Dogs and All about Them

In addition to the early celebrities already named, Extreme Carelessness, Michael, Brickbat, Poppy II., Moya Doolan, Straight Tip, and Gaelic have taken their places in the records of the breed, while yet more recent Irish Terriers who have achieved fame have been Mrs. Butcher's Bawn Boy and Bawn Beauty, Mr. Wallace's Treasurer, Mr. S. Wilson's Bolton Woods Mixer, Dr. Smyth's Sarah Kidd, and Mr. C. J. Barnett's Breda Muddler. Naturally in the case of a breed which has departed from its original type, discussions were frequent before a standard of perfection for the Irish Terrier was fixed. His size and weight, the length or shortness of his limbs, the carriage of his tail, the form of his skull and muzzle, the colour and texture of his coat were the subjects of controversy. It was considered at one juncture that he was being bred too big, and at another that he was being brought too much to resemble a red wire-hair Fox-terrier. When once the black marking on his body had been eliminated no one seems to have desired that it should be restored. Red was acknowledged to be the one and only colour for an Irish Terrier. But some held that the correct red should be deep auburn, and others that wheaten colour was the tone to be aimed at. A medium shade between the two extremes is now generally preferred. As to size, it should be about midway between that of the Airedale and the Fox-terrier, represented by a weight of from 22 to 27 lb.