ottes and tail are white
or cream-coloured. These are natural, correct and typical marks,
though present-day fanciers are trying to "improve" them away.

A list of points as drawn up by the Chow Chow Club some years ago
is added. The points are fairly right, but the tongue of a live Chow
is never black. It should be blue, such a colour as might result from
a diet of bilberries.

* * * * *

POINTS OF THE CHOW CHOW: HEAD--Skull flat and broad, with little stop,
well filled out under the eyes. MUZZLE--Moderate in length, and broad
from the eyes to the point (not pointed at the end like a fox).
NOSE--Black, large and wide. (In cream or light-coloured specimens,
a pink nose is allowable.) TONGUE--Black. EYES--Dark and small. (In
a blue dog light colour is permissible.) EARS--Small, pointed, and
carried stiffly erect. They should be placed well forward over the
eyes, which gives the dog the peculiar characteristic expression of
the breed--viz., a sort of scowl. TEETH--Strong and level.
NECK--Strong, full, set well on the shoulders, and slightly arched.
SHOULDERS--Muscular and sloping. CHEST--Broad and deep. BACK--Short,
straight, and strong. LOINS--Powerful. TAIL--Curled tightly over the
back. FORE-LEGS--Perfectly straight, of moderate length, and with
great bone. HIND-LEGS--Same as fore-legs, muscular and with hocks
well let down. FEET--Small, round and catlike, standing well on the
toes. COAT--Abundant, dense, straight, and rather coarse in texture,
with a soft woolly undercoat. COLOUR--Whole-coloured black, red,
yellow, blue, white, etc., not in patches (the under part of tail
and back of thighs frequently of a lighter colour). GENERAL
APPEARANCE--A lively, compact, short coupled dog, well-knit in frame,
with tail curled well over the back. DISQUALIFYING POINTS--Drop ears,
red tongue, tail not curled over back, white spots on coat, and red
nose, except in yellow or white specimens.

N.B.--Smooth Chows are governed by the same scale of points, except
that the coat is smooth.

* * * * *

As to the weight, bitches scale about 30 lbs., but dogs are heavier.
Ch. Shylock weighed 47-3/4 lbs., and Red Craze 38 lbs.

CHAPTER XI

THE POODLE

The Poodle is commonly acknowledged to be the most wisely intelligent
of all members of the canine race. He is a scholar and a gentleman;
but, in spite of his claims of long descent and his extraordinary
natural c