BOBTAIL BARGE DOGS

Te Awamutu Courier, Volume 53, Issue 3800, 26 August 1936, Page 6

BOBTAIL BARGE DOGS

LITTLE “SKIPS” OF THE WHERRIES. : luring the last six months the I n, character, and use of dogs po--1 larly known in Australia have been d reribed. It is now proposed to deal v. h varieties not so well known and s: ‘ loin, if ever, seen in this country. A Brisbane fancier is making overtv es with a breeder to introduce the Si fipperke. A product of Belgium, th s breed is commonly used as a w. on canal barges, also in Holland, and adopted on board wherries on the Norfolk broads. Pronounced skip-per-kee, the name is probably the diminutive form of Schipper, meaning little skipper, and has been again familiarly shortened to skip. Like all spitz offshoots, this dog is bright, active, and affectionate, but ‘a little snobbish, has a marked individuality, and resembles no other breed at all closely. He is glossy, shining black al lover, has a fox-like head, rather small but very bright and intelligent eyes, a small, sharp nose, and erect, prick ears. The whole neck and breast are covered with an. erect frill of longer hair, as are the black margins of the thighs. The shoulders and chest are deep and strong, and the well-tucked-up little body is firm and springy. The legs are light, but strong, and the feet small and dainty. The tail is a mere stump, or button, more than an inch being a disqualification. They are said to be born tailless, and probably some are. But it is easy to meet the requirement, and it is certain that not any grow up with a tail, however they start. TAILLESS TYKES.

In this absence of tail the skipper is not akin to the Manx cat or the guinea-pig, but may be likened to the Queensland stumpy-tail cattle dog. The tailless theory in dogs is a myth. None of the canine species is originally minus a tail, although disciples of the Darwinian theory of inherited effects from continued mutilations argue that any breed so operated on will give birth to tailless pups. Certainly many natural bobtails are produced, and, by selective breeding, throw a preponderance of stumps; still, long and short sterns continue to appear in the same litter. Fox terriers have been docked for a century, but it is only an exception that emphasises the 99 per cent born with long rudders. In Great Britain centuries ago dogs kept for working purposes were immune from taxation, and amputation or curtailing was adopted to distinguish animals thus exempt. In olden times, in connection with the forest laws, the tail was removed to impede the animal’s speed in chasing rabbits. Without its tail a dog could not twist and turn so quickly.

The original skips had tails which frequently became jammed between the barge rails and the docks. The posterior appendange was accordingly docked. The cattle dogs in some districts got their tails so heavily acccumulated with burr that it became a custom to dock them also. Any amputation of the caudal vertebrae, however, can be proved to satisfaction by feeling for the scar left by the operation. It is interesting to note, too, that the proportion of natural stumpies is much higher in some strains than in others, and that a few stud dogs consistently sire phan-' tom flags.