Toy bulldogs are yearly becoming more popular. They are absolutely ideal dogs as to temper and all the other qualities necessary for a pet and companion, and almost uncannily intelligent, but alas! they are delicate beyond denying. They are hard to breed, and hard to rear; few of the bitches are good mothers, while their babies have little stamina; they are shy breeders moreover, and altogether need incessant care and watchfulness. If they can have this, well and good, and their puppies will sell immediately; so that, as a source of profit, they may be recommended, always provided luck and a capacity for taking much well-directed pains are on the owner's side. The prices obtained for these dogs, if really small and of good strain, are somewhat high for the ordinary amateur, while a small bulldog bred from bigger ones, such as can be most cheaply obtained, in the way of a toy, is but a poor speculation, since her first litter will probably kill her. The limit of weight at which a toy bulldog ends and the bulldog proper begins, has been matter of controversy, and the original limit of some 20 lbs. was found to present so many difficulties that many breeders desired to have it altered. An equal, or even greater, amount of discussion raged round the question of drop, rose, or bat ears--that is, of upright or falling ones. Finally the sensible decision of having two clubs, one for toys in all respects like the large English bulldogs, and one for dogs of French origin, though now of English breeding, with upright or "bat" ears, to be called French toy bulldogs, was arrived at. The English type is now known as the Miniature Bulldog.
Illustration: PEKINGESE. _"Foo-Kwai of Newnham," owned by Mrs. W. H. Herbert._
Japanese spaniels are quite one of the _derniers cris_ of fashion.[1] With them I include Pekingese, as although the latter are hardier dogs altogether, and easier to manage, they are also Eastern, so making things even. Japs are pretty little dogs, of average intelligence and affection, if not quite equal in these respects to the first two breeds discussed. Up to the present "distemper" has been their chief scourge, and keeping them in numbers seems to be an invariable invitation for a visit from some pest, to the contagion of all which they seem peculiarly susceptible. Griffon breeders say that if a Griffon feels ill it dies, and this is in some measure applicable to Japs also. There is no reason why it should be so, for in their native country they are hardy enough, and the cause is traceable to inbreeding, occasioned by the difficulties put in the way of their importation both by the Japanese authorities and our own, and resorted to with the idea of keeping them small; the delicacy caused by the hardships of the voyage, which they stood very badly; to the pioneers of the race over here, and the rush for small sires, often too much used, and over shown. If breeders would buy young, unrelated puppies, feed them on meat, bring them up healthily, and so found fresh strains, this delicacy could surely be overcome with comparative ease. In appearance, Japs are extremely fascinating. Their colours are black and white, red and white, and yellow or lemon and white--the latter two combinations being the rarest; their coloured ears, like butterfly wings, the short-faced head between forming the body, their heavily fringed feet, and their plumed tail making up a charming and piquant _tout ensemble_. They are frequently confounded with Pekingese, which are whole coloured, red or yellow, with black markings, and whose ears are not set on at the same angle. A Pekingese pup is perhaps the _very_ prettiest puppy going, before it reaches the lanky stage, which breeders of all toys, except perhaps pugs and Schips, know means the utter indifference, even scorn, of the uninitiated public. The prices of Japs rule fairly high, and a good puppy cannot be obtained, unless by special luck, for less than £10 10s.; a larger female pup for a trifle less perhaps--but such, if good in points, are quickly snapped up for brood bitches. Japs have the same toy weight limit as Poms--8 lbs.--and the over toy weight dogs are far hardier and easier to breed than the midgets.