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    The English Mastiff - A Complete Anthology of the Dog
    The English Mastiff - A Complete Anthology of the Dog
    The English Mastiff - A Complete Anthology of the Dog
    Ebook53 pages45 minutes

    The English Mastiff - A Complete Anthology of the Dog

    By Read Books Ltd.

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    About this ebook

    The English Mastiff - A Complete Anthology of the Dog gathers together all the best early writing on the breed from our library of scarce, out-of-print antiquarian books and documents and reprints it in a quality, modern edition. This anthology includes chapters taken from a comprehensive range of books, many of them now rare and much sought-after works, all of them written by renowned breed experts of their day. These books are treasure troves of information about the breed - The physical points, temperaments, and special abilities are given; celebrated dogs are discussed and pictured; and the history of the breed and pedigrees of famous champions are also provided. The contents were well illustrated with numerous photographs of leading and famous dogs of that era and these are all reproduced to the highest quality. Books used include: My Dog And I by H. W. Huntington (1897), The Twentieth Century Dog by Herbert Compton (1904) and many others.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherRead Books Ltd.
    Release dateJun 14, 2011
    ISBN9781446549650
    The English Mastiff - A Complete Anthology of the Dog

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      The English Mastiff - A Complete Anthology of the Dog - Read Books Ltd.

      THE ENGLISH MASTIFF

      Is a truly noble animal both in appearance and character, and, in my opinion, preferable to the Newfoundland as a companion to man. He is extremely gentle and affectionate, attaching himself strongly to the persons about him.

      It is now, unfortunately, extremely rare to meet with the pure breed, though it is by no means extinct, as some writers have supposed. The fact is, that this race is preserved with great care in some kennels in the country; but as these dogs are seldom seen in London or other large towns, they are generally imagined to be rarer than they really are*. The Duke of Devonshire, I believe, still possesses a fine strain of Mastiffs, as does also Lord Hertford, and there are, or were lately, some beautiful dogs of this breed in the kennels of Her Majesty. Such dogs as these, however, are very distinct from the loose-jointed, clumsy-looking, so-called Mastiffs which may sometimes be seen in the streets of London, and which seem to be esteemed in proportion to their size, while every other point, such as compactness and symmetry of form, is entirely disregarded.

      * There was a tolerable show of Mastiffs at the Birmingham Dog Show of last year (1860), where the first prize was won by a fine dog belonging to Mr. Hanbury, of Eastrop, Wiltshire.

      The really fine strains are by no means bred of a very great size, 25 or 26 inches being the utmost height of a pure-bred Mastiff.

      The points of the Mastiff are, a smooth coat; a large head, with a good breadth in the forehead, the eye rather small, and overhung by the brow, the flews, or lips, hanging low, the muzzle very slightly underhung; his legs should be straight and very muscular. In a good specimen, the shape is the very perfection of symmetry, combining enormous strength with great activity. He should be deep in the chest, and exceedingly strong and compact in the back and loins. The dog should stand firmly and lightly on his legs, and the gait in walking should be collected and easy. The tail should be thick, but not bushy; it should be carried in a line with the back, or only slightly raised at the point.

      The colour most admired is fallow, or light fawn, with a black muzzle. The brindle, though a sign of pure blood, is somehow not much esteemed by judges. I was lately shown, in the kennels of a well-known dog-fancier, a magnificent brindled Mastiff, which had remained unsold for two years, owing to this objection to the colour. The blue brindle, which is sometimes combined with light-blue eyes, called china eyes, is, however, much valued. The other colours, in the order in which they are most admired, are—red, with black muzzle, dark fawn, black, red and white, and fawn and white.

      THE ENGLISH MASTIFF.

      Like the bulldog, the old English mastiff was bred in this country in the earliest times of which we have any reliable record; but, whether in these former ages the two breeds were distinctly separate, and whether the modern bulldog and mastiff can be traced to one or the other of them, are points which must ever remain unsettled. Mr. F. Adcock and Mr. Kingdon would no doubt write half a dozen volumes in support of the superior antiquity and purity of their respective protéges; but, after all, a jury empanelled to deliver a verdict between them would probably be discharged without agreement upon it, and I shall not certainly attempt to do that which I think a 12-man engine would fail in doing. My object is simply to describe the mastiff as I find him; but, nevertheless, I shall not refuse to lay before my readers Mr. Kingdon’s views of the origin of the pure breed, which he believes

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