The popularity of the dog as a companion, as a guardian of property, as an assistant in the pursuit of game, and as the object of a pleasurable hobby, has never been so great as it is at the present time. More dogs are kept in this country than ever there formerly were, and they are more skilfully bred, more tenderly treated, and cared for with a more solicitous pride than was the case a generation ago. There are fewer mongrels in our midst, and the family dog has become a respectable member of society. Two million dog licences were taken out in the British Isles in the course of 1909. In that year, too, as many as 906 separate dog shows were sanctioned by the Kennel Club and held in various parts of the United Kingdom. At the present time there exist no fewer than 156 specialist clubs established for the purpose of watching over the interests of the different breeds.
Recognising this advance in our national love of dogs and the growing demand for information on their distinguishing characteristics, I am persuaded that there is ample room for a concise and practical handbook on matters canine. In preparing the present volume, I have drawn abundantly upon the contents of my larger and more expensive New Book of The Dog, and I desire to acknowledge my obligations to the eminent experts who assisted me in the production of the earlier work and whose contributions I have further utilised in these pages. I am indebted to Mr. W. J. Stubbs for his clear exposition of the points of the Bulldog, to Colonel Claude Cane for his description of the Sporting Spaniels, to Lady Algernon Gordon Lennox for her authoritative paragraphs on the Pekinese, to Mr. Desmond O'Connell for his history of the Fox-terrier, and to Mr. Walter S. Glynn, Mr. Fred Gresham, Major J. H. Bailey, Mr. E. B. Joachim and other specialists whose aid I have enlisted.
In the following chapters the varieties of the dog are classified
in the order of (1) Non-Sporting and Utility breeds, (2) Hounds,
Gundogs and other Sporting breeds, (3) the Terriers, (4) Toy and
Miniature breeds.
ROBERT LEIGHTON.
CONTENTS
CHAPTER 1. General History of the Dog 2. The English Mastiff 3. The Bulldog 4. The St. Bernard 5. The Newfoundland 6. The Great Dane 7. The Dalmatian 8. The Collie 9. The Old English Sheepdog 10. The Chow Chow 11. The Poodle 12. The Schipperke 13. The Bloodhound 14. The Otterhound 15. The Irish Wolfhound 16. The Deerhound 17. The Borzoi, or Russian Wolfhound 18. The Greyhound 19. The Whippet 20. The Foxhound 21. The Harrier and the Beagle 22. The Pointer 23. The Setters 24. The Retrievers 25. The Sporting Spaniel 26. The Basset-Hound 27. The Dachshund 28. The Old Working Terrier 29. The White English Terrier 30. The Black and Tan Terrier 31. The Bull-Terrier 32. The Smooth Fox-Terrier 33. The Wire-Hair Fox-Terrier 34. The Airedale Terrier 35. The Bedlington Terrier 36. The Irish Terrier 37. The Welsh Terrier 38. The Scottish Terrier 39. The West Highland White Terrier 40. The Dandie Dinmont 41. The Skye and Clydesdale Terriers 42. The Yorkshire Terrier 43. The Pomeranian 44. The King Charles Spaniels 45. The Pekinese and Japanese 46. The Maltese Dog and the Pug 47. The Brussels Griffon 48. The Miniature Breeds 49. Practical Management 50. Breeding and Whelping 51. Some Common Ailments of the Dog and their Treatment 52. The Dog and the Law
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
The Smooth-Coated St. Bernard, Ch. The Viking (From the painting by
Lilian Cheviot.) Frontispiece
Mr. and Mrs. Arthur Mayor's Bulldog, Ch. Silent Duchess
Mr. George Sinclair's St. Bernard, Ch. Lord Montgomery