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diff --git a/43998-0.txt b/43998-0.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..ff8f633 --- /dev/null +++ b/43998-0.txt @@ -0,0 +1,1784 @@ +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 43998 *** + +Note: Images of the original pages are available through + Internet Archive. See + https://archive.org/details/airedale00haynrich + + +Transcriber's note: + + Text enclosed by underscores is in italics (_italics_). + + + + + +THE AIREDALE + +by + +WILLIAMS HAYNES + +Author of "Beagles and Beagling," "Toy Dogs," etc. + + + + + + + +Outing Handbooks + +New York +Outing Publishing Company +MCMXI + +Copyright, 1911, by +Outing Publishing Company. + +Entered at Stationer's Hall, London, England. +All rights reserved + + + + +CONTENTS + + CHAPTER PAGE + + I. THE BIGGEST AND BEST TERRIER 9 + + II. THE AIREDALE'S HISTORY 21 + + III. THE CARE OF A TERRIER 35 + + IV. BREEDING TERRIERS 49 + + V. DOG SHOWS AND SHOWING 65 + + VI. THE USEFUL AIREDALE 79 + + VII. COMMON AILMENTS 91 + + + + +CHAPTER I + +THE BIGGEST AND BEST TERRIER + + +It was in the Merchants' Hotel, Manchester--a famous gathering place +for the dog fanciers of the English Midlands, the most thickly dog +populated district in the whole world--that one autumn evening I heard +the best definition of an Airedale that I ever knew. A party of us, +fresh from some bench show, were seated round a table waiting for +dinner, and naturally we were talking dog, telling dog stories, +anecdotes, and jokes. I gave the American definition of a dachshund; +"half a dog high and a dog and a half long," and Theodore Marples, +editor of _Our Dogs_, turning to a quiet little man, noted as a wild +fanatic on the subject of Airedales, asked him his definition of his +favorite breed. Quick as a spark he answered, "The biggest and best +terrier!" + +There are thousands of people, all sorts of people from bankers to +beggars, scattered all over this earth from Dawson City to Capetown, +from Moscow to Manila, who will echo the statement that the Airedale is +indeed the biggest and the best of all the terriers. Moreover, their +votes would not be bribed by mere sentiment, but based upon good, sound +reasons, for it is certain that he is the biggest, and he is "best" at +doing more things than any other dog in the stud book. + +An Airedale will drive sheep or cattle; he will help drag a sled; he +will tend the baby; he will hunt anything from a bear to a field mouse. +He can run like a wolf and will take to water like an otter. He does +not "butt in" looking for trouble with each dog that he passes on the +street, but once he is "in" he will stick, for he is game as a pebble. +He is kind, obedient, thoroughly trustworthy as a companion for +children, or a watchman for your property. He has the disposition of a +lamb combined with the courage of a lion. He is certainly the most +all-round dog that there is and, unlike many Jacks-of-all-trades, he is +apparently quite able to master all tasks a dog is called upon to +perform. + +Over and above his talents and his character, the Airedale has a +constitution made of steel and stone. He is equally at home in the snow +wastes of the Arctic Circle and on the alkali deserts of Arizona. The +dry, bracing air of Colorado and the fever-soaked atmosphere of +Florida's Everglades both seem to agree with him perfectly. A sick +Airedale is just about as common as a dodo. + +"The biggest and best terrier" indeed fits him to a T, but it does not +convey any very definite idea as to what he should look like. Even his +most enthusiastic admirers never claimed beauty for the Airedale. He is +not pretty, unless we acknowledge that "handsome is that handsome +does," and can see the beauty of perfect symmetry under wiry coat and +odd coloring. + +A good Airedale is about as big as a pointer; somewhere in the +neighborhood of forty-five pounds, a little more for a dog and a little +less for a bitch. His head should be long; the skull flat and broad; +the cheeks smooth; the muzzle strong with tight lips over big, white, +even teeth. His eyes should be small, dark, and full of fire and his +ears little, carried high, and shaped like a V, for nothing can so +detract from the correct terrier expression as large, light eyes and +houndy ears. His front legs ought to be a pair of gun barrels, straight +and strong and about the same thickness all the way down. His shoulders +are like those of a race horse, long and sloping; while his pads should +be firm and hard, not those loose, sprawly feet sometimes seen. + +The only kind of a back for him to have is short, and his ribs must +be well sprung. A long backed dog lacks staying qualities, and a +slab-sided one has not the room for lungs. His chest should be deep, +but narrow, and he should be slightly cut up in the loin--not the +wasp-like waist of a greyhound,--but no better is a body like a +stovepipe. His hindquarters should be strong, with the hocks quite near +the ground. The Airedale that does not carry a gay tail is a delight to +no eye. + +Last, but not least, comes the coat. In color this should be a deep, +rich tan on the head, face, chest, legs, and under parts, while over +the back is a saddle of black or iron-grey. Personally, I like the +black more than the grizzle, for it makes a prettier contrast with the +tan, but "a good horse cannot be a bad color." The Airedale's coat is +(or rather should be) double. The overcoat is of hair like wire, stiff +and hard, about an inch long all over the dog, except on the skull +where it is shorter. Under this jacket of wire, there ought to be a +vest of soft, woolly hair. + +If you can collect in your mind's eye all the above details of +description you should see a big, strong, compact, businesslike dog, +full of the proverbial up-and-ever-coming spirit that inspires all +terriers. His every movement shows strength, yet he always moves in +that effort-economizing way which is the very personification of grace. +When running he sweeps along with the free open stride of a galloping +thoroughbred, with his head often carried low, but his tail always +high. + +Very often the man wanting a dog for hunting, for a guard, for a pal +turns up his nose at all the finely enumerated details in which the +standard describes the fanciers' ideal of Airedale perfection. He is +wrong, for, as the advertisements say, "There's a reason." Take the +double coat for example. The Airedale was originally bred to be a water +dog. The wiry coat sheds water like a duck's back, and the undercoat +keeps him warm in all weather. With the kind of a jacket for which the +standard calls an Airedale can swim the river, scramble out, shake +himself, roll over, and be dry. Moreover, such a coat is a perfect +armor against all kinds of thorns, claws, and teeth. The long, clean +head with its strong muzzle means a jaw with plenty of room for big, +strong teeth and muscles to shut those teeth as quickly and as surely +as a spring trap. + +Of course, not one Airedale in a thousand comes within seventy-five +per cent. of being all that the standard describes. The average, +however, is high in America; much higher here than anywhere else in +the world, except England, and our best can even hold their own with +the champions from the land of the breed's creation. Americans who +have been interested in the dog have been blessed with enough of this +world's goods to buy what they want, and almost without exception, they +have been inspired with the best fancier ideal, that of breeding their +own winners. + +This has given us a breeding stock second only in numbers to that of +Great Britain in the hands of men who could and would use the material +to the best advantage. Accordingly, the American-bred Airedale is noted +the world over as a show dog, and in no other country has the breed's +sporting possibilities been so fully tested as here in the United +States. + +By birth and breeding the Airedale is a sporting terrier. A dog bred +originally to do the work of a vermin destroyer, he has taken naturally +to all kinds of game. In the Rockies, he is used on bear, and he has +won a name as a dog of exceptional brains, unfailing courage, and +remarkable stamina at work from which no fool, coward, or weakling +comes home to supper. On the farms of New England, he is cherished as +an exterminator of wood-chucks, moles, rats, and vermin of this class. +He hunts all the way down the scale from the giant "silver tip" to the +mouse in the pantry--mountain lions, wolves, panthers, lynx, wild cats, +foxes, coons, skunks, rabbits, mink, what not, each and all he hunts +with equal gusto and success. Is it any wonder that though the Airedale +is only a little over half a century old his fame has spread from pole +to pole? + +The Airedale is a dog that no one can know well without becoming his +friend, but all his friends do not know him well. For this reason, and +because so much depends upon one's first dog, it seems particularly +necessary to give some advice to intending Airedale purchasers, whom we +may divide into dog owners and kennel owners. By a dog owner I mean one +who wants an Airedale or two as a companion, guard, and all-round dog. +Kennel owners are those who intend keeping, breeding, and showing or +hunting several dogs. + +The dog owner does not as a rule think it worth while to post himself +on the history and points of the breed. He has heard the praises sung +of "the biggest and best terrier," and has decided that he is the dog +he wants. If that is all he wants let him get some friend to give him +an Airedale puppy or let him buy one as cheaply as he can, but he is +going to lose half the pleasure of owning a good dog of a good breed. +Merrinac, the best known _maitre d'armes_ in France, once said to a +party of American fencers that it was the romance of the sword that +made fencing so fascinating to its devotees, and there is romance in +the history of the Airedale that weaves its charm round an Airedale +owner. Whatever we know well is interesting and wonderful, and a +knowledge of the Airedale's past and his points, which is an absolute +necessity to the kennel owner, adds one hundred per cent. to the dog +owner's pleasure. + +The wise dog owner then will learn all he can about his breed. "Book +larnin'" is good, but better still are talks with all sorts and +conditions of Airedale owners and a visit to an Airedale kennel or the +ringside at a dog show when the breed is being judged. No men ride +their hobbies harder than dog fanciers, and all will talk and from all +can something be learned. + +When one has learned something about Airedales let him then buy his +dog. It is best to buy a dog about six months old--old enough to be +over puppy ills and not too old to learn new tricks. A puppy of that +age, over distemper and house broken, is as satisfactory as it is +possible for a pup to be. Bringing up a terrier puppy is hard on one's +shoes, the ladies' hats, and everyone's disposition, but it is much +more satisfactory to train him yourself in the ways you would have him +go. + +In picking out a puppy select the bright little chap to whom you are +naturally attracted--I am advising the "dog owner" who knows the breed +well enough not to be interested in any litter not of orthodox +breeding. Only in case of doubt need you pay attention to show points. +If it comes to a question of that pick the dark eye, small ear, long +head, short back, straight legs. Do not worry about size or color or +coat, nor must a novice expect to be able to "pick the winner" of a +litter. Go to a reputable breeder and pay as much as you can afford. +You can take his advice, for all dog breeders are not crooks and +grafters, but like any other kind of a business transaction knowledge +is very valuable to the purchaser. + +May I plead the case of the bitch as a companion? Nine out of ten want +a dog, but a bitch has many advantages. She is usually more clever, a +great deal more affectionate and faithful, much less given to roaming +from home, and should one ever want to raise some puppies she may prove +a valuable investment. + +The kennel owner, turning now to him, will, I take it for granted, read +all he can lay his hands on that treats of the Airedale, go to shows, +visit kennels, and talk, think, and dream Airedale. If he is to have a +small kennel I advise his buying one or two good young bitches. Puppies +are a chance and old bitches, however famous, are poor breeding stock. +Buy young winning bitches, proved mothers and of desirable blood lines +and you will have the best possible start along the road of kennel +success. It is as rocky a thoroughfare as the proverbial one to Dublin, +full of all sorts of disappointments and maybe even losses, but its +pleasures and its gains are sure to come to the man who follows it in +the right spirit. + +The large kennel owner is either going into it for pleasure, where he +will have a check book to help him, or for a business. In the former +case he will probably leave much on the shoulders of his kennel +manager, and I am writing on Airedales not the servant problem. If he +is going to make a business of raising Airedales that is his business, +not the author's. + +To all Airedale buyers let me again say that it pays to know all you +can about the breed and to buy the best you can afford. The "biggest +and best terrier" has been tried by so many different people in all +parts of the world and has won such unanimous praise that his admirers +can recommend him to anyone, anywhere, for anything. + + + + +CHAPTER II + +THE AIREDALE'S HISTORY + + +The Airedale is a product of the middle of the nineteenth century and +was manufactured in Yorkshire. The streams that tumble down the deep +vales of that Midland county are the homes of hundreds of crafty, +hardbitten otters; there are thieving foxes and very game, but very +rascally badgers in snug dens in the hills; many a swift English hare +lives in the broad game preserves. The hardy Yorkshireman of 1850--his +sons and grandsons to-day are real "chips of the old block"--loved +nothing so much as a hunt after the vermin, with possibly a rat killing +contest with "a couple o' bob" at stake of a Saturday night, and +sometimes, on moonless nights, when game keepers were asleep, a little +trip after the filling for a rabbit pie. Now, you cannot do these +things without a dog that is brainy, game, obedient, and as much at +home in water as on dry land; so they just naturally set to work to +make themselves such a dog. + +All this we know positively, but when it comes to saying anything +definite about how they made that dog, which we now call the Airedale, +you begin to deal in traditions as conflicting as theories on the +Martian canals and speculations as vague as old wives' tales. Taking +all the yarns and guesses and boiling them down to an average, we find +that the Airedale, so most people think, was originally a cross between +a tan-grizzle terrier, now extinct or absorbed in other breeds, but +once common in the Midlands, and the otterhound, a big, wire-coated +water dog of the bloodhound type, that comes in all colors of Joseph's +famous coat, but mainly white with black and tannish markings. To this +cross were added dashes of bull terrier, which breed was, at that time, +just coming to the fore with its deserved reputation for grit, and +Bedlington terrier, a light-weight, top-knotted dog from the North of +England. + +Probably there were sprinkles of the blood of the collie and of all +terriers found at the time between the Midlands and the Scottish +Borderland. All these (fox, Manchester, Welsh, Old English, and Dandy +Dinmont) were then more or less indefinite as to type and uncertain +as to breeding, which helps materially in making confusion worse +confounded. Just how and why this strange, indefinite mixture should +have resulted in the Airedale no one can say. The otterhound donated +the size and the love of the water, and all the terrier blood made him +a terrier in spite of his size. From the very beginning the breed had +the advantage of having an object. The Yorkshireman wanted a big, +strong, dead game, water-loving terrier. That furnished a standard to +breed to, and they got what they wanted. + +When the fame of this dog first spread from the valleys of his +birthplace, he was pretty well established as to type, and once taken +up by the dog showing fancy and a standard drawn up the type was soon +firmly fixed. Since his first introduction to the world he has changed, +becoming somewhat larger. The seers and wise men of English dogdom +raised a great hullaballoo when this giant among terriers appeared, +saying that no dog over twenty pounds could be a terrier because a +terrier must go to earth. The dog, however, was mainly terrier in blood +and so very certainly terrier in characteristics that he was classed +with the family. Maybe it is out of respect to the authorities of the +early days of the dog fancy that we have gradually dropped the terrier +in his name, and though it is a part of his official title, still the +dog is universally spoken of as the Airedale. + +This, however, was not his original name, for in early days he was +called the "waterside terrier," and his official début at the English +dog shows was in classes for "broken-haired working terriers." Both +titles were felt to be too indefinite, and "Stonehenge," the sporting +authority, suggested "Bingley terrier," from the town in the heart of +the district where the breed originated. Local jealousies prevented any +one town giving its name to the breed, and there was quite a war waged +till some unrecorded genius suggested that, as the birthplace of the +breed had been in the valleys of the Aire River and its little +tributaries, Airedale was the best name. So Airedale he became, having +an official christening at the Otley show in the late seventies. + +Besides adding some ten pounds to his weight and getting a distinctive +and pleasing name, the Airedale has changed in other ways since he took +his light from under the bushel basket. His head has lengthened, +following the tendency of all terrier breeds. His shoulders, legs, and +feet are worlds better now than they were years ago, but coats have +suffered. The wire jacket has improved, but the woolly undervest has +been sacrificed, though now more and more attention is being paid to +this by breeders and judges. + +The honor of having brought the first Airedale to America is generally +ascribed to Mr. C. H. Mason, who is better known to this generation of +fanciers as a cocker spaniel owner and editor of _Man's Best Friend_. +He was originally a Yorkshire man, who had known and loved the breed +since his youth. He imported Bruce, a fairish dog, blind in one eye, +but useful in stud, where he sired Ch. Brush. Bruce is merely a +sentiment with Americans, for all he has left is a reputation for bad +temper and a yarn about having been sold for a few dollars at a horse +auction in New York in 1885. + +The breed first "took on" in New York, but Philadelphia has long been +its stronghold. The Quaker City, boasting such fanciers as Clement +Newbold, William Barclay, Russel H. Johnson, W. H. Whittem, Daniel +Buckley, and Dr. Henry Jarrett, has away and beyond passed other cities +in the number and quality of its Airedales. In early days the New York +fancy was represented by Mr. J. L. Lorillard, the purchaser of Clonmel +Marvel, whose importation boomed the breed's stock in this country; +Messrs. De Witt Cochrane, Foxhall Keene, and C. O'Donnel, all of whom +have not been so active lately. Later Theodore Offerman, James H. +Brookfield, James Watson, and John Gough entered the game, and they +figure to-day as owners of winners. + +This is a short sketch of how the breed originated and how they came to +America, but real "history is men, not events," or rather dogs, not +events. It is interesting, but more important is a knowledge of the +dogs of the past. In limited space, one can only say a word or two +about the most famous of the breed's celebrities, so I must be pardoned +if some reader is disappointed in not finding mention of some dog in +which he is particularly interested. Almost each year has seen its good +dogs, but we can only touch those which time has declared to be truly +great. + +The sigh for "the good old days" is common in all things, and we often +hear it from dog fanciers. It is good food for talk, but that is all, +for the old-timers of any breed could not win in the ring against the +cracks of to-day. Among the very early Airedale winners were: Tanner, +Young Tanner, Rustic Twig, Rustic Kitty, Rustic Lad, Newbold Fritz, +Vixen, and Venom, none of whom would be one, two, three in a good show +to-day. Clip and Ch. Cholmondeley Briar were the two first really good +dogs. Clip was a sound, honest dog who showed real modern type, and +gave black, real terrier eyes to his pups; while Briar was the first +real show hero, having gone undefeated till he met Clonmel Marvel. + +Clonmel Marvel, one of the really great dogs of the world, was bred +by a novice, a Mr. F. C. Brown, who mated his Cholmondeley Mona to +Clipper, a good dog, but no wonder. There were nine in the litter, +and Mr. Brown showed Marvel, whom he called Warfield Victor, in a +£3 Selling Class, where he was placed second, being sadly out of +condition. "Jack" Holgate saw the rough diamond, bought it, and resold +it to Messrs. Mills and Buckley, the famous Clonmel firm. Marvel beat +all of his time--dogs and bitches--and won eighteen championships. +Eventually he came to America, along with Ch. Clonmel Sensation and +Clonmel Veracity. He was by far the best Airedale seen up to his time, +a dog hard to fault, even in "the light of modern criticism." He proved +as wonderful a sire as he was a show crack, and much of real terrier +style in the breed to-day is due to him. + +A contemporary of Marvel's was Ch. Dumbarton Lass, who also came to +this side of the Atlantic to the kennels of Mr. Joseph Laurin, in +Montreal. She was bred by Capt. Baird Smith, who benched her at +Woolwich in poor condition. Mr. A. E. Jennings, whose kennels were then +paramount, bought her and showed her for three years, when she went to +Mr. Stuart Noble and was later bought by the Canadian fancier. She +proved a gold mine as a brood bitch and was personally hard to +fault--barring her coat. + +But the most wonderful brood bitch of the breed, one whose name should +be written in gold in the Airedale Hall of Fame, was not a great show +winner. She was Bath Lady. Her first big winning puppy was Briarwood, +who came out in London in 1896. Briarwood was by Hyndman Briar, by +Willow Nut, and like all Bath Lady stock proved his value in the +breeding kennels. His most famous get was the beautiful bitch of Ch. +Broadlands Bashful. We can only mention two others of Bath Lady's +offspring, but those fanciers who have dogs in whose pedigrees she +appears can congratulate themselves. To Ch. Clonmel Marvel she produced +Ch. Clonmel Kitty, a really good one all over, and to Master Briar she +had Walton Victory, even better--except in skull--than Kitty. + +During the nineties the Tone Kennels with Ch. Tone Jerry, whose forte +was his wonderful coat and color, and Ch. Tone Crack, excelling in +bone, coat, and body, but broad across the skull, had a big say in the +prize-lists. In 1896 Studholme Sherry came out and was hailed as a +flyer, but he did not last, though in his day he was a beautiful +terrier. + +Ch. Clonmel Monarch, who has done so much for Philadelphia's Airedale +supremacy as a sire and as a show dog came as near the ideal Airedale +as we find, made his début about this time in Leicester and ran +second to Ch. Rock Salt. Monarch was undeveloped, but six months +later at Alexandra Palace he came to his own and after that his show +record in England was an unbroken string of firsts. He was a grand +terrier--almost faultless--his coat waved a bit and his critics used to +say he was "so fine he was bitchy." Just to mention some of his pups +shows what he was at stud: Ch. Broadlands, Royal Descendant, Ch. Tone +Regent, Ch. Clonmel Bed Rock, Claverhouse Enchantress, Clonmel +Coronation, and Strathallan Solace. Ch. Rock Salt, mentioned as the +conqueror of Monarch, was a good one whom Americans know best through +Ch. The New King, his son, who has done so well for the New England +fancier, Mr. Arthur Merritt. + +Ch. Tone Masterpiece--known here as Ch. York Masterpiece, for Mr. +Offerman gave him his own kennel's prefix--was a dog of ups and downs, +but he was an honest champion, who just missed being great. His son +(bred in England) Floriform was another good dog who did things in New +York in the early years of the new century where he was owned by Mr. +Offerman and later by Mr. Brookfield. Floriform was the sire of Ch. +Engaflora, the first great American bitch. + +In 1902 two good but unfortunate sons of Clonmel Monarch came out, Ch. +Legrams Prince--a real flyer--and Bandolero, who never got his just +deserts at the shows. Rheumatism spoiled Prince's shoulders for the +show ring and his ill-starred half brother died of wasp stings. A +contemporary of these dogs was Ch. Wombwell Rattler, a rattling good +one with a softish coat who sired Mr. Offerman's well known crack Ch. +York the Conqueror. In the same year (1902) Ch. Delph Girl, wonderful +color and coat, good head and expression, but too fine, and Ch. +Dumbarton Sceptre, the best bitch of the time, both made their début +and eventually came to the United States. The dam of Sceptre, +Claverhouse Enchantress (by Clonmel Monarch out of Clonmel Winifreda), +needs special mention. She won a number of prizes, but soon passed into +the hands of a novice, Mrs. Cuthell, and as a mother and grand-mother +of champions made a place for herself second only to Bath Lady. +Dumbarton Sceptre and Claverhouse Sorcerer--the former a real flyer, +the other a dog above the average--were in her first litter. Her +second, by Ch. Master Briar, resulted in the great Ch. Mistress Royal, +probably the best show bitch produced. Enchantress was next bred to her +own son Solace, mentioned above, but died of poison before whelping. + +Ch. Clonmel Bed Rock, whom Mr. Foxhall Keene later imported, came out +about this time. He was a good, sound terrier, full of fire, sound as a +bell, with wonderful legs and feet and won lots of honors here and in +England. Ch. Broadland's Royal Descendant was a rival of Bed Rock and a +very classy dog with exceptional coat, real terrier fire, a good head, +but not very beautiful ears. + +After these dogs came Ch. Master Royal, which brings us down to the +dogs of to-day--if not the present generation and it is out of place to +say aught of dogs which one can see and judge in flesh and blood. + +The show cracks have so very often proved so valuable in the breeding +kennels that the two terms--great sire and show crack--may seem +synonyms. They are not. Nevertheless there is a close chain that binds +the whole of a breed of dogs to the show ring, for the show ring +winners are the dogs most often sought for breeding purposes and so the +styles of the main bench authorities are forcibly, if unwittingly, +thrust on the race. The Airedale, however, has always been known and +appreciated as a sporting terrier. His owners have fortunately never +lost sight of the reason he was manufactured, and they remember that +to-day he is intended to be a rough-and-ready dog, willing and able to +do all terrier work just a little better than the other members of the +family, and because of his greater weight enabled to do things his +smaller cousins could not even attempt. His great usefulness has kept +him from being wholly at the mercy of the faddists of the dog shows, +who have given him all the great advantages of their skill in +scientific breeding and all the advertising of public exhibition +without turning him into a freak. + + + + +CHAPTER III + +THE CARE OF A TERRIER + + +One of the most noted veterinarians in New York once said to me that, +if it were not for too much or too little attention, he doubted if he +should ever be called upon to treat a dog. He explained his meaning by +adding that the toy dogs are generally killed by kindness and most +terriers die of neglect. If this is true, and this doctor has a canine +practice that keeps him busy from morning till night, there must be +something radically wrong with the care of most dogs. + +The terriers--for the evils of a candy diet and a life spent on silken +pillows do not need to be even mentioned here--the terriers can, it is +perfectly true, get along with less attention than most breeds of dogs, +for they all have wonderful constitutions. Does that, however, give the +terrier owner a free right and license to neglect his dogs? + +It is almost a joke to keep such a naturally healthy dog as a terrier +in the pink of condition. All he needs is dry, clean kennels, with +decent bedding; good, nourishing food at regular hours; all the fresh +water he wants to drink; plenty of exercise, and a little grooming. +Given these few things and a terrier will be "disgustingly well," full +of high spirits, and happy as a clam at high tide. It is really so easy +to keep a terrier "fit," and it means so much to the dog and his owner, +whether he be a dog owner for pleasure or profit, that it is nothing +less than criminal not to do so. + +Kennels, bedding, food and feeding, water, exercise, and +grooming--these are the things which given proper attention mean a +healthy and happy dog. Let us take them up, one at a time, for it is as +often ignorance as thoughtlessness that causes the trouble. + +The question as to the kind of a kennel is bound to have a variety of +different answers according to whether one lives in the city or the +country, in the North or the South, and whether one is to keep one dog +or fifty. There are, however, certain fundamental considerations that +apply to any home for dogs. + +In the first place, all terriers, especially those wearing those +wonderful, double, weather-proof garments we call "wire coats," are +best off living the simple life out of doors. This is true in any +climate. I used to have all sorts of troubles with the skins and coats +of my wire terriers till I just turned them out, providing them with +dry, draft-proof, but unheated shelters in which to sleep and where +they could escape very bad weather. + +My own experience has proved to me that wire coated terriers are worlds +better off for being out every day and night in the year. Even in the +severest weather they do not need artificial heat, if they have a +perfectly dry, draftless, well bedded place to sleep in and to serve as +a shelter on very wet, stormy days. A decent kennel for any dog from a +St. Bernard to a Pomeranian is dry and draft-proof, and so the terrier +owner can eliminate the question of artificial heating. + +The man who lives in the city should try to keep his dog out in the +yard as much as possible, and, if at all feasible, let him sleep there. +Dogs have an inborn instinct to "bay the moon" and terriers are +supposed to be great talkers. Moreover, city backyards, since the days +when town residences were hollow stone piles lined with hides to keep +the wind out, have always been a favorite _rendezvous_ for Thomas +Catt, Esq., and Mistress Tabby, meetings just as hard on the nerves of +a self respecting terrier as they are on those of his sleepy master. +The trouble is that, while master becomes a public benefactor by +hurling his shaving mug out the window, the efforts of his dog to drive +away the disturbers are regarded by the unsympathetic neighbors as +quite as bad as the feline serenades and battle cries. No dog will bark +at night if he is in a dark, quiet place, and the terrier in the +backyard will sleep like a baby if he is shut up in a box covered with +burlap. + +The ideal terrier kennel is an oil barrel. These cannot always be +obtained, but any barrel or keg intended to hold liquids, and so made +water tight, will answer. A hole, just large enough to let the dog in +and out, should be cut in one end. Then the inside may be painted with +kerosene and a lighted paper dropped in. This cleans the barrel and +destroys any insects, and is an excellent thing to do every month or +so. + +The barrel ought to be painted inside and out, and to keep it from +rotting on the bottom must be mounted on blocks so that it just clears +the ground. Rain can be kept out of the door either by tacking a +curtain of sacking over it (a dog soon learns to go through this and it +can be hung up in good weather) or by making a roof of V shaped +planking, which sets over the barrel, projecting in front like the +eaves of a barn. Two small terriers or one Airedale can live easily in +these keg kennels in summer, with an extra dog added, for warmth's +sake, in cold weather. + +Another kennel that is fine for terriers is one I adapted from the +suggestions of a chicken owner, who used a similar box as a coop for +hens with young chicks. It is a box that can be taken all apart. The +floor is a raised platform against which the sides fit closely, being +fastened together with hooks. The roof slants backward and is held in +place by thin strips that fit just inside the walls. + +This is fine for summer, but must be very carefully made to be tight +enough for cold weather. Its flat floor makes it admirable for a bitch +with puppies and it has the great advantage of enabling you to leave +off any side you wish. Naturally, they are very easy to clean. They can +be made any size or shape you wish and cost from five dollars up. + +For the man who is going into a large kennel little can be said that +will be broadly useful. One wants to build a model kennel of hard wood +and concrete, while the next has an old chicken house to adapt to doggy +uses; naturally requirements and conditions are very different. + +The first thing that any kennel builder wants to see to is that he has +good natural drainage and that his runs are on quickly drying ground, +gravel rather than clay. Southern exposures are the favorites, and it +is better to have two or three smaller buildings rather than to house +all the dogs in one. In this way there is opportunity to give each +building a rest once in a while, and this should be done in the case of +the individual runs and pens, if not for the whole building. + +Good hard wood, varnished and kept clean and well drained, is the most +popular floor for kennels. Concrete is cold in winter, asphalt is far +from desirable in summer, and both are hard on a dog's feet. Dirt, +gravel, and ashes are very hard to clean. Cork is expensive and rots +out with amazing speed. + +The sleeping benches ought to be about two feet off the floor and +so arranged that they can be taken down, cleaned, and set out in +the sun to dry. Plenty of elbow grease, backed up with a good strong +disinfectant and fresh air and sunlight, these are the secrets of a +successful kennel. Cleanliness means that disease and parasites will be +unknown. + +Wheat or rye straw or wood shavings make the best bedding. The straw +costs more than hay, but it is ten times as cleanly, lasts twice as +long, and is much better for a dog's skin. Very often shavings will be +given away for the carting of them, and they make a fine summer +bedding, though they are not very warm for winter. Shavings, especially +pine shavings, make a very poor home for fleas. Excelsior is not +popular. It has a distressing habit of wadding up in hard bunches in +corners, absorbs moisture, and does not dry out easily. Moss and sea +weed and such beddings are dirty and hard to handle. + +Food is an important item in the care of the dog. Table scraps make, in +my opinion, the ideal food for a dog. In this the house pet has the +advantage over his friend of the kennels, for he gets a wide variety of +well cooked and nourishing food, and variety, cooking, and nourishment +are the foundation of good feeding. + +Dog biscuits, which are so cheap and easy to handle, are excellent in +their way, but one should resist the temptation to feed them all the +time. You would not like to live on beefsteak three times a day, week +in and week out. Dry bread can be bought by the barrel from most bakers +and is at once inexpensive and nourishing. Shredded wheat and cracker +scraps can also be gotten and are useful for a change. All of these +should be fed soaked in some soup. + +In the winter I have found corn meal very acceptable, but the moment +hot weather comes along its use should be discontinued, or skin +troubles will surely result. It can either be made in a mush with milk +or water, or baked into corn bread cakes. + +I use a homemade dog biscuit from corn meal and meat in the following +way. The meat stock is boiled over night in a kettle and the unstrained +soup is used instead of water with the meal in making dough, which is +put in pans of two or three inches in thickness and baked in a slow +oven till hard all the way through. This will take a day. These cakes +are rich and should not be fed too often, but they can be kept a month, +and I never saw a terrier that did not relish them. In summer, fish +boiled twenty-four hours, till the bones are all soft, makes a nice +change from the meat soups of the winter. + +There are many who might be called canine vegetarians, but experimenting +has convinced me that meat is the best and most natural food for the +dog. Sirloin does cost a lot of money these days, but hearts, lungs, +heads, odds and ends of ribs, and shank bones do not cost so much, and +you can always make arrangements with a butcher to save you these. +Under no circumstances feed meat that is decayed. It does not have to +be as fresh as you demand for your own table, if you take care to cook +it thoroughly, but meat that is mouldy or rotting is poison, not food. + +Most kennels feed twice a day,--a light lunch in the morning and the +regular day's feed in the evening. The morning bite can be bread or +biscuits with a little soup over them. The evening meal ought to be all +that the dog will comfortably eat without stuffing. If any food is left +in the dishes it should be cleaned away before night, and a dog who is +"off his feed" should have attention. + +Dogs vary as much as people in the amount they will eat. One gobbler +is always thin, while a dainty eater will put on more flesh than +necessary. It is the height of foolishness to pamper a dog's taste and +make him an epicure, but neither is it wise to treat them all just +alike. + +Exercise naturally follows feeding in our consideration of the health +of the dog. Exercise, and plenty of it, is the best tonic, it keeps the +muscles hard and the stomach in shape; it prevents fatness, and is just +play for a dog. + +There is, however, exercise and exercise. To walk a dog along on a lead +is exercise, but three minutes' free running is worth half an hour of +"taking the dog out for a walk" after the manner of the young lady who +lives in the city. Each kennel should have an exercising yard, a lot as +big as possible, where the dogs can be turned out for a romp. One wants +to be a little careful about leaving a lot of dogs turned out together, +for their likes and dislikes are as strong as our own. + +I remember with sorrow an experience of this kind. A recently purchased +dog was added to a run full of home bred youngsters, and because he was +older and bigger he played the bully till one bright morning three of +his victims combined forces and gave him a lesson in manners. It was a +lesson for his owner too, for the dog's ear was so chewed that he was +ruined for showing. + +The last item in the care of the dog is grooming, but it is at least as +important as any of the others we have taken up. Most dogs are washed +too often and not brushed often enough. Washing once in two weeks in +summer and once a month in winter is all that is needed to keep a +terrier clean, but he should be brushed daily. + +In washing a dog start at the head with a good disinfectant soap and +work backwards and downwards, for fleas make for the head when +threatened with drowning and only in this way can these pests be gotten +rid of. It is well to let the soap stay in the coat a few minutes, but +it must be all washed out very carefully before drying the dog. + +The daily grooming should consist first of a combing with a fairly fine +comb to clean out matted dirt and hair. This should be followed by a +sharp brushing with what is called in stable a dandy brush. The +finishing touches will be a rub down with a hound glove, such as is +sold in the kennel supply stores. Such treatment will keep a terrier in +almost perfect show form all the time and the stimulation of the skin +will be found to act as a regular tonic. + +Housed in clean, draftless kennels; given good food with lots of +exercise, and with some little attention bestowed on his toilet, a +terrier is sure to be healthy and happy. Prevention is proverbially +better than cure, and the little work of keeping a terrier well is +nothing compared to the care of a sick dog. Dogs do not make very +pleasant patients, and there is the added difficulty in finding out +just what really ails them, for even the most intelligent of our +animals cannot tell us where his aches are and how a dose of certain +medicine affects him. + + + + +CHAPTER IV + +BREEDING TERRIERS + + +The principles upon which Darwin based his theory of evolution--which +are now accepted by scientists the world over as biological laws--are +the very same as those under which the dog breeder works. Modern animal +breeding is evolution in which man plays Dame Nature's part. + +Breeding is, however, far from being an exact science, though it is +continually becoming more and more scientific in its methods. We cannot +sit down, a pencil in our fingers and paper before us, and with the aid +of the stud book and a set of mathematical formulas figure out a dog +that will surely be a champion. We can, however, with a knowledge of +the scientific data that biologists have collected in their research +work supplementing the lore and traditions of the kennels, come nearer +and nearer to the breeder's ideal of "a champion in every litter." + +It is quite obvious that with such plastic materials to work with we +can never hope to have a perfectly uniform product, but who would have +it so? Dog breeding is now more uncertain than roulette, twice as +fascinating as the stock market, as interestingly exciting as auction +bridge. Make it a matter of mathematically exact rules working out as +invariably and regularly as a machine, and the charm has vanished. + +The three principles of Darwin's idea of how and why evolution acts, +are heredity, variation, and selection. The law of heredity says that +like will produce like; that two Airedales will have Airedale puppies; +two Scotties will have Scotties; two Irish terriers will have Irish +terriers. The law of variation says that no two dogs, even if they be +of the same litter, will ever be exactly alike even in the smallest +details. No two St. Bernards were ever alike, nor were the smallest +teeth of the two smallest Pomeranians ever identical. There is ample +evidence to show that the chemical composition of the muscles, bones, +and blood of different animals of the same species are different, and +even vary considerably in one individual at different times. The law of +selection is the law of the struggle for existence, the survival of the +fittest. The three laws together make up the theory of evolution by +means of natural selection. + +What man does in breeding is the making and improving of species by +artificial selection. He takes advantage of the law of heredity to +establish breeds. If like always exactly reproduced like, however, +that is as far as he could ever get, but because there is infinite +variation, the offspring differ from their parents. By selecting those +that come nearest his ideal, the breeder does just the same as Dame +Nature when she kills off the unfit. + +Since earliest times, man, more or less without thought or any +knowledge of the whys and wherefores, has been carrying on scientific +breeding in an unscientific way. Ever since he has kept domestic +animals, his selection, formerly more or less unconscious, has been +exerting its powerful force. For generations, the dog fanciers have +been doing this: picking out the dogs and bitches most to their liking +and mating them. The result is that while all breeds of dogs are +closely enough related to inter-breed, still some are of comparative +age and most breed wonderfully true to type. + +Until quite recently, the dog breeders have been following the old, +unscientific method, with some additional effort to correct faulty +points in their dogs. That is, they have picked out individuals for +breeding stock that came as near as possible to their ideals, and if +the prospective mother was bad in head they selected a stud dog strong +in this point; while a very good coated matron might be mated to a poor +coated dog provided he possessed marked excellencies in other +directions. + +Unfortunately, but very scant attention was paid to the dams. This was +largely from economical considerations, which led them to believing, or +thinking they did merely because they wanted to, that "any old bitch +with a pedigree was good enough to breed from." To bolster up their +economy, they said that the pups inherited their looks from their sire +and their dispositions from their dam. + +Two changes have taken place in the past decade. Breeders now know that +physically as well as mentally the dam is quite as important as the +sire. Moreover, they have learned that individual characteristics, +however marked they may appear to be, do not have the force of family +traits. In other words, a short, thick headed bitch bred to the longest +headed dog alive would have short headed pups, if that dog had short +headed parents and grandparents. These two fundamental bits of +knowledge, learned originally from the biologists, have had a big +effect on breeding operations. + +A logical outgrowth of the importance that has been placed on family, +with the naturally lessened emphasis on the individual, has been an +increased number of the devotees of line rather than in-breeding. +In-breeding is beyond all doubt the strongest weapon the dog breeder +has, but it is a boomerang that is very apt to come back and knock its +thrower in the head. In-breeding is the breeding together of the blood +of one dog--mother to son, or brother to sister. Line-breeding is the +breeding together of dogs of the same general strain, comparable to +second or third cousins among people. + +These breeding experiments fix the good and bad points of a dog or a +strain very strongly. Carried to an extreme, they result in bad +constitutions, lack of gameness, and in extreme cases, in actual +deformity. Such breeding demands that only the strongest and youngest +dogs be mated. + +In selecting a sire, one should pick out a dog of recognized breeding, +whose ancestors were dogs of the type you desire. A winner and a son of +winners has better chances of being a sire of winners than an unknown +dog of doubtful family, but it is not always wise to rush to the latest +champion. A popular bench hero is apt to be over-worked at stud. If +your bitch is very young send her to an older dog and vice versa. Best +results are not obtained if the dogs are over eight years old--that is +a very good age limit at which to retire them from active service. A +bitch may be bred at her first "heat," if she is not too young and is +strong and healthy. + +Most people know that a bitch comes in season, or is "in heat," fairly +regularly at six months intervals, and that this is the only time when +she will have any sexual connections with a dog. The terriers generally +come into their first heat when eight or nine months old and are +remarkable for the regularity of their periods. The first sign is a +swelling of the external parts and bleeding. After a week or ten days +the bleeding is followed by a thickish, white discharge. This is the +time to breed her. + +One service is all that is necessary--the old timers to the contrary +notwithstanding. Two services were formerly given, but this is no +longer done by the best breeders. The time of gestation is only +sixty-three days, and the second service, two days after the first, has +been suspected of destroying the effect of the former. Statistics show +that there are fewer misses and just as many puppies when there is but +one service, as when there are two. + +The single service is obviously a great saving of the energies of the +stud dog, who, if he be popular, has to make heavy demands on his +vitality. One who places a dog at public stud assumes certain +responsibilities,--the keeping of his dog in perfect health and +attending most carefully to visiting matrons. The stud dog should have +lots of exercise, all the water he wants, and an abundance of good +food. Raw lean meat, chopped fine or run through a mechanical grinder, +makes a fine supplementary diet, and raw eggs and a little sherry can +be added to this if he becomes at all run down. + +Visiting bitches must be guarded against all possible chance of a +misalliance. If practical, they should be kept far off from the other +kennel inmates, for quiet is something to be greatly desired for them. +When they arrive, they should be given a run and drink, but do not +feed them till they have quieted down a little from the excitement of +the trip. The Golden Rule covers the care of these visitors like a +blanket--just treat them as you would have a bitch of your own treated +under the same circumstances. + +When a bitch has returned to her home kennels, she should take the rest +cure a day or so. After that for a month or six weeks she need be +treated no differently from any of her kennel mates, save to see that +she has plenty to eat and that her stomach and bowels are in perfect +order. + +When she begins to show signs of heavy whelp take her away from the +others, and while her exercise wants to be kept up by long walks she +should not be allowed to run or romp, or she may miscarry. Her box +should be fixed a few days before the pups are to be born. Let it be +large enough for her to stretch out in, but not big enough to give her +room in which to move about, or she may kill or injure the pups by +treading on them. + +Once in a while one has a bitch who neglects her pups disgracefully, +but the usual thing, in terriers at least, is over attention to the +sacrifice of her own condition. A few bitches eat their newborn pups. +Fear is the motive, but once done they seem to get the habit. Feeding +quantities of raw meat just before they are to whelp is the best, but +not a sure cure. Bad mothers, ones who walk on their babies, neglect +them, or turn cannibal, are very rare among the terriers. + +To return to the box: it should, as I have said, be just large enough +to be comfortable. The best bedding for the whelping time is a bit of +old carpet, to be substituted for straw when the family has safely +arrived. A little shelf, about three inches from the bottom and two +inches wide, tacked round the box will prove to be good puppy life +insurance, for it keeps them from being pressed to death against the +sides of the nest. + +Terriers whelp better if left to themselves. It is the rarest thing +for them to have any trouble, and if one will just keep a weather eye +open to see that things are really going well, they will continue to +go well without interference. The pups should be born inside two hour +intervals, and if this limit be passed the mother needs attention. The +drugs used, however, are so strong and so poisonous and an operation is +so delicate that it is invariably better to call in the veterinarian's +skilled aid. + +After the puppies are all born the mother should be given a bowl of +thin oatmeal gruel and left to herself. She will ordinarily clean up +the nest herself, eating the after-births and licking the puppies +clean. I have found that after she has cleaned a pup, which she does as +soon as it is born, it is advisable to take it from her, wrap it in +flannel to keep it warm and dry, and to wash off the navel cord with +some mild disinfectant such as listerine, or a very dilute solution of +bichloride of mercury or carbolic acid. Cold is fatal to very young +puppies, and the navel cord is the source of a germ infection that +kills many in the nest. + +The dam, while nursing her family, must have an abundance of +food--plenty of soups, gruels, meats, and milk, but not many +vegetables, for they are full of water and waste. She needs more +concentrated nourishment. When you think that you can fairly "see +puppies grow," you can appreciate how great a drain there is on the +mother. Because of this, it is never advisable to let a terrier attempt +to raise more than five at the outside, and four is really better than +five. If a foster cannot be obtained--very often the local pound will +have a healthy mongrel which they will let you have for the license +fee--it is kindness and economy to kill off the puppies in excess of +four or five. + +What ones to destroy is a delicate question. It is usually safe to +discard the last one born, who is so often the runt of the family that +he is known to kennel men and veterinarians as the "wreckling." It +takes a very experienced eye to tell much about the points of a new +born puppy, but two salient features to be remembered are that not once +in a hundred times will a light eye get darker and any tendency to big +ears is comparatively easy to spot and invariably gets worse. A good +safe rule in terrier puppies is to save the ones with the longest, +flattest heads, the heaviest, straightest fore legs, dark eyes, small +ears, short bodies, taking these points in the order named, but +discarding any pup who is glaringly off in any of these details. + +The mother will wean the pups herself when they begin to grow their +teeth, and it is best to leave this to nature. When their eyes are +opened they should be taught to drink for themselves by sticking their +noses in a saucer of sweetened milk. About the time they are fully +weaned they should be treated for worms. After this first worming, they +should have similar treatment every six weeks till they are six months +old, and twice more after that before they are out of the puppy class. +All dogs should be treated for worms twice a year as long as they live. + +It is the style, or custom, or what you will, to cut the tails of +Airedales, Irish, Welsh, and fox terrier puppies. This ought to be done +when they are three or four days old. Three vertebrae are left, that +is, the tail is cut at the third "knuckle," not counting the first one +at the root of the tail. Rumor says that the operation is done with the +kennelman's or groom's teeth, but in reality a dull pair of scissors is +the usual and best instrument. The skin should be pulled back toward +the body, so that there will be a little extra to cover the end, and +not leave it bare of hair. + +Growing pups need three things--food, room, and sunlight. When first +weaned, they should be fed milk, gruels, and soups five times a day and +the number of meals gradually lessened and the amount of solid food +gradually increased till at a year old they are fed the same as their +older kennel companions. The more room puppies have, the better they +are. This is probably the reason that puppies farmed out always do so +much better than those kennel raised. They may get all sorts of food +and they certainly do not get the attention given the ones in the +kennels, but a farm raised youngster is always healthier, bigger, and +stronger. + +Sunlight acts on puppies as it does on growing plants. Winter pups are +proverbially more troublesome than those born in the spring. Most +fanciers, therefore, see to it that their brood bitches whelp only in +the spring. One litter a year is enough to ask of any terrier. + +In conclusion, a word to the small kennel owner. He is apt to think +things are unfairly distributed and that he has not the chance either +in the show ring, the field, or the breeding kennel that the large +owner has. In the latter two, and especially in the breeding kennel, he +really has an advantage. It is well known that the greatest number of +good dogs are bred by owners of from one to five bitches, for they +study their needs more carefully and can give the puppies better +attention. Let the small breeder but study his breed; know its past +great dogs; understand the meaning of pedigrees; mate his bitches +according to his knowledge; rear his puppies carefully, and he will +find that he will turn out better home breds than ever come from the +big kennels. + + + + +CHAPTER V + +DOG SHOWS AND SHOWING + + +The Britisher's inborn love of sport, dogs, and breeding invented the +dog show, but not so very long ago, for even in England bench shows, as +a recognized institution, are only a little over half a century old. +Their fame and popularity have, however, circled the globe. + +The English fancier can truly boast that there are more thoroughbred +dogs to the mile in Great Britain than to fifty miles in any other +country, and one is not surprised to find that there are more bench +shows held there in a week than in a month in the United States. We, on +this side of the ocean, are their nearest rival, for while European +countries have taken up the dog and his showing, still they are as much +behind us as we are behind "the tight little isle." + +Continental fanciers have a great deal to learn about dogs, and from +their very dispositions it is doubtful if, with the possible exception +of the serious, hard-working, painstaking Germans, they will ever +become truly doggy. In the first place, they count their pennies very +carefully when buying a dog; and in the second place, they are not +really fanciers at heart, but have merely taken up dogs as a +fashionable whim. + +The first American shows were run in a haphazard, friendly, +go-as-you-please way, but it very soon became evident that some +governing body was as much a necessity in dogdom as on the race track, +in college athletics, or among yachtsmen. Accordingly, the American +Kennel Club grew up naturally to fill this place. In form the A.K.C., +as it is called, is a congress. Its members are not individuals, but +clubs, which are represented by regularly elected delegates at the +meetings of the parent organization. These clubs are of two types, the +local clubs, composed of the fanciers of a certain city or district, +and the specialty clubs, whose members are the fanciers the country +over devoted to one particular breed. + +The local clubs, like the Westminster Kennel Club of New York City or +the Philadelphia Dog Show Association, are organized primarily for the +giving of bench shows. The specialty clubs, of which the Scottish +Terrier Club of America and the Airedale Terrier Club of New England +are examples, are devoted primarily to fostering the interests of their +breed, which they do by offering special prizes, seeing that competent +judges officiate, and even by holding shows where only dogs of their +breed are exhibited. + +All shows, whether given by local or specialty associations, are held +under A.K.C. rules, and the regulation of these shows is the main work +done at the club's offices at 1 Liberty Street, New York. The A.K.C., +however, does more than this. It publishes the dog Stud Book, a volume +annually, and also a semi-monthly, official journal, the _A.K.C. +Gazette_. Moreover, the club is judicial as well as legislative and +executive in its functions, and tries the offenders of the kennel +world. Last, but not least, it has jurisdiction over field trials, both +for bird dogs and hounds. + +The A.K.C. recognizes seventy-seven distinct breeds as thoroughbred +dogs--not counting several subdivision of breeds into varieties based +on coats or colors. Any dog of any of these recognized breeds may be +entered in the Stud Book, provided it has three generations of known, +pure-blood pedigree. The registration fee is one dollar and includes +the assigning of an official number to the dog, entry in the Stud Book +for that year, a certificate of his registration, and the right, +throughout the life of the dog, to show him, regardless of ownership, +at any A.K.C. show. Unregistered dogs have to be "listed" for each +show they attend, and a fee of twenty-five cents is always charged. + +The usual classes at a bench show are the puppy, novice, limit, open, +and winners', and in the more popular breeds these are divided by sex. +The puppy class is for any dog between the ages of six months and one +year, but, of course, none can be entered whose date of birth, sire, +dam, place of birth, and breeder are unknown. The novice class is for +dogs bred in the United States who have never won a first prize, wins +in the puppy class being excepted. The limit class is for dogs who have +not won six first prizes in that class, but dogs who have won their +championship are barred. Any dog, who is over six months of age, may be +shown in the open class. + +If three of the above classes are given at a show, a winners' class is +added. There is no entry fee for this class, but in it the winners of +the other classes meet and are judged. At different shows various other +classes are sometimes given, as a junior class for dogs between six and +eighteen months, a class for champions, and many divisions are made +according to weight and color in different breeds. + +It is by wins in the winners' class that a dog secures the right to +prefix to his name the honorable and much-coveted title of "Champion." +To win this, the dog must get fifteen points. Every win in the winners' +class counts a certain number of points according to the number of dogs +actually on the bench at the show: 1000 dogs or over, five points; 750 +dogs or over, four points; 500 dogs or over, three points; 250 dogs or +over, two points; under 250 dogs, one point. Specialty shows devoted to +one breed count five points. Fifteen of these points, provided three of +them have been won at one show and at least three different judges have +awarded the dog first in the winners' class, make a dog a champion. The +A.K.C. gives a championship certificate to the owner, who can also +buy a championship medal for three dollars, if his dog is registered. + +Novices are cautioned to read most carefully the rules published in +the premium lists of all A.K.C. dog shows before they fill out their +entry blanks and to exercise great care in doing this, for mistakes are +on their own heads. Their dog may be disqualified and his wins canceled +should they fail to fill in the necessary particulars correctly. In +case of any attempt at fraud, they will be themselves disqualified, +which is a doggy ex-communication. Disqualified persons are not only +barred from judging, showing, or registering, but dogs owned or bred by +them during their term of disqualification cannot be shown or +registered. + +No dog that is lame (except temporarily), blind, castrated, spayed, +deaf, dyed, or in any way "faked" can be shown, and all entries are +examined by a registered veterinarian when they first come to the show. +They must be passed by him, as sound and free from contagious disease, +before they will be accepted. Every dog must be the _bona fide_ +property of the exhibitor. These, and the other rules, are simple, +founded on common justice and reason, and easy to understand. They are +all such that intent to deceive can be the only reason for their +neglect or misunderstanding. + +To show a dog at his best, in the very pink of perfect condition, is +the only way to insure that he will be placed by the judge where he +deserves. Many a dog, really better than his rival in the ring, has +gone down because of condition, and defeat is not only unpleasant, +but also a great handicap to a show dog. Perfect health, no fat, +well-developed muscles--these are the foundation of a terrier's +"fitness." + +A little change in diet or exercise is the best and the easiest way to +accomplish this physical perfection. Tonics and pills and powders, +conditioners, as they are called, are not all they are cracked up to +be. It is like doping a race-horse or a pugilist. It works for a time, +but the end is inevitable and always the same. + +A terrier is easy to get "fit," and the only thing that may cause the +exhibitor loss of sleep is the condition of the wire coat. Wire coats +are--there is no use fishing about for any excuse--wire coats are a +bother. A great, big three-quarters of the trouble is overcome, +however, if the dog has been carefully and regularly groomed. Such a +dog does not need much trimming,--mainly a little cleaning up about the +head and legs. On the other hand, one who has been neglected needs the +services of a skilled canine tonsorial artist to put him down before +the judge with a coat that meets the requirements of the ring. + +The A.K.C. lets one pluck and pull with his fingers, and brush and +comb away as much as he wishes, but the use of knives, razors, +scissors, or clippers is strictly tabooed. It is too bad that the +trimming of wire terriers is carried so far as is the style to-day, +for, even if legalized by the A.K.C, it so alters a dog and so +improves a bad coat that it savors pretty strongly of faking. There +is, however, little chance of there being any immediate reform, and +to show successfully one must obey the dictates of Mistress Fashion. + +A dog in perfect condition, with his coat trimmed in the approved +style, may yet fail to get his deserts in the show ring, if not +properly handled. The professional handlers are past masters at the art +of making a dog appear at his very best in the ring, and a great deal +of their success is due to this skill. The cry of the partiality of +judges to professionally shown dogs has been often heard, but it is not +so serious to one who will watch a class actually being shown on the +sawdust. The humorousness of the man who can realize the better showing +of the dogs handled by the paid professionals in every ring but his own +appeals to a close and impartial observer. + +The novice cannot do better than to steal a leaf out of the book of the +professional handlers, and by a careful study of their methods, learn +to show his own dogs so that they will always be at their best, making +their strongest points apparent and hiding their weaknesses, and +religiously seeing to it that he catches the judicial eye. + +It is well to take a puppy destined for a show career and to teach him +to show. It is just as easy to teach him to stand firm on his pins, all +alert, full of fire, yet not bobbing about like a jumping-jack, as it +is to have him sit up and beg or to "play dead." To a "public dog" it +is an innately more useful accomplishment. + +A little bit of boiled liver, the sweetest tit-bit on a dog's menu, is +an excellent thing to carry into the ring with you, but it is a grave +mistake to be forever teasing and nagging at your entry. Leave him +alone as much as possible. Do not wear out his spirits and your own +patience, but just see that he is kept awake, standing firm so as to +show his front to advantage, and so placed that the judge looks at him +from the most advantageous position. If he has a poor colored eye, keep +his tail pointed at the source of the light; if his back is plenty +long, do not let the judge see more of his profile than possible, and +so on, with different rules for each dog in the world. + +Bad manners in the ring are the poorest of poor sportsmanship. Never +try to hide another's dog and do not let your dog pick at or worry +another entry. The terriers are all inclined to "start things" in the +ring anyway, and each exhibitor ought to do his best to prevent the +ring from becoming a whirling, barking, tugging bedlam. No judge can do +his best under such disconcerting, if exciting, conditions, and he has +a hard enough time at best, so exhibitors ought to help him as much as +they are able. + +Very, very seldom does one meet an exhibitor who will come out frankly +and say that he was beaten fairly, even if he has shown a regular +"rotter" against an "out-and-outer." It does not cost one single, red +cent to congratulate the owner of the dog who has beaten yours. If he +has done so fairly, it is but the decent thing to do, and if you think +your dog is the better, why you have the consolation of knowing that +there is going to be another show where another judge will hand out the +ribbons probably the very next week. It is also a mighty nice thing to +find a good point or two to mention in the dogs that have been placed +behind yours, assuming, of course, that you have not had the fate of +being "given the gate." + +These little courtesies of the ring are often sadly lacking at our +American shows. Fanciers have a world of things in common and, instead +of bitterest rivals, they should be the best of friends. Friendly +rivalry adds ninety per cent. to the pleasures of being a fancier, and +in this a man gets just about what he gives. + +In sending a dog to a show, even if the distance be but a mile or two +and you are going along, too, it is best to crate him. It costs a +little more, but many an unboxed dog has been lost or injured, and the +railroads assume absolutely no responsibility in these cases. The +express companies do charge a very high rate (one and a half times that +charged for merchandise) for very poor service, but they are at least +legally responsible for dogs committed to their charge. In England, +wicker hampers are very popular for shipping dogs, but here, while +lightness is to be sought, they are hardly strong enough to withstand +the gentle care of our "baggage heavers." + +The shows provide bedding, food, and water, but the fancier supplies +his own chains and leads. To fasten a dog on the exhibition bench, +bench chains, as they are called, are used. These are either nickel or +brass finish, with snaps at both ends, and by means of them a dog can +be so fastened that he can move about comfortably and yet not hang +himself by getting over the front or get into trouble with his +neighbors beyond the partitions. + +In the show ring, however, these chains would be too heavy, and it is +the custom to show terriers on long leather leads. There are two styles +in vogue. One is a regular lead fastened with a snap to an ordinary +collar, which should be a half inch strap of plain leather. The other +is the slip collar, or a long lead with a loop at one or both ends. The +loop is slipped over the dog's head and fastened by a sliding clasp. +All leads and collars for terriers should be light and plain. Fancy, +studded, bebelled, and beribboned collars look about as well on a +terrier as diamonds on a bellboy. + +The showing of dogs is rapidly becoming one of our most popular sports. +The number of shows increases wonderfully each year, and every season +the entries become more and more numerous. Daily, there are recruits +enlisting in the army of dog fanciers. There is no denying the potency +of the charm woven by the dog show. The confirmed fancier fairly loves +the barking roar of the benched dogs; that peculiarly distinctive +smell--a strange mixture of dog, disinfectant, and sawdust; the +excitement of the ring; the doggy parties at lunches, dinners, and at +night after the show is over. It is all different from anything else in +the world of sport, this charm of the bench show, and it is sure to +hold in a fast grip any dog lover who falls under its sway. + + + + +CHAPTER VI + +THE USEFUL AIREDALE + + +Had there never been a specific need for just such a dog as the +Airedale, he would never have existed. He was "manufactured" to meet a +distinct want: the need for a big, strong dog, game to the bottom and +with a liking for water, who would serve the all-round purpose of pal, +guard, poacher, and vermin destroyer. Had the Airedale not filled this +bill, he would never have persisted. He would have died out +ignominiously, without even winning a local fame. + +The Airedale, however, is not only all that his Yorkshire "manufacturers" +longed for, but he has shown himself much more. Wider acquaintance with +the world has placed him under many different conditions, and he has +not very often been weighed and found wanting. He has made his home in +all countries from Alaska to India. He has been used for all sorts of +game from the grizzly to mice; he has done police duty in France, +Germany, and America; he has drawn sleds in the Arctic and driven sheep +in Australia--all these things and many others he has done, and in the +doing of them he has won a reputation for intelligence, docility, and +affectionate disposition that few less talented dogs do not envy. As a +writer in the _Belgian Breeder_, the Brussels journal devoted to +horses, dogs, and livestock, has said, he is indeed "_le chien le plus +utile_," which is freely Americanized by the doggy epigram that "an +Airedale will do anything any other dog can do and then lick the other +dog." + +The Airedale is indeed ideally useful, and he is also usefully ideal, +for he has size and strength; nobody ever questioned his courage; he is +blessed with exceptional brains; and he is obedient, faithful, and +affectionate. What more can man ask of a dog? By inheritance he is a +thorough sportsman and by instinct a perfect gentleman. + +Training, education, and specialization are all familiar terms these +days. It is acknowledged that the skilled dwarf is more powerful than +the ignorant giant: that the efficiency of the genius is increased many +times by proper schooling. So it is with dogs. By nature and by the art +of breeding the Airedale has been endowed with gifts fitting him to do +whatever a dog may be called upon to do, but proper training will +enable him to do it more easily and better. + +With a dog of so many talents it is somewhat difficult to decide just +the best way in which to take up the different branches of his +education, but let us divide his training upon the basis of the +Airedale in town and in the country. + +I suppose that it is useless to say, for dogs will always be kept in +the cities as companions, that a Harlem flat is just about the worst +place in the world for an Airedale. Any terrier just cries for room. +He is lively as a cricket and as full of spirits as a nut is of +kernel--both excellent qualities in any dog outside a flat. The city at +best is no place for any dog; no place for terriers of all dogs, and of +all terriers, the Airedale! Yet hundreds of dogs live in town, and they +serve their purpose. Also, they have a great deal to learn. + +House-breaking is the first lesson that has to be taught the city dog. +Usually it saves time and money to see that the dog you buy is already +so trained, but this cannot always be done. It is a risky business to +guarantee a dog house-broken and too much faith must not be placed in +any such promises. It often happens that while a dog will always behave +perfectly in one house he may have to be trained all over again when +introduced into another. This is mainly true of puppies, so you need +not consider yourself basely deceived if, in this particular, a +youngster does not live strictly up to the word of his seller. + +If your dog arrives in a crate, he should be given a run the very first +thing after unpacking. The safest way is to bring him into the house on +a lead and to keep him tied up short in some convenient place for a +couple of days, taking him out regularly at fixed hours. He will soon +get into these habits. Should he offend, he ought to be punished at the +scene of his crime, taking care that he is aware of his offense and +tied up again. A very few days of this treatment will house-break any +dog who is old enough to understand what you are driving at. Trying to +house-break a very young puppy is cruelty pure and simple. + +In punishing a dog, do not beat him about the ears and never use either +a fine whip, or a stick. It has happened twice in my knowledge that a +dog has had his hearing seriously damaged by a rupturing of the ear +drums caused by blows on the head. A whip will cut the skin of a dog +and a stick may break a bone. A smart slap under the jaw, accompanied +by a word-scolding in a severe tone and uncompromising manner, is a +thousand times better. In extreme cases a strap may be used, but always +remember that the object is not to flog the dog into cowardly and +broken submission, but merely to impress upon him that he is not doing +as you wish. + +In all cases it is best to punish a dog "red handed," but in no case +should you punish him "red headed." Unless the dog knows for what he +is being punished, you are like Xerxes whipping the Hellespont for +wrecking his ships, except that a dog has more feelings than the sea. +The best way to be sure that the dog knows is to catch him in the very +act. This has the disadvantage, however, of making it likely that you +will be in a temper. + +No dog should ever be punished when you have not got perfect control +over yourself. The patience of Job was never tried by a healthy, +terrier puppy, or it might have reached its limit. A spoiled rug, the +flower-beds wrecked, a new hat chewed up, slippers and rubbers all over +the house, religious disobedience, all these things do cultivate a +temper, but temper and dog-training do not live together successfully. + +In training a dog be sure that he knows exactly what you want him to +do, and then be sure that he always does it. Make obedience a habit. In +time, it will come as natural to him as breathing. When you say "Come +here," see that he comes, and let him understand that "Lie down" means +just that and nothing more. It is very useful to have a dog that lives +in the house "stay put" when placed in a chair or a corner, and this +should be part of his education. It is very bad dog manners to jump up +on visitors. Even to those who love dogs it is often disagreeably +bothersome. It is bad enough in a toy dog, but in an Airedale it is +worse in the ratio of five pounds to fifty. + +I am not personally in favor of teaching a dog tricks. A trick dog soon +learns to "love the limelight," and will be continually begging to be +allowed to show off. Besides, I have an inborn dislike to seeing a dog +doing stunts, and I know the feeling is shared by others who are fond +of a good dog. It seems a silly thing to see a big, strong terrier +begging or walking on his hind legs. It may be very clever for poodles +and pugs, but with a man's dog--and the terriers are all "man's +dogs"--it always calls to my mind a painting in the Louvre in which +Hercules is depicted sitting at the feet of Venus industriously winding +up a ball of yarn. However, tastes differ, and these tricks are all +easy to teach a bright pupil, who has already learned the lesson of +minding. + +When the city dog goes out for a walk his training gets its real test. +What a lovely spectacle it is to see a dog owner rushing and yelling +after a dog who runs about paying no more attention to him than to the +clouds overhead. It is a sight that has but one equal, that of a +portly, pompous gentleman chasing his own hat. Even if a dog is +perfectly trained indoors, he may break loose when first taken out on +the street, but he can easily be made to understand that master is to +be boss on the street as well as in the house. One of the best habits a +city dog can have is that of keeping close to his owner's heels +crossing streets. A dog is perfectly well able to cross a crowded +street, but in busy thoroughfares a dog and his master are apt to get +separated, and all may not be so fortunate as the Washington physician +who had his champion Airedale returned with a note which read: + +"Dere Doc--Here is your Yeller Dog. Will you Please give me 15 cents I +hate to ask so much but i had to fead him 2 days." + +The Airedale who lives in the country is more fortunate than his +brother in town. His preliminary education is just the same, but he +gets a college course in hunting, and maybe a little post-graduate work +in cattle driving. All that has been said about house-breaking and +teaching to mind applies with equal force to the country dog. If there +are not so many interested spectators to make it embarrassing it is +just as provoking to have a runaway dog in the meadows and pastures as +in the streets and avenues. A single motor at sixty or seventy miles an +hour on the turnpike is harder for a dog to dodge than the whole flood +of traffic that streams up and down the city thoroughfares. So, city or +country, teach your dog to mind. + +An Airedale will take as naturally to rats, woodchucks, and such vermin +as a lot of little yellow ducklings will to the mill pond. But to make +assurance doubly sure, it is best to introduce him to mice or small +rats when he is four or five months old, then leading on and on till +you can end with the biggest game found in America. This is the way +terriers are broken in England. It has been found that if a terrier is +jumped bang at Mr. Woodchuck, for example, he may be spoiled by biting +off more than he can chew the first time. + +In the Rockies, where Airedales are used on grizzly and mountain lion, +the dogs hunt in packs, and the old dogs train the youngsters. Example +and experience make an excellent pair of tutors, and the work is such +that unless the lessons are grasped pretty quickly, there will be a +dead dog. + +The gradual system of breaking applies to water. The veins of the +Airedale are filled with the blood of the otter-hound, and from this +ancestor he has inherited a love for the water. Practically all +Airedales will swim naturally without any training at all, but once in +a while there comes along one who does not take to water. He should be +coaxed in, not taken by the scruff of the neck and pitched overboard. +Methods like that are not generally successful when dogs are concerned. + +In hunting and swimming the Airedale is but following the strongest +instincts that he has. All one has to do is to curb and direct these +instincts. Experience will do the rest, for the dog has brains and is +very quick to learn, and the teacher is proverbially a good one. In +driving cattle and sheep, however, the dog is going into a new trade, +as it were, and not one to which he was born. He proves his versatility +by the quickness with which he can learn to be an excellent drover. The +easiest way is to take him out with a dog experienced in this work. If +this cannot be done, one will have to train him himself, and this is +not so difficult as it sounds, but it is best to make sure that the dog +has carefully learned that minding trick above mentioned before +undertaking this. + +Almost any and all dogs are watch-dogs, but the Airedale, because of +his size and intelligence, is a particularly good one. It is not the +wisest policy to chain up a dog at night, for he will be much more apt +to sound false alarms, and in any case of real need he is powerless to +give active defense of himself or his friends. The watch-dog ought not +to have his big, heavy meal at night, or he will go to sleep and snore +peacefully till cock crow, while if fed but lightly, he will rest in a +series of cat naps, if a dog can do that. + +The Airedale is more practically useful than any other breed of dog. He +can do more things better than any other variety. It is this eminent +utility of his that has been one of the greatest factors in his +success, but he would never have become so widely popular with men, +women, and children of all classes had it not been that behind his +usefulness there is sterling character and good disposition. + + + + +CHAPTER VII + +COMMON AILMENTS + + +The terrier owner is a "lucky devil," for his dogs do not, as a rule, +spend a great deal of time in the hospital. All members of the terrier +family, from the giant of the race, the Airedale, way down to little +Scottie, owe a big debt to nature for having blessed them with +remarkably robust constitutions. They do not catch cold from every +draft; they throw off the various contagious diseases; even when really +sick, they make wonderfully rapid recoveries. + +All dog flesh, however, is heir to certain diseases, and even the most +healthy and strong are not exceptions to this rule. Many of the books +on doggy subjects are so deep and technical that the poor novice who +has waded through their sonorous and involved phrases is really more at +sea about how to treat his sick dog than before he took them from the +shelf. Other books on dogs, especially the popular ones, are so brief +in their descriptions that no amount of study of them can teach much. +It is my object to steer between these two extremes and to tell +something of the common ailments, so all may understand their causes, +symptoms, and treatments. + +Two good rules for the amateur veterinarian to learn at the very outset +are: In case of any doubt, or if the case is at all serious, time, +money, and maybe the dog's life will be saved by calling at once upon a +registered D.V.S.; and nine times out of ten a dog's ailments are the +same, with the same symptoms and results, as among humans. A dog, +therefore, can receive the same treatment as people, for the same +medicines act upon him as upon yourself. In the case of the terriers, +the dose is one-fourth of that for an adult human. To use more +commonsense than medicine is another good rule to use, for nursing and +a little attention to diet often effect a cure without any drugs at +all. + +Remembering that the same treatment that you would give yourself cures +your dogs makes it unnecessary to go into such ailments as cuts, burns, +colds, stomach disorders, and poisons. There are, however, some +distinctively canine ailments. For convenience let us take these up +alphabetically. + +_Canker of the ear_ is not by any means so common in terriers as in the +long-eared breeds, but it sometimes affects dogs who go a great deal in +the water, though it may be caused by any foreign substance getting +into the ear. There are two forms--the external and the internal. The +external shows itself by sores on the ear flaps, which are most painful +and cause the dog to scratch and paw at his ear. The sores ought to be +cleaned thoroughly with hot water and dressed with zinc ointment daily. +In bad cases the head may be bandaged to prevent aggravation of the +ulcers by scratching. + +The internal form is harder to cure. Its symptoms are hot, inflamed +ears, pain, pawing, and rubbing the head against the floor or walls. +The interior of the ear should be douched out with warm water and +boracic acid or witch hazel, and then syringed with a solution of one +part of spirits of wine and twenty parts of water. Afterwards the ear +should be carefully dried out with cotton on the end of a pencil--care +must be taken not to injure the interior of the ear--and finally dusted +with boracic acid. + +_Chorea_, or, as it is sometimes called, St. Vitus's Dance, is +generally a legacy of distemper. It is a peculiar nervous twitching, +generally affecting the forelegs and shoulders. It is almost incurable, +but good food, exercise, and a tonic may work wonders. + +_Cramps_ in the hindquarters may sometimes attack a dog who goes a +great deal into the water and they are not unknown as a result of cold +and damp kennels or great exposure to cold. The symptoms are a more or +less complete paralysis of the hindlegs, accompanied by great pain. The +dog should be given a hot bath and the affected parts, after a careful +drying, should be rubbed well with chloroform liniment. + +_Diarrhoea_, which may be caused by food or worms, can usually be +stopped by a mild purge of half castor oil and half syrup of buckthorn, +which may be followed by a dose of prepared chalk. Boiled rice is an +excellent food for dogs suffering from disordered bowels. + +_Distemper_ is the bane of the dog owner's existence. It is a highly +contagious disease generally attacking puppies, and is comparable to +scarlet fever in that one attack successfully gone through usually +means immunity. It was formerly thought that distemper could arise +spontaneously from improper feeding or unsanitary kenneling, but the +germ of the disease has been isolated, and while poor food and dirty +kennels increase the chances of the disease by lowering the dog's +resistance, they are not in themselves causes. + +The distemper germ is possessed of remarkable vitality and may be +transferred either directly from dog to dog or through the medium of +crates, bedding, clothing, and even the air. Shows are a source of +spreading the disease, though there is much less danger of this now +than formerly for the veterinary inspection and proper disinfecting +methods have improved conditions wonderfully. A bitch from an infected +kennel may give distemper to the inmates of the kennels she visits for +breeding purposes. Plenty of soap and water, disinfectant, and elbow +grease make a distemper prevention that is much better than any cure. + +The discovery of the distemper germ has naturally resulted in the +making of an anti-toxin, by attenuating the virus till a weakened +form is obtained. Using this to inoculate a well dog, a mild form +of the disease attacks him, but this "vaccination" has not proved +unqualifiedly successful, especially when used by amateurs. + +The commonest form of distemper is catarrhal, with symptoms much like +those of an ordinary cold, lack of appetite, fever, disordered bowels, +vomiting, staring coat, rapid loss of flesh, and discharges from the +nose and eyes. The distemper germ, however, may attack other organs +than the nose and eyes. The lungs and bronchial tubes and the stomach +and intestines are also seats of the trouble. These forms are harder to +diagnose and harder to cure. The presence of dysentery and sometimes of +jaundice are indications that the digestive tract is involved. + +I know of no sure cure for distemper, and I never knew a dog owner +who did, though, to be sure, they all have their favorite remedies. +There are no end of patent specifics on the market, and some of these +are very good, but the best thing for a tyro to do is to call a +veterinarian. Leave the doctoring to him, at least till you have had +the experience gained by a couple of good cases of distemper in your +kennels. There will be plenty for you to do without bother about +prescribing. + +The dog with distemper must be isolated, and you must take the +precautions that you would if there were smallpox in the neighborhood. +Wash with disinfectants, burn sulphur candles, scrupulously destroy all +bedding--use all the knowledge of antiseptic disinfecting that you +have. + +As for the patient, you will find that nursing is just as important as +medicine--in fact, the more I have to do with the disease, the less +medicine I administer and the more care I give to nursing. Keep up the +dog's strength with almost any sick room food that he will eat. Raw +meat, eggs, gruels, soups, milk, all these are good, and the dog should +be fed often. The discharges from the nose and eyes should be wiped +away regularly. + +If the nose becomes very badly stopped up, so that breathing is +difficult, the dog's head may be held over a pail of hot water in which +a little turpentine has been dropped and he made to inhale the fumes. +If the throat and bronchial tubes are affected, give a little cough +syrup--any one will do, but be careful not to give enough to upset the +stomach. See that the dog has plenty of water to drink and keep him out +of all drafts, though the room must be well ventilated. + +_Fits_ seem to be a part of the life of most puppies. They are not +dangerous and usually pass off without bad effects. But fits are a +symptom, and the cause should be removed. They may be caused by worms, +stomach troubles, or heat. Keep the dog quiet and give him a dose of +castor oil and buckthorn. + +_Insects_ of several kinds take pleasure in seeing to it that neither +the dog or his owner gets lazy. The commonest and the easiest to get +rid of are fleas, but they are dangerous as being the cause of +tapeworm, for the tapeworm of the dog spends part of his life (in the +larva form) in the fleas. There are any number of good flea soaps on +the market and a dozen good flea powders, so little need be said about +ridding the dog of these pests. + +Lice are harder to get rid of, but the dog can be freed of them in the +same way as of fleas. Care should be taken to get rid of as many of the +lice eggs, little black specks that stick to the hair, as possible. +Ticks are the least common, but because of their habit of burrowing +into the skin cannot be washed out. The best way is to give the dog a +good rubbing in a dressing composed of olive and kerosene oils, equal +parts of each, followed by a bath. + +_Kennel Lameness_, or rheumatism, affects a dog similarly to human +beings, there being a soreness of certain parts--usually the +foreshoulders or back--and pain, with even swelling of the joints. The +dog should be kept in a light, dry, well-ventilated place, his bowels +kept open, and the food given light, but nourishing. A little sodium +bicarbonate or sodium salicylate added to his drinking water will be +found to be beneficial, and hot baths and rubbings with liniments eases +the pain considerably. + +_Skin diseases_ are among the common troubles of the dog owner, for +there are three varieties. The wire terriers seem to suffer a good deal +from eczema,--this is especially true of Scotties,--and their owner is +sure to know it before he has been in the game very long. It is a skin +disease, noncontagious, arising from the blood and showing itself in +red eruptions which burst, oozing their contents and forming scabs. The +hair comes off, and by scratching the dog aggravates the condition. + +High feeding and too little exercise are the usual cause of the +trouble, and the root of the matter must be gotten at before a cure can +be effected. A good purge should be given and the dog put on a light, +simple diet. The sores should be washed clean and then treated with a +wash of four parts of sugar of lead and one part of zinc sulphate in +water. Fowler's Solution is also given sometimes, but this is a poison +and ought not to be administered save on a veterinarian's advice. + +There are two forms of mange--sarcoptic and follicular, both highly +infectious, and the latter so hard to cure that many dog owners would +almost rather kill a dog than go through the siege with the constant +danger of inoculating other dogs. The sarcoptic form is more on the +surface and attacks dogs under the legs, which become red and inflamed, +little reddish pimples forming, which break and form dark red scabs. +The follicular mange usually starts on the back near the tail or over +the collar. The hair falls out, red scabs form and there is a peculiar +odor. It is difficult to tell just which form one is dealing with after +the case has gone far, but at the outset it is comparatively easy. + +Both of these manges are caused by parasites which live in the skin. +The microscope reveals these, and this is the only way that one, at the +outset, can be sure he is dealing with mange and not eczema. The dog +should be thoroughly cleaned and then dressed with the following +ointment: creosote 1/2 oz.; oil of cade 1 oz.; zinc ointment and +lanoline each 3 ozs.; and sulphur 1/2 oz. This is not a pretty or a +nice mixture, but it has done the work more than once for me. The main +thing with mange is cleanliness and keeping everlastingly at it. +Skipping a day in the treatment will add a week to the cure. Sarcoptic +mange caught in time can be cured in two weeks. Follicular mange may +take three months, or even longer, to be cured completely. + +_Worms_ are almost sure to be found in all dogs not regularly treated +for them, and they are the cause of a good deal of trouble. Puppies are +favorite victims for these internal parasites and youngsters who serve +as hosts for these undesirable visitors never do well. Worms come from +fleas, sheep and cattle stomachs and intestines, and sheep heads. Three +varieties are common--the round, thread, and the tape, the last the +most dangerous. + +Puppies should be given a good vermifuge when weaned and the treatment +should be kept up all through the dog's life. Emaciation, vomiting, +bloating of the stomach, bad breath, and dragging the rectum along the +ground after stool are the usual evidences of worms, but the wise dog +owner does not wait for such signs. There are several good vermifuges +on the market, usually containing santonin, male fern, or acerca nut, +but naturally I do not feel that this is the place to mention them by +name. Almost any of them will do the work if the manufacturer's +directions are followed. + +In conclusion, a word or two about giving medicines. The best way to +hold a terrier is to sit in a low chair and place him so that his body +is under you and his shoulders between your knees. To give a pill you +do not need help for so small a dog, but by putting your left hand over +his mouth and pressing you force him to open his mouth by forcing his +lips against his teeth. Lift up his head and put the pill as far back +as you can on his tongue and hold his mouth closed till he has +swallowed. + +With liquids you will need an assistant to pour the medicine into the +natural funnel you make of the dog's mouth by pulling his lips on one +side out. In this you do not open the mouth but merely hold up the +head. The medicine should be poured slowly between the teeth and lips +and the mouth held closed till swallowed. + +Let me again impress the importance of remembering the similarity of +canine and human ills. It is also well to bear in mind that careful +nursing is usually very much better than dosing, especially when the +dosing is done by one who is not perfectly sure just what he is doing +and why he is doing it. + + + + + * * * * * * + + + + +Transcriber's note: + +Minor typographical errors have been corrected without note. + +Irregularities and inconsistencies in the text have been retained +as printed. + +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 43998 *** |