Dogs and All about Them. Robert Leighton

pendulous so as to show a square profile. Length of muzzle to whole head and face as 1 to 3. Circumference of muzzle (measured midway between the eyes and nose) to that of the head (measured before the ears) as 3 to 5. EARS—Small, thin to the touch, wide apart, set on at the highest points of the sides of the skull, so as to continue the outline across the summit, and lying flat and close to the cheeks when in repose. EYES—Small, wide apart, divided by at least the space of two eyes. The stop between the eyes well marked, but not too abrupt. Colour hazel-brown, the darker the better, showing no haw. NECK, CHEST AND RIBS—Neck—Slightly arched, moderately long, very muscular, and measuring in circumference about one or two inches less than the skull before the ears. Chest—Wide, deep, and well let down between the fore-legs. Ribs arched and well-rounded. False ribs deep and well set back to the hips. Girth should be one-third more than the height at the shoulder. Shoulder and Arm—Slightly sloping, heavy and muscular. FORE-LEGS AND FEET—Legs straight, strong, and set wide apart; bones very large. Elbows square. Pasterns upright. Feet large and round. Toes well arched up. Nails black. BACK, LOINS AND FLANKS—Back and loins wide and muscular; flat and very wide in a bitch, slightly arched in a dog. Great depth of flanks. HIND-LEGS AND FEET—Hind-quarters broad, wide, and muscular, with well developed second thighs, hocks bent, wide apart, and quite squarely set when standing or walking. Feet round. TAIL—Put on high up, and reaching to the hocks, or a little below them, wide at its root and tapering to the end, hanging straight in repose, but forming a curve, with the end pointing upwards, but not over the back, when the dog is excited. COAT—COLOUR—Coat short and close lying, but not too fine over the shoulders, neck and back. Colour, apricot or silver fawn, or dark fawn-brindle. In any case, muzzle, ears, and nose should be black, with black round the orbits, and extending upwards between them.

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      Size is a quality very desirable in this breed. The height of many dogs of olden days was from thirty-two to thirty-three inches. The height should be obtained rather from great depth of body than length of leg. A leggy Mastiff is very undesirable. Thirty inches may be taken as a fair average height for dogs, and bitches somewhat less. Many of Mr. Lukey's stood 32 inches and over; Mr. Green's Monarch was over 33 inches, The Shah 32 inches, and Cardinal 32 inches.

      The method of rearing a Mastiff has much to do with its ultimate size, but it is perhaps needless to say that the selection of the breeding stock has still more to do with this. It is therefore essential to select a dog and bitch of a large strain to obtain large Mastiffs. It is not so necessary that the dogs themselves should be so large as that they come from a large strain. The weight of a full-grown dog should be anything over 160 lb. Many have turned over the scale at 180 lb. The Shah, for instance, was 182 lb. in weight, Scawfell over 200 lb.

      One of the great difficulties that breeders of Mastiffs and all other large dogs have to contend against is in rearing the puppies; so many bitches being clumsy and apt to kill the whelps by lying on them. It is, therefore, always better to be provided with one or more foster bitches. At about six weeks old a fairly good opinion may be formed as to what the puppies will ultimately turn out in certain respects, for, although they may change materially during growth, the good or bad qualities which are manifest at that early age will, in all probability, be apparent when the puppy has reached maturity. It is, therefore, frequently easier to select the best puppy in the nest than to do so when they are from six to nine or ten months old.

      Puppies should be allowed all the liberty possible, and never be tied up: they should be taken out for steady, gentle exercise, and not permitted to get too fat or they become too heavy, with detrimental results to their legs. Many Mastiff puppies are very shy and nervous, but they will grow out of this if kindly handled, and eventually become the best guard and protector it is possible to have.

      The temper of a Mastiff should be taken into consideration by the breeder. They are, as a rule, possessed of the best of tempers. A savage dog with such power as the Mastiff possesses is indeed a dangerous creature, and, therefore, some inquiries as to the temper of a stud dog should be made before deciding to use him. In these dogs, as in all others, it is a question of how they are treated by the person having charge of them.

      The feeding of puppies is an important matter, and should be carefully seen to by anyone wishing to rear them successfully. If goat's milk is procurable it is preferable to cow's milk. The price asked for it is sometimes prohibitory, but this difficulty may be surmounted in many cases by keeping a goat or two on the premises. Many breeders have obtained a goat with the sole object of rearing a litter of puppies on her milk, and have eventually discarded cow's milk altogether, using goat's milk for household purposes instead. As soon as the puppies will lap they should be induced to take arrowroot prepared with milk. Oatmeal and maizemeal, about one quarter of the latter to three quarters of the former, make a good food for puppies. Dog biscuits and the various hound meals, soaked in good broth, may be used with advantage, but no dogs, either large or small, can be kept in condition for any length of time without a fair proportion of meat of some kind. Sheep's paunches, cleaned and well boiled, mixed with sweet stale bread, previously soaked in cold water, make an excellent food and can hardly be excelled as a staple diet. In feeding on horseflesh care should be taken to ascertain that the horse was not diseased, especially if any is given uncooked.

      Worms are a constant source of trouble from the earliest days of puppy-hood, and no puppy suffering from them will thrive; every effort, therefore, should be made to get rid of them.

      With proper feeding, grooming, exercise, and cleanliness, any large dog can be kept in good condition without resort to medicine, the use of which should be strictly prohibited unless there is real need for it. Mastiffs kept under such conditions are far more likely to prove successful stud dogs and brood bitches than those to which deleterious drugs are constantly being given.

CHAPTER III

       Table of Contents

      THE BULLDOG

      The Bulldog is known to have been domiciled in this country for several centuries. Like the Mastiff, of which it is a smaller form, it is a descendant of the "Alaunt," Mastive, or Bandog, described by Dr. Caius, who states that "the Mastyve or Bandogge is vaste, huge, stubborne, ougly and eager, of a hevy, and burthenous body, and therefore but of little swiftnesse, terrible and frightful to beholde, and more fearce and fell than any Arcadian curre."

      The first mention of "Bulldog" as the distinctive name of this now national breed occurs in a letter, written by Prestwich Eaton from St. Sebastian to George Wellingham in St. Swithin's Lane, London, in 1631 or 1632, "for a good Mastive dogge, a case of bottles replenished with the best lickour, and pray proceur mee two good bulldoggs, and let them be sent by ye first shipp." Obviously the name was derived from the dog's association with the sport of bull-baiting. The object aimed at in that pursuit was that the dog should pin and hold the bull by the muzzle, and not leave it. The bull was naturally helpless when seized in his most tender part. As he lowered his head in order to use his horns it was necessary for the dog to keep close to the ground, or, in the words of the old fanciers of the sport, to "play low." Larger dogs were at a disadvantage in this respect, and, therefore, those of smaller proportions, which were quite as suitable for the sport, were selected. The average height of the dogs was about 16 inches, and the weight was generally about 45 lbs., whilst the body was broad, muscular, and compact, as is shown in Scott's well-known engraving of "Crib and Rosa."

      When bull-baiting was prohibited by law the sportsmen of the period turned their attention to dog-fighting, and for this pastime the Bulldogs were specially trained. The chief centres in London where these exhibitions took place were the Westminster Pit, the Bear Garden at Bankside, and the Old Conduit Fields in Bayswater. In order to obtain greater quickness of movement many of the Bulldogs were crossed with a terrier, although some fanciers relied on the pure breed. It is recorded that Lord Camelford's Bulldog Belcher fought one hundred and four battles without once suffering defeat.

      The decline of bull-baiting and dog-fighting after the passing of the Bill prohibiting these sports was responsible for a lack of interest in perpetuating the breed of Bulldogs. Even in 1824