Labradors
At the Kennel Club Show there are classes for this variety of Retriever, and, in our opinion, the Labrador will, in course of time, become very popular amongst sportsmen, as they are excellent retrievers, when properly broken. They are wavy-coated dogs, either black, fawn, or yellow in colour, and, what is remarkable, these coloured dogs often appear in a litter belonging to a black sire and dam.
Curly-coated Retriever Dog.
White specimens have been produced, and it seems likely enough that a race of white Retrievers will, in course of time, become established, though, from a sportsman's view, they will not be as serviceable as their black or darker-coloured brethren.
The author remembers several fawn-coloured Labradors on an estate in Scotland, and the gamekeeper spoke most highly of the breed for work, though, constitutionally, somewhat delicate.
Constitutional Rules of the Retriever Society
1. That the object of the Society be to promote the breeding of pure Retrievers, and to develop and bring to perfection their natural qualities. In order to carry out these purposes, a working trial, if practicable, shall be annually held.
2. That the Society shall consist of a President, Vice-Presidents, a Committee, and an unlimited number of members.
3. That one-third of the Committee (exclusive of officers) shall be withdrawn by lot each year, at the Annual General Meeting for the first two years, and afterwards by rotation, and members shall be elected to fill their vacancies; the retiring members to be eligible for re-election. The President, Vice-Presidents, and Honorary Secretaries shall be ex-officio members of the Committee, and shall be elected annually.
4. That the entire control and management of the Society shall be vested in the Committee (of which three shall form a quorum), who shall have power to make bye-laws, and decide upon all matters in dispute not provided for by the rules of the Society; and, further, that any member of the Committee, if unable to be present at a Committee Meeting, shall be permitted (upon application for same) to vote by proxy, duly signed, upon any resolution appearing upon the agenda paper, except as provided in Rule 8.
5. That each candidate for admission shall be proposed and seconded by members of the Society. The candidate's name, rank, residence, and profession or occupation, if any, shall be sent to the Secretary a fortnight before the election of candidates at the Committee Meeting; and that each member of the Committee be advised, at least seven days beforehand, of the proposed election of a new member of the Society.
6. That the election of members shall be vested solely in the Committee, and be made by ballot, two black balls to exclude.
7. That for the present no entrance fee shall be charged, and that the annual subscription shall be one guinea, payable 1st January in advance; and that any member whose payments shall continue in arrear for six months shall (due notice of such arrear having previously been given in writing by the Secretary) have his name struck off the list, and shall cease to be a member of the Society. Any member joining the Society after the 31st October in any year shall not be liable for an annual subscription for the current year. Life membership may be acquired upon payment in a lump sum of ten guineas.
8. Any member of the Society who shall be proved to the satisfaction of the Committee to have in any way misconducted himself in connection with Dogs, Dog Shows, or Trials, or to have acted in any way which would make it undesirable that he should continue to be a member, shall be requested to retire from the Society; and if a resolution to that effect shall be carried by three-fourths of the Committee (present and voting), duly summoned or warned to the consideration of the case, the member so requested to retire shall henceforth cease to be a member of the Society.
9. That subscriptions and donations, after payment of all liabilities, shall be applied in such a manner as the Committee shall determine, for prizes at Trials or Workers' Classes at Dog Shows, or otherwise; and all balance shall be invested for the use of the Society, in such manner as the Committee shall direct.
10. That Committee Meetings may be held at each Trial Meeting of the Society, or at such other times and places as the Committee may determine, notice thereof having been duly sent to each member of the Committee.
11. That the Annual General Meeting of the Society be held in May or June, in London, and that a Special General Meeting may be called at any time, at such place as may be agreed to by the Committee, on the requisition of six members.
12. At every meeting the President, or one of the Vice-Presidents, shall be chairman, or failing these, a member of the Committee, such chairman to have a casting vote at all meetings. And, further, the minutes of the preceding meeting shall be read, approved, confirmed, and signed by the Chairman at the commencement of the next subsequent meeting.
13. Any member may withdraw from the Society on giving notice in writing to the Secretary, provided always that such member shall be liable for his subscription to the Society for the current year in which he gives such notice.
14. That the Secretary shall enter the name and address of each member of the Society in a book kept for that purpose.
A. E. Sansom,
Secretary,
12 and 13 Henrietta Street, Covent Garden.
Rules Adopted at the Retriever Society
(Subject to Alteration)
1. Before the Trials a number will be drawn by lot for each competing dog, and the dogs will be tried by batches accordingly during the first round. The handler of the dog must shoot with ammunition supplied by the Committee, and he will not be allowed to carry in his hand anything besides his gun. After all the competing dogs have been tried, the Judges will call up, at their own discretion, any dogs they require further, and try them again. No dog can win a prize which has not been subjected to both tests of "walking up" and "driving."
2. All aged dogs will be expected to retrieve fur as well as feather, if ordered to do so, but no handler must send his dog after any game until bidden by a Judge to do so. The Judges have power to order any handler to set his dog to retrieve game not shot by him personally.
3. The principal points considered by the Judges are sagacity, steadiness, nose, dash, perseverance, obedience, and retrieving. This last should be done quickly, with a tender and dry mouth, and right up to the hand.
4. Any dog not present to be tried in its turn, the Committee reserve the right of disqualifying at the expiration of fifteen minutes.
5. The Judges are empowered to turn out of the Stake the dog of any person who does not obey them or who wilfully interferes with another competitor or his dog, and to withhold a prize when, in their opinion, no merit is shown; and to exclude from competition bitches on heat, or any animals they may consider unfit to compete. The entry fees of all such dogs will be forfeited.
6. Certificates of merit will be awarded with a view to the establishment of Workers' Classes at the Dog Shows, and as a guide to purchasers of dogs which, though not in the list of prize-winners, give promise in their work of being valuable Sporting Dogs.
7. An objection to a dog may be lodged with the Secretary at any time within seven days of a meeting, upon the objector depositing with the Secretary the sum of £2, which shall be forfeited if the Committee deem such objection frivolous. All objections must be made in writing.
8. The Committee have the power, if they think fit, to refuse any entries for the Society's Trials, without assigning any reason for their action.
9. In the event of the weather being considered by the Committee unsuitable for holding the Trials, it shall be in their power to postpone the Meeting from day to day until the Saturday following the first day of the Trials, on which day the Stakes not already decided shall be abandoned and their entry fees returned.
10. The Committee reserve to themselves the right to abandon the Meeting at any time, on returning their entry monies to the competitors, and if, from unforeseen circumstances, they deem it advisable to alter the date of the meeting, after the closing of the entries, this may be done by sending formal notice to all competitors that they may recover their entry fees by exercising the option of cancelling their entries within four days from the date of such notice. All entries, however, about which no such application is made within those four days, will stand good for the Meeting at its altered date.
11. If an advertised Judge be prevented from filling his engagement for either the whole or part of the Meeting, the Committee shall appoint any other person to judge, or shall make any other arrangements that to them seem desirable.
12. Upon any case arising not provided for in the above Rules, the Members of the Committee present shall decide, and their decision shall be final.