DESCRIPTION OF THE DEERHOUND.

Otago Witness, Issue 2894, 25 August 1909, Page 35

DESCRIPTION OF THE DEERHOUND.

The following description of the deerhound is from the De&rhound Club : —

He-ad. — The head should be broadest at the ears, tapering slightly to the eyes, with the muzzle feapering mere deoideclly to the nose. The muzzle should be pointed, but tho teeth and lips level. The head should be long, the skull flat rather than round, with a very slight rise over tho eyes, but with nothing approaching a stop. Tho skull should be coated with moderately long hair, which is softer -than the rest of the coat. The nose- should be black (though in some blue-fawns the colour is blue), and slightly aquiline. On the lighter-coloured dog the black muzzle is preferred. There should be a good moustache of rather silky hair, and a fair beard.

Ears. — The ears should be set on high, and, in repose, folded back like the greyhound's, thougih raised above the head in exokejnent without losing the fold, and even in sonii cases semi-erect. A prick ear is bad. A big thick ear hanging flat to the head, or. heavily coated with long hair, is the worst of faults. The ear should be- soft, glossy, and like a mouse's coat to tho touch, and the smaller it is the better. It F.hould Have no long coat or long fringe, but there is often a silky, silvery coat on the body of tho ear and tho tip. Whatever the general colour, the ears should be black or dark-coloured.

Neck and Shoulders. — The neck should bo long — that is of the length that befrte the greyhound character of the dog. An overiongp n-eck is not necessary or desirable, for the dog is not required to stoop to his work liko a. greyhound, a«d it must be remem-

bered that the mane, which every good specimen should have, detracts from the apparent length of neck. Moreover, a deerhound requires a very strong neck to hold a 6tag. The nape of the neok should 1 be very prominent where the head is serf; on, and the throat should be clean cut at the angle and prominent. The shoulders ehould be well 6loped, the blades well back and not too much wid'fih between them. Loaded and straight shoulders very bad faults. Stern.— Stern should be tolerably long, tapering, and reaching to within 1 in off the ground, and about l£in below the hocks. When the dog is still, dropped perfectly straight down, or curved. When in motion it should be curved when excited, in no case to be lifted out of line with the back. It should be well covered with hair, on Jiie inside, thick and wiry, underside longer, and towards -the end a sligiht fringe not objectionable A curl or ring tail very undesirable.

Eyes. — The eyes should be dark ; generally thoy are dark brown or Tiazol. A verylight- eye is Tiot Hked. The eye is mcxlerately full, with a soft look in repose, but a keen, far-away look when the dog is roused. The rims of the eyelids shculd be black.

Body. — The body and general formation is that of a greyhound of larger size and bon&. Chest deon rather than broarl, but not too nariow' and fla't-&kled. Tho lo:n well arched and drooping to the tail. A strais^-Ht l>aric '-? not <1.~-sira.t>le. "tHis {orn' iafcion being vnsmtable for ha\-elhi>;^ up 3iill, ard very unsightly. Logs and F'vt. — The legs shouVl l>e broad ana fla.t, and gooii broad foicarm and elbow being <!-"-irjb!o. Forelegs of course, as straight ac pc^sible. Feet close and com-

pact, witn well-arranged toes. The hindquarters drooping, and as broad and powerful as possible, the hips being set well apart. The hind legs should be well bent at the stifle, Avkh great length from the hip to the hock, which, should be broad and flat. Cow hocks, weak pasterns, straight stifles, and splay feet very bad faults. Coat. — Tho hair on the body, neck, and quarters should_ b» harsh and wary, and about 3in or 4in long; that on the head, breast, and bally is much softer. There should be a slight 'hairy fringe on the inside of the fore .and' hind legs, but -nothing approaching the "feather" of a collie. The deerhound should bs a shaggy dog, but not over-cdated. A woolly coat is bad. Some good strains have a mixture of silky coat with the hard, which is preferable to a woolly coat; but the proper coat is a thick, close-lying,- ragged coat, harsh or crisp to the touch. Colour. — Colour is much & matter o* fancy, but tliere is no manner of doubt that the dark blue-grey is the most preferred. Next comes tine daricer and lighter greys or brindkß, the darkest Jwingr generally preferred. Yellow and "sandy red or red 'feuwn, fcspccia.lly with black ooints — i.e., ears and muzzles, — are also in -equal estimation, this being the colour of the oldest known strains, the M'NeiJ and Chesthill menzies. White -is condemned by 'all the -old authorities, but a white chest and white toes, occurring as they do in a great many of the darkest coloured dogs, aro not so .greatly objected to, but the jess bh<> better, as the deerhound is a self-coloured «aog. A white blaze on the head, or a white colla*, should entirely disqualify. In other oases, though- passable, yet an' attempt should be made to get -rid of the white markings. The less white the better, but a slight white tip to the stern occurs in the best strains. '

Height of Dogs. — From 28in to 30in, or even more if fckere be symmetry without coarseness, but which is rare.

Height of Bitches. — From 26in upwards. There can be no objection to a bitch being large, unless too coarse, ac even at her greatest height she does not approach, that of tho dog, and, therefore, could not have been too big f or work, as over-big dogs are. Besides, a big bitch is good for breeding and keeping up the size.

Weight.— From 851b to 1051b in dogs; "from 651b to 801b in bitches

The above description was drawn up by Messrs Hickman and R Hood Wright, arranged and finally approved at a meeting of the club, November 26, 1892, and endorsed at the meeting of tho club, June 19, 1901, at Shrewsbury.-

£10 AN OUNCE FOR DOG

The Pekin Palace Dog Association's Second annual show was held in the Royal Botanic Gardens, Regent's Park, and some valuable challenge cups and trophies were offered for competition, among them Mr Pierponfc Morgan's challenge cup for the best dog in the show, a prize valued at

lOOgs, the .winner of which also received

the association's gold medal. .Mr Gordon Betmett gave a 50-guinea challenge cup for the best- dog. The dogs were accommodated in luxuriously-appointed . cages, draped with rich satins, and 'they lay in cushions of eiderdown. Many of the- little

animals wore jewelled collars, and before they were placed on view they underwent a most elaborate toilet, in some cases delicate and costly perfumes being used. The centre of attraction was Mrs C. Ashton Cross's Champion i Chu-erh. It is said that £1:500 would not purchase this animal, so, as he only weighs 81b, he may be said to be worth over £10 an ounce. He was accompanied in his cage by his two-year-old daughter, T^hinouen ' (Chinese for Peerless Pearl), a mite weighing 41b. Shortly after the opening of the show some commotion was caused through the -disappearance of' one of the dogs, which jumped out of its velvet-lined basket as soon as the lid was opened. Running from a conservatory, it out distanced its pursuers and made its way into the open. An anxious and prolonged^ hunt then commenced, and, a rainstorm corning on, those who joined in the chase were soon drenched to the skin,

, while some of the ladies' dresses were ruined. Eventually the treasured animal ! was recovered and carried back to its 1 anxious owner. It had been sleeping through the rain behind a tent, and_ was found there by" an attendant, who picked it up and put it in the wrong kennel. The challenge cup and tiophies were won as follows:— The vice-president's challenge cup, valued at lOOgs, presented by Mr Pierpont Morgan, the 50-guinea challenge cup, ' presented by Mr Gordon Bennett, with the association's gold medal with each prize: Mm Ashton Cross, with her Chuj erh of Alderbourne.