A Knotty Question. —An unusual point cropped up. in connection with the champion show at Bournemouth, England. A challenge certificate in bitches was awarded to an exhibit, the owner of which had died two days before the show. The Kennel Club of England has been* asked for a ruling on the matter, but as it is the first case of the kind it is in a quandary. According to law, it is understoody until probate is granted the dog has no legal owner and is not entitled to compete. The challenge certificate therefore would pass to the reserve animal. There was no breach of any of the Kennel Club’s regulations, and a question raised is whether the club is bound to uphold the judges’ award in the circumstances.

Chow fanciers in New Zealand will be interested in the fact of the importation of new blood by their fellow-fanciers in Australia. It api -s that an Australian fancier visitihg England has purchased a pair of good Chow-chows to take back with him to Sydney. These dogs are described as a topping young bitch from Dewsbury All Black and a highly promising young dog of J. T. Hartwell’s breeding. % Cocker Spaniels.—The standard description of the ears of a cocker spaniel is as follows: —“ Ears lobular, set on low, leather fine, and not extending beyond the nose; well clothed with' long silky hair, which should be straight—no positive curls or ringlets.” Very long ears in a cocker epjftiiel, which some fanciers seem to admire, are calculated to impede his movement in pursuing his calling in the field, and should be discouraged. The chief points to look for in a cocker spaniel are compactness of body, straightness of forelegs, squareness of muzzle, dark eyes, and flat coat, with a down carriage of stern. Common defects in the breed, especially the coloured variety, are crooked fronts, light eyes, and co.ck tails, which, says Theo. Marples, are an abomination alike to sporting men and to good judges.

We often hear of or see warts on dogs. They come and sometimes go mysteriously, just as they do on human beings. They are often' painful, and should be got rid of as soon as possible. “Medicus,” in Our Dogs, says: “Warts

have an unpleasant way of bleeding freely if you attempt to remove them when they have grown large and ripe; whereas if dealt with in their early stages they will yield to a touch of caustic or a spot of nitric acid, and disappear without any unpleasantness at all. But this needs to be done most carefully, using a camel’s hair pencil. When the warts are large, however, this method will not do. They will then have to be cut away, and the first thing to do is to tie them tightly up with thread to prevent haemorrhage, and then cut them away, and apply styptic colloid. It is much the best .plan, however, to let this be done by a veterinary surgeon. Amateur efforts in such a direction are likely to end in disaster. It is said that, in the early stages, treating with damped bicarbonate of soda has a preventive effect; but personally I have not found this to be of much use. It is surprising how these things will increase if they are left alone; so my advice is—deal with them effectively as soon as they appear.”

Pekingese.—ln the English Kennel Gazette for July there is a critique by Mrs R. A. Gibbons, who judged at Windsor Show. She writes: “I wish to call the attention of all Pekingese enthusiasts to the prevalence of small screwed-up eyes, many light in colour, also lack of ear fringes in so many modern and otherwise beautiful dogs, two points the absence of which very much detract from essential type. Not having recently judged, the impression made upon me is most marked. When I first started breeding large, dark, full-looking eyes were the rule, not the exception, as they appear to be now.” Mrs Gibbons’s view of the present-day tendency towards the smaller eye is confirmed by Lady Holder’s critique on the dogs she judged at Taunton. She writes: “The points in which I should like to see an -.improvement are, firstly, the eyes. I think in the endeavour to procure the flattest possible face with the largest wrinkles, the eyes are tending to become smaller and more sunk into the face, losing in this way one of the most characteristic points of the breed. The other point is the body conformation. A large and profuse coat is certainly a great asset, but where it covers a shapeless, flat-sided body it is my opinion that the better shaped dog should triumph.” That two judges should have been impressed by this same feature—the lessening in size of the Pekingese’s great beauty of eyes—should draw breeder’s attention to the point. The Bulldog.—The July number of the Kennel Gazette contains, a comparative table of registrations for the years 19081927. So far as bulldogs are concerned, it is pretty generally admitted that the years 1908 and 1909 represented the period when the breed was at the height of its popularity, and this is borne out by the statistics, which show that in 1908 1739 bulldogs were registered, and 1716 in 1909. These are probably the two highest figures ever reached by the national breed, but until the outbreak of the war the decline was only slight, as in 1913 there were 1617 registrations. The war period, with its consequent breeding restrictions, hit the breed very badly. In 1 1919, the first year after the war, only 572 bulldogs were registered. The increase in the next tliree years was slow, but steady, and in 1923 we had got back to 1351 registrations. In 1925 there were 1609 registrations, which was only 130 short of the record year of 1908; but in 1926 and 1927 we have unfortunately gone back a little, the numbers in these two years being 1537 and 1475 respectively. In numbers we are about 15 per cent, down upon the breed’s best year, and our inferiority in general quality is, to my mind, in about the same ratio, though it must be borne in mind that the war hit bulldogs harder in all probability than any other breed, and that when the war finished we possessed barely one-third of our pre-war number of dogs, so that the task of rebuilding was not an easy one, and on the whole we may be said to have done pretty well. I—Our 1 —Our Dogs.

. The Cocker Spaniel.—A certain Home judge having used the term “ short back,” the writer of “ Spaniel Notes ” in Our Dogs says: “I am with him when he says that the word e short ’ in its reference to the back should never have been included in our standard—•* short-coupled ’ would have covered the whole requirement, and it would have ensured better all-round quality of body. This point recalls some criticism directed two or three seasons ago against one of our most capable allrounders when he described a particularly smart cocker as being ‘ too short

in the back.’ This judge makes few mistakes and his opinions carry weight. In the case under notice I for one should hesitate to question his judgment as phrased.- I hold that the terms ‘ short back or ‘ short-coupled ’ are significantly distinct. The back extends from withers to root of tail. Couplings I regard as the space between back ribs and stifles—the loin, to be precise. A cocker may be short in back and yet be weak in couplings. . This indicates loss of power, as any judge of hunger or hackney will testify; while a dog with a longer back is often more strongly coupled. Sometimes one overhauls dogs which might almost be described as victims of the short-back craze—so short indeed that when this is coincident with a short coupling the back rib comes up so closely to the stifle as to impair freedom of movement, and the rib line is so restricted that it cramps the space for proper operation of the vital machinery—heart and lungs.”

REGISTRATIONS IN AMERICA AND ENGLAND. The comparative statistics of the position of breeds of dogs in America, as taken from the American Kennel Gazette, and that of the dogs in England, as taken from the English Kennel Gazette, in each case the registrations being during the month of May, are interesting. The following are the most notable figures:—

7 America. England. Airedale terriers . . 57 300 Alsatian wolf dogs 1269 562 ♦Boston terriers . . 915 Beagles 98 Chow Chows 295 70 Collies 145 88 Fox terriers (smooth) 21 199 Fox terriers (wire) . . 249 640 Irish terriers 54 78 Pekingese 203 367 ♦Pinschers 49 1 ♦Schnauzers 45 Spaniels (Clumber) , . 9 Spaniels (Springer) . . 112 151 Welsh terriers . . Q West Highland Whites 8 54 Whippets 5 26 lorkshires , 2 36 • Not on the K.C. Register.