Selecting Toy Dogs

Selecting Toy Dogs. Information on terriers including Skye and Yorkshire dogs. Find general info on the Toys.

Selecting Toy Dogs

The old-fashioned name for the tiny dogs we call toys, "lapdogs," quaintly indicates where to draw this line between our household animals. They are dogs small enough to be held in the lap, and they are emphatically pets for the parlor, requiring the care of my lady herself, or of her deputy, a well-trained maid.

Skye Terrier Dogs

Let us begin with the Skye, the droll little bundle of hair who has hardly enough leg to get about on so short, indeed, that his long hair almost sweeps the ground as he waddles about. His deficiency in height is amply atoned for by his length, for he comes peril ously near to resembling the weasel tribe, be ing at least three times as long as he is high. Nine or ten inches tall and twenty-five or thirty inches long is his approved measurement, and the weight considered proper for these inches is from sixteen to seventeen pounds.

The Skye-terrier comes in two varieties. One of them rejoices in pretty, long, hanging ears, and a tail which droops gracefully to correspond ; the other matches his pert little standing ears with a caudal appendage that scorns to droop in the least. Both of the lit tle beasties have long coarse hair that, happily notwithstanding its inconvenient length, does not curl or kink. A dog of this breed is al lowed a choice in colors. He may wear black with some white hairs interspersed, or he may indulge in fawn-color with black or dark-brown tips to the hairs, without really losing caste. Again, it will not be set down to his discredit if his coat is of light gray with black tips ; and to blue he has an undoubted right. All of these colors are admissible, and which is the prettier and more desirable is a matter of indi vidual taste.

Though the Skye is little and of peculiar shape, and though he is called a "toy," he is genuine dog all through. Full of life, a good watcher, intelligent, affectionate, peaceable in disposition, and not inclined to quarrel, and, above all, fond of children. To this list of at tractions add that he is of strong constitution and fond of sport, that rats and other small destroyers of our peace incline to migrate when he sets up his kingdom, and that his coat is kept in order without much trouble, and all must agree that few can surpass him in desirability for the household.

Yorkshire Terrier Dogs

No such sinecure is the care of the Yorkshire ; and as to his qualifications for residence in a human family, opinions differ wide ly. For he is one of the dogs women are reproached with keeping who require more care than an average child. He must not only be washed and dressed and fed as carefully as a child, but in addition he must be thoroughly brushed and groomed, from the tips of his sharply trimmed ears to the end of his docked tail. He certainly, if any one of his race does, needs a special attendant, who can give an hour or two daily to keeping his coat in order, and as much more time to exercising him. One cannot help pitying the poor little fellow, for his coat must be the trial of his life, like long curls to the child who begins to be a " boy " before his mother is ready to give up her baby. He truly " must suffer to be beau tiful." If his hair tangles, which it has a fatal tendency to do, he must submit to unlimited brushing ; if he scratches himself and what dog does not ? He is clad in mittens so that he cannot relieve his torture.

In color the typical Yorkshire should, first, have a muzzle of a deep shade of tan, with out taint of gray or brown, and, secondly, a straight-haired coat of blue, also without adul teration. His legs should be tan, and his toe nails black. His eyes must be dark and well set in his head ; and beware lest he tips the scales at more than a dozen pounds. When the ordeal of his morning toilet is over, and the Yorkshire is well brushed and combed and put in order, he is eminently fitted to spend his day or what is left of it sleeping on a satin cushion in an upholstered dog basket.

But the Yorkshire does not take the palm either for beauty or for care required to keep him in order. That belongs to the snowy bit of caninity named the Maltese. This creature is truly a martyr to beauty, a " chien du luxe " one writer calls him. His coat is very long and light, and silvery white in color. He can hardly move without tangling it, and a tangle is a serious matter, requiring to be removed by drawing out one hair at a time. By no means dare one resort to so rude a process as brushing ; indeed, so delicate is the texture that nothing more harsh than the softest baby's brush must ever be used on this dainty " creation " (to use the milliner's word that seems most appropriate to him). If he has the misfortune to get a spot on his precious coat, no vulgar washing must remove it ; it must be cleaned as carefully as the most deli cate fabric in madam's wardrobe. His regular bath is by no means a common washing; it is performed with a soft sponge, using a particu lar fluid made of fresh eggs and warm water, and administered with extraordinary care, to avoid tangles and colds, to which the pam pered beauty is exceedingly liable.

Maltese Dogs

The tail of the Maltese is beautiful as the caudal plume of the Persian cat, and is carried gracefully over the back, as the cat carries his. His weight should never be over six pounds. The whole animal looks more like a bit of bric-a-brac to adorn a drawing-room than like a dog. Yet the soul of the dog is there, intelligent and quick, affectionate and full of play, could he only be allowed to indulge in it. He is really as interesting as he is beauti ful. The most scrupulous care must be exer cised about his food. Little meat and no grease must go into his stomach. He cannot do without regular exercise, and unfortunate creature! He, too, must wear mittens. The Maltese is rarely seen in America, and can never be common anywhere.

The King Charles and the Blenheim span iels are always beautiful and charming pets, whether they happen to be in fashion or not, and they have the advantage of not requir ing such absolute and exclusive devotion that their mistress or their maid must sacrifice everything to their care. One may keep ei ther of these dogs and still have leisure to read a little and entertain occasionally.

The King Charles should be a fine black with rich tan markings ; the Blenheim white with markings of red. Both have round heads, snub-noses, and projecting foreheads ; eyes large and dark and far apart; ears set far down and very long, with heavy fringe of hair. The hair of the body should be soft and wavy but not curly, and on the docked tail very long and silky. The legs must be well "feathered," the body short and thick, and the dog should not weigh more than eight or ten pounds.

More intelligent little fellows than these two spaniels would be hard to find. They delight in learning tricks and going of errands about the house. They are devotedly attached to their friends, and in every way desirable. Furthermore, though they are not so fashion able as they have been sometimes in the past, they are always winning, and they can never be common.

The toy greyhound, however beautiful (and he is like a fairy dog), is never, except in very warm weather, a pleasant object to have about, because he is always miserable and suf fering with cold. He should wear a thick blanket out-of-doors, and even then it is pain ful to see him shrink and shiver. His most desirable color is clear fawn, of which there are no fewer than four shades, golden, dove, blue, and stone. Other colors are cream, red or yellow, black, and mixed. In the fawn color should be no white markings of any de scription ; they detract greatly from his value, and injure him for the "dog show," although they do not make him less dear to his mis tress. This dog must hold his ears lying back ward, and every pains must be taken with his diet in order to preserve his chief distinction a slim figure. He is lively and interesting in the house, unusually affectionate and good tempered, but not remarkably intelligent. He is also almost painfully timid, for which, by the-way, he should never be punished, since it is a part of his nature over which he has no control. He is not very satisfactory as a pet, for he is always delicate in our climate, and needs particular care, such as bathing with a damp sponge only, followed by rubbing and careful wrapping up to prevent chill. He is himself so neat in the care of his coat that he does not need the rough scrubbing required by some of his fellows.

Other Toys

The newest thing in small house pets is the Japanese spaniel, or, as some call him, Japan ese pug. So new is he, indeed, that he has not had time to become fashionable. He is graceful in form, with a snub-nose, large dark eyes, long hanging ears, and a tail curled up like a pug's. His coat is black and white in color, and soft as silk. He may be allowed to reach the weight of eight pounds, though if he can manage not to exceed three he is much more valuable. The aristocrat of the family for there are degrees even in the " inner circle " wears yellow instead of black to set off the white of his exquisite wavy coat. Both varieties are rare and costly even in Japan, and very difficult to procure. In the old days none but the highest nobles was allowed to possess one.

An interesting story was lately unearthed in Japan by the New York gentleman who has imported most of the race which have ap peared in this country. According to the tra dition, which is vouched for as true, so long ago as in the thirteenth century a Japanese nobleman took some of these dogs to Eng land, and from them came the King Charles and Blenheim spaniels, which have held their own position to this day.

There are several of these dogs now liv ing in New York, brought, it is said, from the Mikado's own kennels, one of whom does not weigh more than three pounds, is fifteen inches long, and worth fifteen hundred dollars. This little Japanese is one of the most intelli gent of his race, affectionate, and exceedingly sensitive. He is also very active, and alto gether a most attractive pet perhaps the "coming dog" about whom we have heard so much. He is dainty in taste, and delights to dine on tea-roses; but since at New York prices that would be rather extravagant, he will con tent himself with rice and chicken. He must have the softest of cushions, the most com fortable of quarters, and the best of care to flourish. Several of these dogs were on exhi bition at the recent dog show.

What is called the toy black-and-tan is as nearly as possible a copy of his normal-sized relative, and, in fact, he is simply a dwarf, of course the smaller the better. One is said to have been raised that lived to be over two years of age, and measured but four and a quarter inches from tip of nose to tip of tail (the body being but two and a half inches), and three and a quarter from the ground to the tip of his ears. One can hardly conceive of a dog so minute. The round skull and bulging eyes of this unnatural little fellow seem, as one looks at him, to be pushed out of place by the crowding of the brain, and the effect is almost painful. Indeed, he rightly belongs to the " curiosities," and not in any way to the home dog of which these chap ters treat.

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