Sporting and Dramatic REVIEW AND Licensed Victuallers' Gazette. With which is incorporated the Weekly Standard Thursday, July 21, 1904. THE AUCKLAND KENNEL CLUB’S SHOW.

New Zealand Illustrated Sporting & Dramatic Review, Volume XII, Issue 750, 21 July 1904, Page 6

Sporting and Dramatic REVIEW AND Licensed Victuallers' Gazette. With which is incorporated the Weekly Standard Thursday, July 21, 1904. THE AUCKLAND KENNEL CLUB’S SHOW.

I Much interest is being taken in the j annual show of the Auckland Kennel I Club, which will be opened to-morrow in the Federal Hall. A great many dogs will|be benched, and these will be of a more “ all-round [representative 1 character "than has formerlyl been the

case. It is somewhat curious to notice how fashionsj change in dogs, although this may not be evident to those who take but a superficial interest in canine matters. Take for instance the toy varieties usually affected by lady fanciers, whose ranks are rapidly increasing. A few years ago ladies in the Old Country were restricted in their fancy to pugs and English toy spaniels, although a few people here and there kept a half-starved looking smoothcoated terrier. The Japanese spaniels were about the earliest of the foreign importations, the first of these coming curiously enough from Pekin. Now, however, there is a Pekinese spaniel quite unlike the black and white little fellow which enjoys so much popularity at the present time. These two varieties had a great deal to do with the waning in popularity of the Blenheim and King Charles spaniels.

The most popular of the present day lap dogs is the Pomeranian. It seems but the other day that the only dogs of this description were of the large white variety, often called Spitz dogs. Now these have given place to much smaller animals, mostly black or chocolate in colour. A small specimen weighing about five pounds, profuse in coat with a good plume and sharp foxy expression, would, it is said, be worth its weight in gold. These Pomeranians are very hardy, which partly accounts for their increasing numbers, several clubs dealing with this class alone. A new acquaintance is the black Schipperke, while, the black pug, formerly unknown, is coming into fashion, and indeed is shouldering his fawn brother into secondary place. With the advance of the new breeds some of the older favourites have retrograded. The Italian greyhound is dying out, while the toy bull terrier is almost extinct, as is the Maltese dog, which in days gone by was esteemed the most valuable of all. The quaint-looking Belgian griffon is beginning to gain friends, and so the fashions in dogs change. Dogs are beginning to be in request for a purpose which must command itself to everyone who gives the matter much attention. The Russian Government recently applied for a number of trained dogs to assist in the ambulance depart--ment at the front. They are to be utilised for finding wounded men who might otherwise be overlooked. The dogs are easily trained, and will be used to carry stimulants, bandages, etc. Exhaustive trials have been made on the Continent with trained collies, which are said to do the best work, and the results have been highly satisfactory. There should be an important future before the trained ambulance dog, which can also give valuable assistance to the soldier on sentry duty. Great Britain, without doubt “ the doggiest ” nation in the universe, is, according to the “ Field,” the only civilised country which does not utilise “ man’s best friend ” in this way. The various sporting breeds have from time immemorial proved their use, and it is difficult indeed to see how much in the way of sport could be accomplished without their aid. It is of course only to be expected that these are the varieties which find most favour in the colonies, and they are always certain to be well represented at any colonial exhibition. One of the chief features of the Auckland Club’s Show, which will open to-morrow, is the advance made in Irish terriers, a class which was bound to prove popular, possessing characteristics of bravery and devotion which must appeal to all. That pretty little breed, the Cocker Spaniel, will also be to the fore, and as a household pet it would be hard, indeed, to find his equal. The one class of dog which shows no advance is the collie, and the reason for this is not indeed hard to find. Although possibly the handsomest of all dogs, yet the demands of the show

ring have gradually brought about a class of animal whose main characteristics are his’wonderful coat, and owing to the long narrow head demanded, an obvious deficiency of brain power. The result of this is that whereas the collie brought up in the fields to do the duty for which he is most fitted possesses almost human wisdom, the show animal’s mental power is exactly the reverse, and he is fit for nothing. There will be some two hundred dogs benched at the Federal Hall, and they will be found well worthy of inspection, i.ot only by the fancier but by those who have not previously taken much interest in man’s most faithful companion.