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Col. Thornton's Dash (dog, liver/white, w: 1795)
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"It was in the last years of the eighteenth century that the crying
sin against the pointer was committed, by mating him with the foxhound.
Had he been crossed once again with the tender-nosed, sagacious,
southern hound, the effect would not have been disastrous; but the
dashing, harum-scarum foxhound was an exemplarily
mischievous selection. ... Colonel Thornton (1757-1823),
who kept both foxhounds and pointers, was the first to
intermix the two breeds."
-- Arkwright, 1906, The Pointer and His Predecessors
"... we do know that Colonel Thornton (1757-1825) did not keep his venture a secret, and
the result was the liver and white dog "Dash" which was whelped in
1795. This dog was famed for its field performance. ... "Dash" was much used
as a stud-dog, but the next generation did not come up to his standard.
The best known dogs of his strain were "Pluto", "Juno",
"Modish", "Lily", and "Nan"."
-- W. Marr, 1960's, Pointers and Setters
"The first person to have success with a pointer from adding foxhound
blood was a Colonel Thornton.
He kept both foxhounds and pointers
and he mated a small pointer bitch and a shallow flewed foxhound and
from this mating produced a dog by the name of "Dash".
At the time,
some people were of the opinion that it was perhaps unfortunate
that he should have succeeded in breeding so soon an eminent dog
like "Dash", for this dog was remarkable for his style of ranging
on the moors as well as for his superior method of finding game.
He was equally excellent in partridge shooting and backed other dogs
as steadily as possible. He was used at stud to a considerable number
of bitches but not one puppy which he sired ever made the grade for work!
However, it was through the success of "Dash" in the field that many
breeders in all parts of the country also decided to use the
foxhound cross, but it soon became evident that these crosses
were no good generally and that far more was lost than gained by the
experiment. It had produced courage, power and perseverance,
but also high spirits and keenness for chasing."
-- Edmondson and Robertshaw, 1978, The Pointer: Faber and Faber, London"
"In fact if the truth could be ascertained, it would be much more reasonable to believe that this mongrel was produced in an effort to improve the speed of Thronton's hounds on which he was makeing large wagers in competing for speed records."
-- Phillips, 1970, The True Pointer
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Col. Thornton's Dash
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SIRE:
Foxhound
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"a shallow-flewed (fleet) foxhound"
-- Arkwright, 1906
"a shallow flewed foxhound"
-- Edmondson & Robertshaw, 1978
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DAM:
Pointer
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"a highly bred pointer bitch"
-- Arkwright, 1906
"a rather small pointer bitch"
-- Arkwright, 1906
"a small pointer bitch"
-- Edmondson & Robertshaw, 1978
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Dash
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"He was remarkable for his style of ranging upon the moors, as well as for his superior method
of finding game; he was equally excellent in partridge-shooting, and
backed other dogs as steadily as possible."
-- Arkwright, 1906
"'Colonel Thornton's celebrated pointer, Dash, was bred from a rather
small pointer bitch and a shallow-flewed (fleet) foxhound, and his
appearance indicated his realationship to the latter in a very
preponderating manner -- the lofty foxhound, not the low-stooping
pointer. Yet he was acknowledged as a pointer of surpassing excellence
both on the moors and in the enclosures, but as a stallion proved
worthless ...'"
-- Arkwright, 1906, quote from "The Sportsman", 1836
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