Misdeeds of Other Breeds

Dominion, Volume 28, Issue 101, 23 January 1935, Page 11

Misdeeds of Other Breeds

Sir, —It is interesting to note that in the first photograph taken of the Duke and Duchess of Kent after their marriage they are acconipauied by an Alsatian, which they took in the car with them when they started on their honeymoon. Tho Prince of Wales also has a fine Alsatian, aud there is no doubt that these dogs, when properly bred and properly treated, are the finest breed' in the world. Lady Kitty Kitson, a great authority ou dogs, says, “Once an Alsatian owner, always an Alsatian owner,” but she warns people against stock bred from nervous show specimens which are judged for gait and what is called "angulation,” a term quite unknown in any other breed. As has been pointed out by others, all misdemeanours by Alsatians are at once reported in print though they form a very small portion of the whole. Only last year at St. Bernard attacked- and- killed a man of 28 at Munich, and a big dog of no particular breed killed the mother of its owner in Hungary. It is ancient history, too, that the Raby Foxhounds many years ago killed and ate their kenneljiuntsinan. None of these dogs had any strain of wolf in it. nor has the Alsatian one drop of wolf blood. It would not matter much if it had, for a wolf brought up with proper treatment in captivity is a kindly and- affectionate animal. Lord Auckland keeps one in place of a housedog. and from personal experience I can say that it is gentle animal and I have frequently seen it handled by women and children. It the latest number of the “Illustrated London News” is a picture of Peter, the big wolf at the London Zoo, making friends with a very young child. J airj not and never have been an Alsatian owner, but I have the greatest admiration for the breed when properly bred and treated. —I am, etc., - H.N.W. Palmerston North, Jan 21.