FOREIGN SPORTING-DOGS

THE DINGO

THE dingo is essentially a sporting-dog-too much so at times. But he differs from all other sportingdogs in this volume inasmuch as whilst they are civilised dogs, whose chase is after the wild animal, the dingo is a wild dog, whose quarry is often the sheep and lambs of Australian farmers. I have no doubt he has exceedingly good sport after his lights. Indeed, I have heard that he can do as much destruction in a sheep-fold as a terrier in a rat-pit. My illustration represents Myall, a red-coloured dog, weighing 50 lbs., and standing 21 inches at shoulder, the winner of fifty prizes, and the property of Mr. H. C. Brooke, who writes of him as follows:-" The dingo is in colour and shape the handsomest of all breeds; his intelligence is very great, and what I am particularly fond of is his independent nature. He never takes to strangers, and there is no slavishness or cringing about him. He is his master's pal; but his master is only his owner-not his boss. The cunning and intelligence of the dingo is well known to Australians; a pair of dingos have, on occasion, been known to pass through a flock of unshorn sheep, leaving them untouched, to reach a flock of shorn ones in an inner fold, which they could more easily

worry. The first time old Myall was ever shown, soon after he arrived from Australia, was at Cruft's some years ago. He got a nasty bite through the fore foot from an elkhound in the ring. This was attended to by Mr. Cawdle, and each morning when Mr. Cawdle approached the kennel he was in, this wild dog put his paw out for him to examine. At that time I lived three miles from the nearest station, and as Myall refused to walk (on account of his paw) I ordered a cab to meet me at the station. However, it failed to turn up, and no other vehicle being available, I started to walk, carrying Myall on my shoulder, and leading a bulldog. About two and a half miles on the road Myall spied a sheep stuck in the hedge, and jumped down and made for it. After this he evidently realised that it was no good shamming to be lame, and went on all right. Only I wished the sheep had occurred earlier in the walk! Myall was an excellent worker with ferrets. His son, Chelsworth Myall, will also work with ferrets, and is a grand watch-dog and personal protector. He is, however, sometimes uncomfortably ferocious, his mother, Macquarie Belle, having been an absolutely untamable bitch, and when he has a bad-tempered fit on, he will go for anything, no matter what it is."

THE ELKHOUND

From several interesting letters from Lady Cathcart I glean the following particulars:-" My Norwegian elkdog Jäger comes from Swedish Lapland, just on the borders of Norway, which is the best district for the true, pure-bred hunting-elk and bear-dogs. They are rare, and the natives very loth to part with them, and

are now exceedingly expensive to purchase in their native land. When bred in and in, in this country, the breed deteriorates and gets smaller. Under present quarantine regulations it is difficult to import the new blood that is so urgently needed. There have been no regularly defined points laid down for this breed by the Kennel Club, but Sir Reginald Cathcart, who has had a very large experience of them hunting in Norway, says the best specimens are dark-grey, occasionally with tan points; very straight legs; round, cat-like feet; dense, thick, furry coats; face like a fox; prick ears; very keen eyes; tail twisted tightly, and sometimes carrying a double twist. The elk-dog is a most attractive pet. Although so wild by instinct and nature he becomes most devoted and docile towards his owners. In their own country the dogs are used entirely for sporting purposes, for tracking elk and bear, and have nothing to do with the dogs which are used in the Norwegian farms for cattle and sheep. In this country they might be made useful for tracking deer, for they have wonderful noses. Also extraordinary powers of endurance. In one instance Sir R. Cathcart went with a single dog after a wounded bear; the dog followed it for twenty-four hours, when the bear tried to cross a river and was drowned. These dogs when hunting have been known to wind reindeer four miles off. Even in their comparatively tame state in England they are inveterate hunters whenever they get a chance. It is a great pity they are not more widely known and recognised, but they are so few and far between, and the difficulties of importing them so great, that the many people who take a fancy to them cannot indulge it. The natives of Norway ask large prices for the purebred animals; in fact, for a dog really entered to bear and elk they cannot be tempted with any price.

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