Produced by Wendy Crockett
[Frontispiece: SMOOTH-COATED ST. BERNARD: CH. THE VIKING. (_From the
Painting by Lilian Cheviot.)]
[Transcriber's Note: The capital letter "P" has been used throughoutto represent the pound sign of British currency.]
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 apleasurable hobby, has never been so great as it is at the presenttime. More dogs are kept in this country than ever there formerlywere, and they are more skilfully bred, more tenderly treated, andcared for with a more solicitous pride than was the case a generationago. There are fewer mongrels in our midst, and the family dog hasbecome a respectable member of society. Two million dog licences weretaken 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 KennelClub and held in various parts of the United Kingdom. At the presenttime there exist no fewer than 156 specialist clubs established forthe purpose of watching over the interests of the different breeds.
Recognising this advance in our national love of dogs and the growingdemand for information on their distinguishing characteristics, Iam persuaded that there is ample room for a concise and practicalhandbook on matters canine. In preparing the present volume, I havedrawn abundantly upon the contents of my larger and more expensiveNew Book of The Dog, and I desire to acknowledge my obligationsto the eminent experts who assisted me in the production of theearlier work and whose contributions I have further utilised in thesepages. I am indebted to Mr. W. J. Stubbs for his clear expositionof the points of the Bulldog, to Colonel Claude Cane for hisdescription of the Sporting Spaniels, to Lady Algernon Gordon Lennoxfor her authoritative paragraphs on the Pekinese, to Mr. DesmondO'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 andother 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.