Dogs and All about Them

For the technical description and scale of points the reader is referred to the chapter on the larger variety of Black and Tan Terrier. Of late years Toy Bull-terriers have fallen in popularity. This is a pity, as their lilliputian self-assertion is most amusing. As pets they are most affectionate, excellent as watch-dogs, clever at acquiring tricks, and always cheerful and companionable. They have good noses and will hunt diligently; but wet weather or thick undergrowth will deter them, and they are too small to do serious harm to the best stocked game preserve. The most valuable Toy Bull-terriers are small and very light in weight, and these small dogs usually have "apple-heads." Pony Queen, the former property of Sir Raymond Tyrwhitt Wilson, weighed under 3 lb., but the breed remains "toy" up to 15 lb. When you get a dog with a long wedge-shaped head, the latter in competition with small "apple-headed" dogs always takes the prize, and a slightly contradictory state of affairs arises from the fact that the small dog with an imperfectly shaped head will sell for more money than a dog with a perfectly shaped head which is larger. In drawing up a show schedule of classes for this breed it is perhaps better to limit the weight of competitors to 12 lb. The Bull-terrier Club put 15 lb. as the lowest weight allowed for the large breed, and it seems a pity to have an interregnum between the large and miniature variety; still, in the interests of the small valuable specimens, this seems inevitable, and opportunist principles must be applied to doggy matters as to other business in this world. At present there is a diversity of opinion as to their points, but roughly they are a long flat head, wide between the eyes and tapering to the nose, which should be black. Ears erect and bat-like, straight legs and rather distinctive feet; some people say these are cat-like.