Great Danes: Past and Present

Dr Morell MacKenzie, Morell Mackenzie

Description

Originally published in 1912, this extremely rare early work on the Great Dane is much sought after. VINTAGE DOG BOOKS have republished it, using the original text and photographs, as part of their CLASSIC BREED BOOKS series. The author was a highly respected breeder of the day and book's 222 pages cover all aspects of the Great Dane. It starts with the history of the breed and moves on to discuss buying, breeding, feeding and showing amongst many other topics. It also features over 50 photographs of champion Great Danes of the Day. This is a fascinating read for any great Dane afficionado or historian of the breed but also contains much information that is still useful and practical today. Many of the earliest dog breed books, particularly those dating back to the 1900s and before, are now extremely scarce and increasingly expensive. VINTAGE DOG BOOKS are reprinting these classic works in affordable, high quality, modern editions, using the original text and artwork. CHAPTERS: I: HISTORY II: BREEDING PRINCIPLES III: THE MAIN BREEDING POINTS IV: DESIRABLE POINTS, AND DEFECTS V: MATING, WHELPING AND REARING VI: CLUBS AND STANDARD OF POINTS VII: GREAT DANE TYPE VIII. COLOUR BREEDING IX. FEEDING X. KENNELS AND EXERCISE XI. CHARACTER AND ANECDOTES XII. COMMONER AILMENTS OF GREAT DANES XIII. SHOWS AND SHOWING

Sujets

• Breeds
• Pets
• Dogs

Informations

• Publié par: Read Books Ltd.
• Date de parution: 14 janvier 2013
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781447487272
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 2 Mo

Extrait

Cover
GREAT DANES
PAST AND PRESENT
Photo., Sport and General .
MISS BETTY RANK, WITH JAVAR OF OUBOROUGH, PAMPA OF OUBOROUGH, PLAZA OF OUBOROUGH, AND PRIDE OF OUBOROUGH .
GREAT DANES
Past and Present
By the late Dr. Morell Mackenzie
2nd Editon Revised and brought up to date by Arthur F Marples
Vintage Dog Books Home Farm 44 Evesham Road Cookhill, Alcester Warwickshire B49 5LJ
© Read Books 2006
This book is copyright and may not be reproduced or copied in any way without the express permission of the publisher in writing.
ISBN 978-1-84664-074-2 (paperback) ISBN 978-1-84664-075-9 (hardback)
Published by Vintage Dog Books 2006 Vintage Dog Books is an imprint of Read Books
British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
Vintage Dog Books Home Farm 44 Evesham Road Cookhill, Alcester Warwickshire B49 5LJ
GREAT DANES, — PAST AND PRESENT —
BY THE LATE Dr. MORELL MACKENZIE.
With an Additional Chapter on Veterinary Diseases by A. Cornish Bowden, M.R.C.V.S .
2nd E DITION Revised aud brought up to date by Arthur F. Marples, Sub-Editor of “Our Dogs.”

“Oh, that mine enemy would write a book.”

“I have gathered a posie of other men’s flowers, and nothing but the thread that binds them is mine own.”
MADE AND PRINTED IN GREAT BRITAIN
Index to Chapters.

C HAPTER I.—H ISTORY
C HAPTER II.—B REEDING P RINCIPLES
C HAPTER III.—T HE M AIN B REEDING P OINTS
C HAPTER IV.—D ESIRABLE P OINTS, AND D EFECTS
C HAPTER V.—M ATING , W HELPING AND R EARING
C HAPTER VI.—C LUBS AND S TANDARDS OF P OINTS
C HAPTER VII.—G REAT D ANE T YPE
C HAPTER VIII.—C OLOUR B REEDING
C HAPTER IX.—F EEDING
C HAPTER X.—K ENNELS AND E XERCISE
C HAPTER XI.—C HARACTER AND A NECDOTES
C HAPTER XII.—C OMMONER A ILMENTS OF G REAT D ANES
C HAPTER XIII.—S HOWS AND S HOWING
Index to Illustrations.

M ISS B ETTY R ANK AND J AVAR , P AMPA , P LAZA, AND P RIDE OF O UBOROUGH
B LENHEIM T APESTRY
N ERO 1 ST
R OLF 1 ST
M EG D ODS
C H . V ICEROY OF R EDGRAVE
C H . T HOR OF R EDGRAVE
C H . T IGER OF C LEETHORPES
C H . V RELST of R EDGRAVE
C H . B OY B OB
C H . P RIMLEY P RODIGAL
C H . F ERGUS OF L INDVILLE
V ICE -R EGENT OF R EDGRAVE
G RANT OF A XWELL
C H . V IOLA OF R EDGRAVE
C H . T HUNDERER OF L INDVILLE
C H . C ONN OF C LEVELEYS
R UPERT OF R UNGMOOK
K RISHNA
V ENDETTA OF R EDGRAVE
T ILLY S AULGAU
C H . O RUS OF L OCKERBIE
C H . I OMAR OF L OSEBERY
C H . F ORTUNA OF L OCKERBIE
F IGARO OF S T . A USTELL
C H . Z ENDA OF S UDBURY
R UBINA OF R UNGMOOK
P ORTHOS OF E SPERANCE
R EMUS M ENIEL VAN H ORST
C H . S HEBA OF O UBOROUGH
P AMPA OF O UBOROUGH
C H . R UFFLYN R EGAN
L AUREINE OF A XWELL
C H . P RIMLEY N INA
C H . P RIMLEY N INA (Head Study)
P RIMLEY N EREDA
P RIMLEY P AVLOVA
R UBY OF E VERLEY
P RINCE OF E VERLEY
R OLF OF O UBOROUGH
P RIMLEY I SABEL
H YPATIA , H ENGIST AND H ESPERUS OF H OLLYWOOD
C H . R EX L ENDOR VON Z ELTNERSCHLOSS OF O UBOROUGH
C H . S ANDRA OF L OOE
C H . M AURICE OF C UDDINGTON
Z ARANE OF S UDBURY
C H . Z ENA AND Z ERO OF S UDBURY
Z ERO OF S UDBURY
C H . R ALUKA OF B RAEWOOD
M ICHAEL OF E VERLEY, AT 8 M ONTHS
P RIMLEY Q UINTUS
P RIMLEY I STRIA
D IAGRAM OF G REAT D ANE
M R . B LASS ’ S F EEDING D EVICE
PREFACE.
In presenting the following pages to the public I trust that it will not be thought that I do so with any idea of having a special claim to being more competent than other lovers of the breed. No one can write a book without being seriously impressed by his own limited capabilities and shortcomings.
My only excuse for this book is that there is no other; and as everyone with any experience has refused, I am hoping that my knowledge and experience, little as they are, may be better than none at all, and may be some help to beginners.
I have one advantage for the work, and that is the number of my friends: for I am well aware that the chief value of this book, if there is any, is contained in the advice that has been given me by them. Although they would not perpetrate so serious a crime as the writing of a book, they are yet guilty of being accessories before the deed, and have been kind enough to give me an immense amount of valuable information. What I should have done without them I hesitate to think, and while it is quite true that too many cooks spoil the broth, there has in the present case been only one culinary preceptor, and I have only used those ingredients which thirty years’ experience has taught me to be really valuable.
To Dr. Sidney Turner and Mr. R. E. Nicholas I am indeed indebted, not only for the careful way in which they have corrected proofs, but for their constant advice and experience, which probably surpass those of any other canine authorities. Mr. Alfred Walker, of Lytham, and Dr. Osburne have also been exceedingly kind in the help they have given me, not only in doggy matters, but on many other points.
It would be difficult for me to sufficiently thank Mr. Cornish Bowden, not only for the chapter that he has so kindly written, but also for the experiments he has performed, dissections he has undertaken, and careful notes which he has compiled with a view of assisting in this book, and for which he will get no credit but the poor thanks I now offer him.
Mr. Nicholas was originally to have written the two chapters on Food and Feeding, and if he had only been able to do so I should have been very glad, while it would have added to the interest of the book. Although he was prevented by illness from doing what I wanted, Mr. Nicholas was good enough to place all that he had written at my disposal. The chapters on Feeding are really the views of Mr. Nicholas, and where I differ from him I have made a point of saying so definitely.
In conclusion, besides the gentlemen I have mentioned, I must thank Mr. Sheaf for the beautiful photographs he has allowed me to use as headpieces; and the Duke of Marlborough for permitting me to have a drawing made of the tapestry at Blenheim, and Mr. S. Dadd for so kindly executing it. I am also greatly obliged to Mr. Blass for the photograph of the plan he advocates in feeding puppies, and the numerous ladies and gentlemen who have so kindly allowed illustrations of their dogs to appear.
There are many people for whom the only attraction in the book will be the illustrations. There are many who believe that they have only to buy a couple of champions and they are competent to judge the following year. I can assure them that the longer they live the more they will be impressed by their own ignorance of Great Danes, and it is only now, thirty-two years to the day since I had my first Dane, that I am beginning to hope I have learned something.
MORELL MACKENZIE.
PREFACE TO NEW EDITION.

As a greatly reawakened interest is evident in the Great Dane fancy, an up-to-date and revised edition is now presented of this well known and popular book on the breed originally written by that eminent expert, the late Dr. Morell Mackenzie.
The new edition contains all the salient and interesting historical features of the old volume, with the addition of articles and statistics bringing it up to present-day requirements. Embellished as it is with photographs of celebrated past and present specimens of the breed, it will no doubt prove a useful addition to every “Daneite’s” library.
A. F. M.
Great Danes, Past and Present.

CHAPTER I.

History.
Any attempt to give the actual origin of the Great Dane must be purely speculative and theoretical. If we take, first of all, what I might call a bird’s eye view of the subject we can trace the breed back with certainty for many hundred years, as it undoubtedly existed on the Continent in the Middle Ages. Earlier than this, the Saxons hunted the wild boar in the forests of England before the Norman Conquest with dogs resembling the Great Dane, and, as Alaunts, the descendants of these dogs are to be found in pictures and tapestries of hunting scenes of the 14th and 15th centuries, just as the paintings of Snyder and Teniers, and the prints of Ridlinger, give the most lifelike representations of the Great Dane in the Middle Ages of the Continent.
Some historians believe the Great Dane to be the true descendant of the Molossian dog—the ancestor of the Mastiff—on account of his resemblance to the Molossus shown in Roman and Grecian statuary, and there is no doubt that the old type of Great Dane was by no means unlike the Mastiff, while a supposed proof of the breed’s great antiquity is a Grecian coin in the Royal Museum at Munich, which dates from the 5th century B.C ., and represents a dog which much resembles the Great Dane of to-day.
Lastly, we have writers who consider the great antiquity of this breed as proved from the fact that a dog sufficiently similar to be considered his ancestor is depicted on some of the oldest Egyptian monuments, supposed to date from about 3000 B.C . *
As far as I can find out, the Great Dane seems to have existed continuously from the earliest times in these islands. There has been great confusion between the Irish Wolfhound and the Great Dane, but there can be no doubt that the two breeds existed side by side (though they were crossed indiscriminately), and it is difficult to know to which breed some of the earlier writers are referring when they talk of the Irish Greyhound. Richardson † tells us that Pliny relates a combat in which the dogs of Epirus bore a part; he describes them as much taller than Mastiffs and of Greyhound form, detailing an account of their contest with a lion and an elephant. This, he thinks, establishes the identity of the Great Dane with the dogs of Epirus.
Richardson was evidently well acquainted with the breed, which he describes as rarely standing “less than 30in. at the shoulder, and usually more.” He describes a Great Dane belonging to the Duke of Buccleuch, which at 18 y