The Book of the Greyhound

Ruth Fawcett, Edward C. Ash

Description

"The Book Of The Greyhound" will appeal to experienced fanciers and newcomers alike, covering all aspects if greyhound management from selection and breeding to racing and exhibiting. Also included are chapters on puppy care, training, health and ailments, adopting an ex-racer, history, notable kennels and dogs, and much more. This volume will be of considerable utility to all owners of greyhounds, and it is not to be missed by the discerning collector of related literature. Many vintage books such as this are becoming increasingly scarce and expensive. We are republishing this volume now in a modern, high-quality edition complete with the original artwork and text.

Sujets

• Working dog
• Dog breeding

Informations

• Publié par: Read Books Ltd.
• Date de parution: 16 octobre 2020
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781528766326
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 1 Mo

Extrait

The Book of the Greyhound
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.
Subscribers to the Limited Edition
HIS MAJESTY KING FOUAD OF EGYPT
COL. H.H. THE MAHARAJA OF JIND, G.C.I.E., K.C.S.I.
CAPT. H.H. THE NAWAB OF BAHAWALPUR, G.C.I.E., K.C.S.I., K.C.V.O.
THE RT. HON. THE EARL OF LONSDALE, K.G., G.C.V.O.
THE RT. HON. LORD TWEEDMOUTH, C.M.G., D.S.O., M.V.O.
THE HON. FLORENCE AMHERST
LADY WOODMAN BURBIDGE
SIR JOHN HUMPHREY
M RS . L. M. ALLCOAT
GEORGE BIRDSALL, E SQ .
E. W. BROWN, E SQ .
F. G. BROWN, E SQ .
L T .-C OL . H. A. BROWNE
O. E. BUNTING, E SQ .
C APT . J. R. C. CHRISTOPHER
CHARLES MOLYNEUX COHAN, E SQ .
H. T. COPLAND, E SQ .
J. EDGAR DENNIS, E SQ .
M ISS R. DOUGLAS
D R . G. W. DREWETT
C. R. D ESTERRE, E SQ .
W. A. EVERSHED, E SQ .
M RS . ONSLOW FANE
GEORGE HENRY FLINTHAM, E SQ .
E. C. GODFREY, E SQ .
GORDON SMITH, E SQ .
WM. H. GREEN, E SQ .
EDWIN HALL, E SQ .
W. B. HART, E SQ .
J. W. HEALING, E SQ .
L T .-C OL . J. HESELTINE
M RS . DORIS MAY HILLIARD
H. HODGKINSON, E SQ .
GEORGE G. F. HUMM, E SQ .
D. D. KAY, E SQ .
D R . WILLIAM JOHN LEACH
M RS . JOAN M. LOVETT
M RS . E. MARRYAT
M RS . H. MESRITZ
DAVID MINLORE, E SQ .
M RS . MONOPRIO
M RS . CECIL B. MORGAN
JOHN C. NOEL, E SQ .
C. GLIDDEN OSBORNE, E SQ .
M RS . HELEN G. PRINGLE
M AJOR C. E. ROTHERY-MOSS
T HE NATIONAL GREYHOUND RACING SOCIETY OF GREAT BRITAIN, L TD .
A. SIMO S, E SQ .
C APT . E. A. V. STANLEY
P. J. O SULLIVAN, E SQ .
M RS . TENISON
M RS . CHARLES TONGE
W. E. WASHBOURNE, E SQ .
M RS . WEBSTER, O.B.E.
From a painting by ARTHUR WARDLE
The Book of the Greyhound
By
EDWARD C. ASH, M.R.A.C. (Dip. Hons.)
Author of Dogs: Their History and Development ; Dogs, and How to Know Them ; The Practical Dog Book ; A. D. Brassett of the Tail Wagger Magazine.
With an Introduction by
MISS RUTH FAWCETT
Illustrated with a plate by ARTHUR WARDLE and over 120 pictures .
SECOND EDITION
DEDICATED
TO
THE RIGHT HONOURABLE THE EARL OF SEFTON
A NAME TO BE EVER ASSOCIATED WITH THE GREYHOUND AND THE WATERLOO CUP
AND ALSO TO
THE HONOURABLE FLORENCE AMHERST
TO WHOM THE ANCESTOR OF THE GREYHOUND OWES SO MUCH
THE FAWCETTS OF THE WORLD-RENOWNED FAWCETT KENNELS
AND TO
THE MEMORY OF THE LATE
SIR ROBERT BUCHANAN-JARDINE, B ART .
Author s Preface
IN handing this work to the public, I do so with the hope that it will prove entertaining apart from its practical importance. It is built up on an accumulation of interesting discoveries, carefully balanced and valued. It has occasioned many a hunt and, in a way, much adventure. As far as I am aware I have taken few liberties. In the chapter on Major Topham I have described the advent of the young lady as a niece from a convent using this well-known means of expression, Mrs. Wells telling us that she was supposed to have come from abroad. If, as it is stated, she was the daughter of a local barber, it seems hardly likely, that a man with so much experience, and one so much in public view as Major Topham, would have tried to beguile the local people as to this lady s origin. We have only Mrs. Wells word for it.
I have to thank the many who, in some way or another, have been so good as to assist me, replying to my letters for information often when a needed link held up my chain of evidence, and for allowing me to have photographs taken from their collections of pictures or sending me photographs to use in this work. I am most grateful to the Rt. Hon. Lord Rutland for going to the trouble of having a photograph specially taken for me, of one of the first letters dealing with Greyhounds; and to Mr. J. E. Dennis of Stevenage who, on my telling him of the work under way, was good enough to loan me a book, I had never seen, out of his library, which allowed me, in my list of weights, to add a further forty important dogs; and to Mr. Foyle Fawcett for the excellent engraving after Maud Earl, he was so good as to send me.
To Mr. C. Glidden Osborne of Marlow, Bucks, I am indebted for not only happy moments spent in his company but for allowing me to have copies taken of the remarkable picture of Fullerton and of Mr. Mundy with, I presume, Young Snowball purchased by Mr. Mundy at 100 (so it is believed), and of two other pictures, one showing Greyhounds in action and the other Miss Glendyne and Penelope II in the slips, on the memorable day of 1886. I must also add my appreciation of his courtesy in allowing me the freedom of his kennels and of the kindness of his staff.
I am indebted to the Earl of Verulam for the plan of Sopwell Priory at St. Albans; to the National Coursing Club and to their secretary, Mr. S. H. Dalton, for the unique privilege and trust, to carry off various pictures for reproduction purposes; Captain E. A. V. Stanley for his willingness to help me whenever I needed information as to a pedigree; Major J. Fairfax-Blakeborough, M.C., for so kindly suggesting various lines of investigation.
I should like to add to my list of appreciation, Mr. David Minlore who was good enough to send me a photograph of an outstanding masterpiece by Sawrey Gilpin in his collection, that shows clearly the type of Greyhound before the days of Lord Orford, and for so kindly telling me of any discovery of a Greyhound picture, he might make. In this way he brought me into communication with Mr. Wyndham Law of Kent Lodge, Roehampton who has, in his collection, a remarkabl