The Boston Terrier and All About It Part 3

COAT FAULTS: Long or coa.r.s.e; lacking l.u.s.tre.

--- --- 100 100

WEIGHTS: Not exceeding WEIGHT: Lightweight cla.s.s, 27 pounds, divided as 12 and not to exceed 17 follows: pounds; middleweight Lightweight: Under 17 cla.s.s, 17 and not to pounds. exceed 22 pounds; Middleweight: 17 and not heavyweight cla.s.s, 22 and exceeding 22 pounds. not to exceed 28 pounds.

Heavyweight: 22 and not exceeding 27 pounds.

DISQUALIFICATIONS: DISQUALIFICATIONS: Docked Solid black, black and tail and any artificial tan, liver and mouse means used to deceive the colors. Docked tail and judge.

any artificial means used to deceive the judge.

[Ill.u.s.tration: J. P. Barnard

The Father of the Boston Terrier]

[Ill.u.s.tration: Champion Sonnie Punch]

[Ill.u.s.tration: Rockydale Junior]

AN EARLY STANDARD

The following standard adopted when the dog was known as the Round-Headed Bull and Terrier Dog, will be of interest here.

Skull--Large, broad and flat.

Stop--Well defined.

Ears--Preferably cut, if left on should be small and thin, situated as near corners of skull as possible; rose ears preferable.

Eyes--Wide apart, large, round, dark and soft and not "goggle"

eyed.

Muzzle--Short, round and deep, without wrinkles, nose should be black and wide.

Mouth--Preferably even, teeth should be covered when mouth is closed.

Neck--Thick, clean and strong.

Body--Deep at chest and well ribbed up, making a short backed, cobby built dog; loins and b.u.t.tocks strong.

Legs--Straight and well muscled.

Feet--Strong, small and moderately round.

Tail--Short and fine, straight or screw, carried low.

Color--Any color, except black, mouse or liver; brindle and white, brindle or whole white are the colors most preferred.

Coat--Short, fine, bright and hard.

Symmetry--Of a high order.

Disqualifications--Hair lip, docked tail and any artificial means used to deceive the judge.

Weight--It was voted to divide the different weights into three cla.s.ses, as follows: 15 pounds and under, 25 pounds and under, 36 pounds and under.

Scale of points:

Skull 15 Muzzle 15 Nose 5 Eyes 5 Ears 5 Neck 5 Body 10 Legs and Feet 10 Tail 10 Color and Coat 10 Symmetry 10 --- Total 100

CHAPTER III.

KENNELING

It goes without saying that any place is not good enough for a dog, although when one considers the way some dogs are housed in small, dark outbuildings, or damp, ill-lighted and poorly ventilated cellars, or even perhaps worse, in old barrels or discarded drygoods boxes in some out-of-the-way corner, it is not surprising the quality of the puppies raised in them.

A great many people who only keep one or two dogs keep them in the kitchen or living room, and here, of course, conditions are all right, but the fancier who keeps any considerable number will find that it pays to house his dogs in a comfortable, roomy, dry building, free from draughts, on high lands (with a gravel foundation, if possible), that can be flooded with suns.h.i.+ne and fresh air. Such a kennel can be simple or elaborate in construction, severely plain or ornamental in its architecture, but it must possess the above characteristics in order to have its occupants kept in the pink of condition. Where half a dozen dogs are kept, I think a kennel about 20 feet long, nine feet wide, with a pitched roof, nine feet high in the front, and at the back seven feet, with a southern exposure, with good windows that open top and bottom, and a good tight board floor will do admirably. This can, of course, be part.i.tioned off in pens to suit, with convenient runs outside wired at the top to prevent dogs jumping over. The building should, of course, be well constructed, covered with good sheathing paper, and either clapboarded or s.h.i.+ngled. Such a building should be cool in summer and warm in winter, and thoroughly weather proof. If provided with a good "Eureka ventilator" and well painted, the dogs and their owner will be satisfied. Where a much larger number of dogs are kept, then a corresponding amount of floor s.p.a.ce is a necessity. I rather like the style of a kennel, say from fifty to a hundred feet long, twelve to fifteen feet wide, with an open compartment or shed, about twelve feet long (in which the dogs can take a sun bath or get the air if the weather is not favorable to go outside. This also makes an ideal feeding pen), in the middle of the house, without outside runs to each pen, and each run opening into a large exercising yard, so that all the dogs may have a good frolic together, of course, under the watchful eye of the kennel man.

The large breeders will also require a separate building at some distance from the main kennels for use as a hospital, a small kennel for his b.i.t.c.hes in season, and some small, portable kennels which can be placed under adequate shade trees for his litters of puppies during the hot weather. It would be an excellent plan if good shade trees could be planted to cover all the runs, but if this is not possible, then it is advisable to have at the rear of the kennels a clear s.p.a.ce covered over with a roof, say ten or twelve feet wide, for the dogs to have free access to during the heat of the day.

Perhaps a description of our own kennels, entirely different in construction from these, and costing more to build, may be of interest here. We have two buildings, seventy-five feet apart, built exactly like a house, with two stories and a high bas.e.m.e.nt or cellar, twenty-five feet wide and thirty feet long. One of these houses is lined with matched paneling and divided off on each floor into separate compartments; the other is only boarded, one thickness of good paper and clapboarded and, of course, not nearly as warm. This second building has no pens in it. The bas.e.m.e.nt has a stone wall at the back, but on the east, south and west sides is boarded to the ground, and has a dry gravel floor. These buildings are well supplied with windows (the same as a house), and get the sun all day. In these buildings we have no artificial heat whatever, and all stock, except small puppies, are kept there. Our pups in the winter have warm quarters until they are four months old, when they are placed in the south side of the warmer kennels. All puppies are kept in the cool bas.e.m.e.nt in the hot weather, and during the summer our b.i.t.c.hes in whelp are kept there also. We have not any separate runs attached to these buildings, which entails a much closer watch on the dogs, of course, but each building opens into a very large enclosure with abundant shade trees, and the dogs can, if let out, have the run of several acres.

In the fall of the year we have several tons of rowen (second crop hay with a good deal of clover in it) put in the upper story of the open kennel, and a smaller amount in the first story, and during the winter a certain number of young dogs that will not quarrel amongst themselves are given the run of the building where they burrow into the soft hay and are as comfortable as can be. Particular care has to be taken that they do not get any bones or any food to quarrel over, or trouble would ensue right away. Allow me to say that only dogs brought up together with perfect dispositions can be allowed to run together. A strange dog must never be placed with them or his days will be numbered. In the summer, of course, no dogs are kept in the upper story, as they would suffer from the heat.

Also no b.i.t.c.hes in whelp are ever allowed to run together.

In the other kennel in each pen during the cold weather is a large, tight box, with hole in side, filled with this soft hay, renewed when necessary, in which two dogs sleep very comfortably. The windows in each kennel, as soon as the weather permits, are kept open at the top night and day, and top and bottom while the dogs are out doors in the daytime, and in this way the kennels can be kept perfectly sweet and sanitary. Three times during the year, in spring, midsummer and fall, the kennels are treated with a thorough fumigation of sulphur. We buy bar sulphur by the barrel of a wholesale druggist or importer, and use a good quant.i.ty (a small dose does not do much good), keeping the kennel windows and doors tightly closed for twelve hours, after which the building is thoroughly aired before the dogs are returned. Of course, this would not be practical during the winter, nor is it at all necessary. We find that once a week (except of course, during the cold weather), it is a good plan to give the woodwork that the dog comes in contact with a good sprinkling with a watering pot with a solution of permanganate of pota.s.sium, using a tablespoonful of the crystals dissolved in a quart of hot water. It costs at wholesale fifty cents per pound, and is the best disinfectant I have ever used. Unless the kennels are kept scrupulously clean the dogs' eyes, especially the puppies, are liable to become seriously inflamed. The gravel in the bas.e.m.e.nt we remove to a depth of eight inches twice a year, putting fresh in its place. Where a large number of dogs are kept it will be found very convenient to have a cook house, wash room and a small closet for kennel utensils in close proximity to the kennels.

By attending to these important essentials, viz., an abundance of pure air and suns.h.i.+ne, protection from dampness, draughts, and cold, proper disinfecting, and sufficient protection from the intense heat of summer, good health, and a reasonable amount of success can be confidently expected, but disease will surely find an entrance where these requirements are not met.

I would like to add that kennels only large enough for white mice, or perchance piebald rats, can never be successfully used to raise Boston terriers in.

CHAPTER IV.

GENERAL HINTS ON BREEDING.

Having become possessed of suitable kennels to house his stock, the breeder is confronted with the great question: How and where shall I obtain my breeding stock? Much depends on a right start and the getting of the proper kind of dogs for the foundation. Our celebrated Boston poet, Oliver Wendell Holmes, when asked when a child's education should begin, promptly replied, "A hundred years before it was born." This contains an inherent truth that all breeders of choice stock of whatever description it may be, recognize. To be well born is half the battle, and I think this applies with particular force to the Boston terrier, for without a good ancestry of well bred dogs, possessing the best of dispositions, const.i.tutions and conformity to the standard, he is worse than useless.

Whether the start is made with one b.i.t.c.h or a dozen, I believe the best plan to follow is to obtain of a reliable breeder, noted for the general excellence of his dogs in all desirable characteristics, what he considers the best stock obtainable for breeding purposes. This does not imply, of course, that these b.i.t.c.hes will be candidates for bench honors, but it does mean that if mated with suitable sires the production of good, all-round puppies with a reasonable amount of luck will be the result. It would be useless to attempt to deal with the subject of breeding in more than a few of its aspects, for after a period of twenty-five years of expended and scientific experiments in the breeding exclusively of Bostons, I shall have to confess that there are many problems still unsolved. The rules and regulations that govern the production of many other breeds of dogs seem impotent here, the a.s.sumption that "like produces like" does not seem to hold good frequently in this breed, but perhaps the elements of uncertainty give an unspeakable charm to the efforts put forth for the production of the dogs which will be a credit to the owner's kennel. The old adage that "there is nothing duller than a _puzzle_ of which the answer is known," can readily be applied here. I shall endeavor to confine my remarks to the laws observed and the lines followed for the production of dogs in our kennels, especially in the attainment of correct color and markings, vigorous const.i.tutions and desirable dispositions.

In speaking of the breeding stock I am aware that I am going contrary to the opinion of many breeders when I state that I believe that the dam should possess equal or more quality than the sire, that her influence and characteristics are perpetuated in her posterity to a greater degree than are those of the sire's, especially that feature of paramount importance, a beautiful disposition, hence I speak of the maternal side of the house first. There are two inexorable laws that confront the breeder at the onset, more rigid than were those of the Medes and Persians, the non-observance of which will inevitably lead to s.h.i.+pwreck. Better by far turn one's energies in attempting to square the circle, or produce a strain of frogs covered with feathers, than attempt to raise Boston terriers without due attention being given to those physiological laws which experience has proven correct. The first law is that "Like produces like," although, as previously stated in the case of this breed, more than in any other known to the writer, many exceptions present themselves, even when the utmost care has been exercised, still the maxim holds good in the main. The second law is that of Heredity, too often paid inadequate attention to, but which demands constant and unremitting apprehension, as it modifies the first law in many ways. It may be briefly described as the biological law by which the general characteristics of living creatures are repeated in their descendants. Practically every one has noticed its workings in the human family, how many children bear a stronger resemblance to their grandparents, uncles, cousins, etc., than to their parents, and in the lower order of animals, and it seems to me in the Bostons especially, this tendency to atavism, or throwing back to some ancestor, in many cases quite remote, is very p.r.o.nounced, hence the necessity of a good general knowledge of the pedigree and family history of the dogs the breeder selects for his foundation stock. A kennel cannot be built in a day; it takes time, money, perseverance, and a strict attention to detail to insure success.