THE KENNEL.

Otago Witness, Issue 4030, 9 June 1931, Page 29

THE KENNEL.

By

Terror.

Fancier® arqj breeders of dog® ana cordially invited to contribute to thia column. “Terror" will endeavour to make thia department as interesting and up-to-date as possible, but in order to do this he must have the cooperation of his readers, hence ha trusts thia invitation will be cheerfully reeponded to.

“Alarmed.” —Any of the small breeds would suit. They are as ready to give voice as are larger dogs and are easier accommodated and less expensive to feed. Had you wanted a dog for outside the house, then certainly I would have recommended one of the larger breeds, as then not only voice but action is required.

According to an English journal, dog breeding in Great Britain as an industry is very brisk. It is estimated that between 6,000,000 and 7,000,000 pedigree dogs are in the country, and the number is increasing apace. Some breeds are fetching high prices. A champion fox terrier at a conservative estimate may be worth 1000 guineas. The Airedale and Sealyham follow in value.

Alsatian Show.—Writing concerning arrangements for “ the biggest Alsatian show yet held in South Australia, Mrs Zed says : “This show will be run on entirely new lines. The public have been especially catered for so that they may sit in comfort and study the catalogue, which will contain full details of dogs that can be properly inspected in their stalls. Each exhibitor will be numbered, so as to enable the public to know the name of the owner as well as that of the dog while parading in the ring. The winners will pause for several seconds beside their winning post to enable the spectators to have a good view of them as well as the large show ring.” No doubt innovations such as described in the foregoing will please the public and possibly increase the gate money, but it remains to be seen whether the exhibi-tors—-all of them —will desire to make exhibitions of themselves as well as of their dogs. In what is described as the “newest dog book,” entitled “A Chinaman in Sussex,” and which is the work of Andrew Soutar, the novelist, we are told by a reviewer that one of the most amusing chapters concerns a dog show in which the dogs showed their owners ! —and made caustic, libellous statments about the judges (also dogs). “I did hope,” says Wun Lung, the narrator, “ that humans wouldn’t talk like this if our positions were reversed.”

Each puppy should have a separate feeding dish, and after each morning meal of oat flour (says an authority) I give a dry puppy biscuit broken up into pieces easily got hold of. This greatly aids dentition and digestion, and teaches the young idea to eat biscuits. Little and often should be the menu in all puppy dietary. A heavily filled stomach weighs too heavily on legs that are more gristle than real bone. As a further aid to legs and feet and to strong pasterns there is nothing more beneficial than letting the puppy exercise on gravel. Chows.—An authority on the chowchow says that he is continual!}’ being asked as to whep a chow’s tongue should be fully black. He answers that no definite answer can be given, and adds : “ Some chows are almost alarmingly slow in getting rid of the red patches, and I have owned chows whose tongues did not become all black until they were well

over a year old. While occasional coincidences may seem to point to the contrary. I do not think there is anything which can be effectively done to hasten or ensure the all-black process. Of course, it is the exception for red patches to linger, but I have experienced quite a number of cases in which the lingering red patches on the tongue have disappeared with a complete change of environment. To carry my answer still further, there is no connecting link between smutty noses and red-patched tongues. The latter are usually found in animals with dense black noses, and even the most glaringly flesh nose is usually accompanied by a perfectly black mouth and tongue. Both smutty noses and redpatched tongues are far more in the way of individual idiosyncrasies than they are hereditary, although naturally it would be easy to make both blemishes hereditary. I remember a notable winner of pre-war days that had a red spot on its tongue. It was too trivial to be a serious fault, but the joke was that few judges ever noticed the red spot, as the owner of the dog was always astute enough to keep his thumb on it when he opened the dog’s mouth for inspection.” An American scientist has invented an electric dog which will follow him about. It is controlled by radio and a selenium cell, and faithfully obeys every command of its master. It can bark and wag its tail, and even be trusted to play with other canines without raising a fight. SOME WORKING DOGS OF THE PAST. Volumes might be written of the uses to which dogs have been put by mankind. From the earliest times there have bee n sheep dogs, watchdogs, and hunting dogs. At one period there were even war dogs, which, equipped with spiked col lais, fought in battle. But one of the most interesting (and cruel) uses to which dogs have been put is the turning of roasting spits in the kitchen. The roasting of'meat on spits is of very ancient origin, and the employment of dogs to revolve the spits extends back into classic times. The spits on which the meat was cooked were supported on andirons before great open fires. At one end of the iron spit there would be a grooved wheel of wood or iron, and a leather thong or steel chain would connect the grooved driving wheel with a flat open-sided drum, hung on the wall near by. This drum was revolved by dogs trained to the business, the circular floor being furnished with small transverse battens to give the dog a good grip as he tried to scramble upwards—a proceeding which naturally turned the drum. The system of driving spits by dog power was introduced to England in the Middle Ages, and, as a drawing by Rowlandson showed a contrivance of the kind being worked in Wales in 1798, wc may feel certain that its use extended into the early years of the nineteenth century. The turnspit dogs seem to have resembled Dachshunds in type, and a great authority on dogs—Dr Caius, who founded Cains College, Cambridge—wrote thus in the middle of the seventeenth century : “ There is comprehended under the curs of the coarsest kind a certain dog in kitchen service excellent. For when any meat is to be roasted they go into a wheel, which they turning about with the weight of their bodies so diligently look to their business, that no drudge nor scullion can do the feat more cunningly, whom the popular sort hereupon term turnspits.” In the next century another writer described these dogs as “ long-bodied, crooklegged. and ugly dogs, with a suspicious, unhappy look about them, as if they were weary of the task they had to do, and expected every moment to be seized upon to perform it.” But it must not be thought that dogs were the only motive power used with spits; there were many other devices employed which it would be inapposite here to detail.

Less than a hundred years ago dogs were used throughout England to draw’ light carts —as they are in parts of the Continent to this day. It was in 1839 that an Act was passed prohibiting the drawing of carts by dogs within London Town, but the law’ was not extended to the rest of England until 1856. Mr George Bourne, in his book “A Farmer’s Wife,” relates how he was told by an old Surrey farmer of dogs being used in carts, apparently about the middle of last century. Hawker’s frequently employed dogs for traction. It seems that only tw’o dogs were commonly hitched to one cart, and that two men often travelled in the cart. Dog-driven carts were especially favoured by sneak thieves who pretended to be hawkers, but stole anything they might find lying about. Their dogs moved silently, and the small carts might be taken up footpaths and byways,

or even hidden in coverts if there ■was any prospect of detection of a theft and consequent pursuit. Dogs used by honest persons. w’ere often noisy in the carts—much given to barking; but Mr Bourne suggests that it was more on account of petty thieving than cruelty that dog traction was prohibited throughout the countryside.—J. D. U. Ward, in a Home publication.

SOUTHLAND COLLIE CLUB.

The annual meeting of delegates from the clubs affiliated with the Southern Collie Clubs’ Championship Association was held on Wednesday evening in Dunedin. Mr P. A. Watt (Clutha Club) presided. Office-bearers were elected as follows: — President. Mr J. B. Purdue (Nightcaps); vice-president, Mr P. A. Watt (Clutha); secretary and treasurer. Mr J. P. Walls (Taieri); committee—Messrs A. Scott (Taieri), A. Matheson, jun. (StrathTaieri), George Rosa (Palmerston), Thompson (Warepa), and Fahey (Tuapeka). Some alterations in the printed programme for the championship trials to be held at Warc-pa were attended to. The delegate from the Warepa Club mentioned that these would be duly advertised. The official list of judges was confirmed without alteration.

Miller’s Flat Club wrote regarding a judge ordering a second run to a competitor whose sheep had broken away in the huntaway event. —A reply to be sent that the information supplied was too in-

definite for a definite answer to be given. The general custom was, however, that when a competitor had taken charge of the sheep the responsibility was his. Probably the matter was oue for the Protest Committee. Mr M'Lean (Wakatipu Club) addressed the meeting on the subject of the formation of a South Island championship association. He explained that a meeting of all concerned had been called for June 12 in Dunedin, when it was hoped this matter would be finalised. A general discussion followed, and a remit was decided on to be forwarded to the meeting mentioned (also a copy to the secretary of the Canterbury Association). confirming the previous decision of the Southern Association, and urging that the South Island body commence operations as quickly as possible. If necessary, a meeting at Palmerston will follow the Dunedin one.

SHEEP DOG TRIALS.

FIXTURES. Ngapara.—Tune 8. 9, and 10. Warepa.—June 10, 11. 12. Palmerston-South.—June 15, 16, 17. Ashburton.—June 18 and 19.