The Scottish Terrier - It's Breeding and Management With a Chapter on Cairns - Illustrated with plates

By Dorothy Gabriel

This vintage book contains a detailed guide to owning and keeping Scottish terriers, with information on history, breeding, rearing, exhibiting, and more. Man has been keeping these small, delightful canines for hundreds of years, and this volume explores this relationship between man and terrier, as well as offering the reader tips on keeping and breeding them. Highly recommended for Scottish terrier owners and those with an interest in dog breeding in general. Contents include: "Origin and History", "Description and Character", "The Stud Dog and Brood Bitch", "Buying, Kennelling, Feeding", "Puppy Rearing and Training", "Exercise", "Grooming and Preparing for Show", "Specialist Clubs", "Standard of Points", "Things to Remember", and "Cairn Terriers-by Kate L. Stephen". Many vintage books such as this are increasingly scarce and expensive. We are republishing this volume now in an affordable, modern, high-quality edition complete with a specially commissioned new introduction on dog breeding.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Vintage Dog Books
• Release date: Sep 6, 2017
• ISBN: 9781473340626

Book preview

THE SCOTTISH TERRIER.

DOG BREEDING

For every longing dame select some happy paramour;

To him alone in leagues connubial join.

Consider well his lineage; what his fathers did of old,

Chiefs of the pack, and first to climb the rock,

Or plunge into the deep, or tread the brake

With thorn sharp-pointed, plashed, and briars inwoven.

Observe with care his shape, sort, colour, size.

Nor will sagacious huntsmen less regard his inward habits.

William Somerville – The Chase (1735).

As with humans, a dog is not always the product of its immediate parents but also that of the lineage of generations of earlier ancestors. Pedigree is of great importance to any serious breeder of dogs, whether they be for exhibition or work. Just because the sire and dam of a litter of puppies are both champions in their chosen field – it does not mean that every puppy in that litter will achieve the same. It is not possible to totally eliminate the chances of any of them being a throw back to a faulty type in their lineage. Heredity will always play a large part in breeding.

Dog breeding is the practice of mating selected dogs with the intent to maintain or produce specific qualities and characteristics. When dogs reproduce without such human intervention, their offsprings’ characteristics are determined by natural selection, while dog breeding refers specifically to the artificial selection of dogs, in which dogs are intentionally bred by their owners. Humans have maintained populations of useful animals around their places of habitat since pre-historic times. They have intentionally fed dogs considered useful, while neglecting or killing others, thereby establishing a relationship between humans and certain types of dog over thousands of years. Over these millennia, domesticated dogs have developed into distinct types, or groups, such as livestock guardian dogs, hunting dogs, and sighthounds. Through this process, hundreds of dog breeds have been developed.

It should be the aim of every breeder to encourage quality and consistency in their kennel. A breeder should always have in mind their ideal type of dog and this image should be constantly referred to in every aspect of the breeders work. This reference point, used with much patience and some skill will eventually ensure success within the kennel. The pedigrees of stud dogs and brood matrons should be studied with great care to avoid as much as possible any divergence from the chosen route. The aims of some breeders, especially those who breed for show, will vary somewhat depending on the standard chosen by the governing bodies of a particular breed. Most breed clubs and societies will have a set format for the various elements required in their breed such as weight, height, colour, coat etc. They may even have rules applying to the dogs health, such as joint x-rays, hip certifications, and eye examinations; or specifications in working qualities, such as passing a special test or achieving at a trial.

Both inbreeding and outbreeding must be taken into account by today’s breeder – although it must be noted that over-use of inbreeding can lead to health problems for the dogs. Problems such as breathing in the Pug breed and Pekingese breed, spinal problems in the Dachshund breed, and Syringomyelia in the Cavalier King Charles Spaniel breed, are all examples of the over-use of inbreeding. Providing that a breeders stock is wisely chosen, being sound in mind and constitution, inbreeding (sensibly used) should perpetuate and accentuate any qualities which are apparent in the sire and dam. Occasionally it will happen that new blood is required in a strain which appears to be deviating from the norm for its breed. In this case, outcrosses are made with another strain or sometimes, variety, of the same breed in order to influence the path of any offspring back towards the ideal.

Success in dog breeding is hard won, but once achieved a good quality kennel will have behind it the personality of the breeder, with his vision of the ideal dog finally achieved through persistence, knowledge, experience, and above all, patience. We hope the reader enjoys this book.

Frontispiece.

SANTA CATHERINE.

A winner of the Scottish Terrier Oaks Stakes.

THE

SCOTTISH TERRIER

ITS BREEDING AND MANAGEMENT

by

DOROTHY GABRIEL

(Scottish Terrier Club Committee)

With a Chapter on Cairns

by Kate L. Stephen.

Illustrated with Plates.

THE DOCKEN KENNELS

OF SCOTTISH TERRIERS.

Owned by MISS I. WIJK,

MINSTEAD, NR. LYNDHURST, HANTS.

SHOW SPECIMENS always FOR SALE, also beautifully bred PUPPIES of all ages for Sport and Companions.

AT STUD—The well-known Winners—

AT STUD 20 miles from London:

1—CH.   LAINDON   LUMEN

Fee 4 gns.

The sire of the day. By Ch. Laindon Luminary ex Ch. Laindon Lightsome.

2—CH.   LAINDON   LANCELOT

Fee 3 gns.

Claymore bred. Sire of many winners.

3—MERLEWOOD   OUTLAW

Fee 3 gns.

Brother to Merlewood Grouse.   By Abertay Sport ex Bellstane Lady.   Good winner and siring winners.

4—LAINDON LAMPLIGHTER

Fee 2 1/2 gns.

By No. 1 ex Ch. L. Limelight.  Winner of 109 prizes.  Black.  Siring winners.

5—LAINDON  LAUDER

Fee 21/2 gns.

Brother to Lumen. A winner. Sire of winners.

H. R.