1876 (continued): Show at Birmingham 1877: Shows at Carlisle, Dublin, Lillie Bridge, Wolverhampton, and New York, U.S.A.

On December 14th, 15th, 16th, and 18th, 1876, the Seventeenth Annual Show of Sporting and other Dogs was held in Curzon Hall, Birmingham, with an entry of 1,000.

The judges appointed to officiate were: Setters, Foreign Sporting Dogs, and Newfoundlands, Mr. W. Lort; Deer-hounds and Greyhounds, Mr. S. Mallaby; Spaniels, Major Willett and Rev. A. L. Willett; Fox-terriers, Messrs. W. Cropper and John Walker; Pointers, Viscount Combermere and Mr. T. L. Brewer; Retrievers, Mr. R. B. Moore; Otter-hounds, Harriers, Beagles, Dachshunds, Dalmatians, and Foreign Non-Sporting Dogs, Mr. John Fisher; Blood-hounds and Mastiffs, Mr. Edgar Hanbury; St. Bernards and Sheep-dogs, Rev. T. Pearce; Bull-dogs and Bull-terriers, Mr. James Taylor; Skyes, Dandies, Bedlingtons, and Broken- and Wire-haired Terriers, Mr. J. Parker; Black-and-tan, Smooth-haired and Toy Terriers, Pomeranians, Pugs, Maltese, Poodles, and other Toy Breeds, Messrs. M. Hedley and J. Percival.

Messrs. Bird, E. Nichols, Ray, and Pott took all the prizes in Blood-hounds. Mr. Dundas Everett did the same in Harriers. Otter-hounds and Beagles were poor entries. Deer-hounds, with three classes, had the winners supplied by Messrs. Chaworth-Musters, Fitt, P. Wright, Hickman, and Ford. Greyhounds were a fair lot, the chief prizes going to Messrs. Gill, Lewis, Waddington Sharpies, Sheldon, and Emery. Fox-terriers were well represented by some of the old school - Messrs. Fletcher, J. Shepherd, Jack Terry, H. Gibson, Fred. Burbidge, F. J. Astbury, and W. J. Hyde in Smooths, and Messrs. T. Wootton, W. Carrick, A. C. Bradbury, and A. H. Easten in Wire-hairs. Pointers were large and good classes, some well-known exhibitors being represented in the prize list, amongst others Messrs. Wippell, Broomhall, Mason, Champion, Bagnall, Whitehouse, Furness, Pilkington, and D. M. Norrish. All the prizes in English Setters were taken by Messrs. Purcell-Llewellin, S. E. Shirley, M.P., and G. de L. Macdona. Gordon Setters had fair support from Messrs. Meyrick, Thorp, Trevithick, Sir R. Dixie, Bart., and Captain Priestly. Irish Setters had Messrs. Hilliard, Waddington, Skidmore, and Major Cooper taking leading places. Retrievers of the two varieties had six or seven classes, and the chief prize-takers were Messrs. S. E. Shirley, Andrews, Staples-Browne, Cochrane, J. W. Morris, Captain Cote, Britton, and Harrison. Water-spaniels were fair classes, the winners being Messrs. Morton, Montresor, Robins, Mason, and Arbuthnott. In Clumbers Messrs. P. Bullock, Bradbury, J. Fletcher, and W. Arkwright took all the money. In Sussex Spaniels Messrs. Brandreth, Spurgin, and T. B. Bowers had it all their own way. In other Spaniels the principal winners were Messrs. Gillett, Brandreth, P. Bullock, Arbuthnott, J. Holmes, and G. M. Oliver. All the Dachshund prizes were divided between Messrs. Enoch Hutton (who took two or three prizes), Aston, and W. H. Strick. Foreign Sporting Dogs and Dalmatians were poor entries, but two capital specimens won in the latter - Messrs. Fawdry's Captain and Hale's Crib.

Mastiffs were mainly supported by Messrs. Banbury, Clarke, C. T. Harris, Holliday, Wynn, and Williams. St. Bernards found Mr. F. Gresham well "in the money" with his Monk, Shah, and Abbess, other winners being Messrs. Sneyd, Bailey, Tatham, Tinker, Benson, Wilson, and Walsh. Newfoundlands were supported by Messrs. Coat, Dixie, and J. Bowman. Sheep-dogs found their chief winners amongst Messrs. Cartland, Jubb, Eale, W. H. Charles, Lord Chesham, and Mr. F. Aggis. Bull-dogs had a good entry, in which Mr. G. A. Dawes figured extensively, followed by Messrs. Bezant, Anderton, Underhill, and Ridgeway. Bull-terriers (Large and Small) filled well, the winners being supplied by Messrs. Harrison, Marshall, Hartley, Grifns, Davis, Bennett, and Read. Black-and-tan and Smooth Terriers were not large, but fairly typical, classes, prizes being taken by Messrs. Swinburne, Taylor, Melen, Gibbon, and Mapplebeck in former, and Messrs. Swindell and Denny in latter. Skyes were small classes. All the prizes in Dandies were divided between Messrs. J. Locke (with Doctor and Tib Mumps), J. Paterson (who showed the afterwards well-known Tweedside), and J. C. Carrick (with Nell Gwynne). Mrs. Monck, Lady Giffard, and Mr. John Jacobs took all the prizes in Maltese; and the first-named was "in the money" amongst the Pugs and Rough Toy Terriers. All the other classes were small, though many of them contained specimens of good quality. Mr. C. Whitehouse took most of the prizes in Smooth Toy Terriers, with which he was at one time so much identified.

The First Exhibition of Sporting and other Dogs was held at Carlisle on January 4th, 5th, and 6th, 1877, with Mr. J. C. Carrick as hon. secretary, and an entry of 582.

The judges selected were: Messrs. W. Lort, E. Raine, J. Jardine, G. Lindsay, J. N. Scott, J. B. Richardson, W. Pool, J. Locke, and F. Adcock.

Blood-hounds, Deer-hounds, Otter-hounds, Newfoundlands, Spaniels, and Yard Dogs were all poorly filled classes. Greyhounds were better, with Messrs. Sharpies, Binning, and M. Brown in the prize list. Pointers were good classes, with mostly a new set of winners in Messrs. Easten, Proctor, Reay, Ineson, Bartram, Whitfield, T. Robinson, Boustead, and Slater. Setters were fair, supported by Colonel Cowen, and Messrs. Lyon, Rankin, Parker, Robley, Armstrong, Bell, and Blamire. Retrievers had one class, with Messrs. How, Calder, and Grey, winners. Fox-terriers were the largest entry, with the winners shown by Messrs. Alston, C. T. Abbott, R. B. Lee, and W. Gillett in Smooths, and Messrs. A. H. Easten, W. Carrick, H. Wood, and A. Fitzroy in Wire-haired. Mr. Enoch Hutton took all the prizes in Dachshunds.

In two classes of St. Bernards Miss Aglionby was the only well-known prize owner. In Mastiffs the chief winners were Messrs. W. Parkinson, Holliday, J. Hartley, and Rev. B. O. Jones. Sheep-dogs found quite a new set of winners in Messrs. Robson, Thompson, Hardie, Broad, Wilson, and Jardine in Roughs, and Messrs. Hedley, Kimble, and Black in Smooths. Bull-dogs, Bull-terriers, and Pugs had one class each, with hardly a noted dog or owner among them. Bedlingtons were better, with Messrs. Stoddart, Shaw, Wall, Carrick, and Armstrong as winners. Dandies were good, thanks to the entries of Rev. Tennison-Mosse, Mr. Little, Captain Howarth Ashton, Messrs. T. Stordy, J. Brough, W. E. Easten, J. Nutsford, Harding, and W. Veitch, some of whom were afterwards known as keen Dandie fanciers. Skyes divided the prizes amongst Messrs. D. Pattison, F. Betts, and R. S. Briggs. Black-and-tans were represented by Messrs. Dyson, Swinburne, and King; Toy-terriers by Messrs. Shaw, Armstrong, Johnston, W. Houlgate, Mitchell, and H. A. Clark. No others require any mention.