ack as crows and not
worth ten dollars apiece. He seemed very much surprised when I told him
his mistake, but grateful to be shown a way out of his difficulty. A visit
to another kennel not far from the last revealed the fact that the owner
was advertising and sending largely to the West what he called black
brindles, but as devoid of brindle as a frog is of feathers. His case was
rather amusing, as he honestly believed that because the dog was a Boston
terrier its color of necessity must be a brindle. He reminded me a good
deal of a man who started a dog store in Boston a number of years ago who
advertised in his windows a Boston terrier for sale cheap. Upon stepping
in to see the dog all that presented itself to view was a dog, a cross
between a fox and bull terrier. When the man was told of this, he made
this amusing reply: "The dog was born in Boston, and he is a terrier. Why
is he not a Boston terrier?" Upon telling him that according to his
reasoning if the dog had been born in New York city he would be a New York
terrier he smiled. Fortunately I had "Druid Pero" with me and said: "Here
is a dog bred in my kennels at Cliftondale, Mass., that was a first prize
winner at the last New York show, and yet he is a Boston terrier." After
looking Pero carefully over he exclaimed: "Well, by gosh, they don't look
much like brothers, but I guess some greenhorn will come along who will
give me twenty-five dollars for him," and on inquiring a little later was
told the green gentleman had called and bought the dog.

How to breed the dogs so that the brindle will not become too dark, with
the bright reddish sheen that sparkles in the sun, is the important
question, and I am surprised at the ignorance displayed by kennel men that
one would naturally suppose would have made the necessary scientific
experiments to obtain this desirable shading. Only a short time ago a
doctor, a friend of mine, told me he had just started a kennel of Bostons,
buying several bitches at a bargain on account of their being black in
color, and that he proposed breeding them to a white dog to get puppies of
a desirable brindle. He seemed quite surprised when told the only shades
he could reasonably expect would be black, white and splashed, all equally
undesirable.

The system adopted in our kennels some years ago to obtain seal brindles
with correct markings and the desirable luster and reddish sheen to the
coat is as follows:

We take a rich red, or