Show Deterioration of the Mastiff In an article entitled Dogdoms Four Hundred by It F Mayhew In Everybodys the writer deplores tho mastiffs loss of prestige Some breeds there are ho writes that have been driven Into obscurity obscur-ity by the unbridled craving of breed ors for particular properties Most lamentable of these Is he case of tho mastiff who 15 or 20 years ago was tho king of tho heavy brigade Size and massive heads became the alpha and omega of tho breeders increase In-crease in size resulted In lumbering overfed apathctlcs and could not gel out of their own way and only I by nu effort could support their calllsh carcasses on sprawling legs and splayfeet splay-feet And In tho intensity of deslro to produce massive heads the hither end of the wretched animal was forgotten for-gotten and paralyzed or somlpar alyzed hindquarters were the result Hence the downfall of the mastiff and In a measure of the St Bernard Their former position In the dog world Is now occupied by the Great Dane deorhound and tho Russian wolfhound wolf-hound |