Page:The power of the dog.djvu/53

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powerful jaws. In the house he is a terror to tramps and all unauthorised intruders, his sharp ears at once detecting the advent of strange steps.


Your supercilious show man, who looks more upon the points of a dog than his inward qualities, may tell you that he lacks the quality of head seen in the fox terrier, and that his front is not always as true as could be wished. This may be perfectly correct, but on the other side one might point to his beautifully balanced proportions, and his naturally hard coat which demands little attention before he is fit to go into the ring. These, at any rate, are compensating advantages which should not be overlooked in striking a balance of his merits and defects. Greater length and fineness of head will come in time, and it is not usual to meet so many with bad front legs as we did a few years ago. There is no doubt that the breed is improving, and getting more widely distributed. For a town dog the black and tan jacket has much to commend it, soiling less readily than that of a fox terrier. Indeed, one could not ask for a dog that causes less trouble, and this surely is a consideration in the eyes of busy men and women.


Time was when men were found to declare that the Welsh terrier was nothing more or less than the old-fashioned black and tan wire haired terrier once common in England, but they have retired worsted from the fray, and Welshmen are left in possession of