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Dogs and All about Them
·
Robert Leighton
325
There
can
be
no
question
that
these
dogs,
which
are
so
typically
Highland
in
character
and
appearance,
as
well
as
the
Clydesdale,
the
Scottish,
the
Dandie
Dinmont,
and
the
White
Poltalloch
terriers,
are
all
the
descendants
of
a
purely
native
Scottish
original.
They
are
all
inter-related;
but
which
was
the
parent
breed
it
is
impossible
to
determine.
It
is
even
difficult
to
discover
which
of
the
two
distinct
types
of
the
Skye
Terrier
was
the
earlier--the
variety
whose
ears
stand
alertly
erect
or
its
near
relative
whose
ears
are
pendulous.
Perhaps
it
does
not
matter.
The
differences
between
the
prick-eared
Skye
and
the
drop-eared
are
so
slight,
and
the
characteristics
which
they
have
in
common
are
so
many,
that
a
dual
classification
was
hardly
necessary.
The
earliest
descriptions
and
engravings
of
the
breed
present
a
terrier
considerably
smaller
than
the
type
of
to-day,
carrying
a
fairly
profuse,
hard
coat,
with
short
legs,
a
body
long
in
proportion
to
its
height,
and
with
ears
that
were
neither
erect
nor
drooping,
but
semi-erect
and
capable
of
being
raised
to
alertness
in
excitement.
It
is
the
case
that
drop-eared
puppies
often
occur
in
the
litters
of
prick-eared
parents,
and
vice
versa.
As
its
name
implies,
this
terrier
had
its
early
home
in
the
misty
island
of
Skye;
which
is
not
to
say
that
it
was
not
also
to
be
found
in
Lewis,
Oronsay,
Colonsay
and
others
of
the
Hebrides,
as
well
as
on
the
mainland
of
Scotland.
Dr.
Johnson,
who
visited
these
islands
with
Boswell
in
1773,
noticed
these
terriers
and
observed
that
otters
and
weasels
were
plentiful
in
Skye,
that
the
foxes
were
numerous,
and
that
they
were
hunted
by
small
dogs.
He
was
so
accurate
an
observer
that
one
regrets
he
did
not
describe
the
Macleod's
terriers
and
their
work.
They
were
at
that
time
of
many
colours,
varying
from
pure
white
to
fawn
and
brown,
blue-grey
and
black.
The
lighter
coloured
ones
had
black
muzzles,
ears,
and
tails.
Their
tails
were
carried
more
gaily
than
would
be
permitted
by
a
modern
judge
of
the
breed.
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