means that his dog should be the 

 pointer; but for the one who takes ad- 

 vantage of the open season for differ- 

 ent game from its beginning to its 

 close, we recommend the setter as best 

 able to bear continued work in all de- 

 scriptions of cover." 



The short hair of the pointer enables 

 him to do work on the prairies while 

 "chicken" shooting where water is sel- 

 dom found, and which he can do without 

 for a long time; but in New Jersey, Del- 

 aware, and Maryland, and in countries 

 where the game invariably takes to the 

 briery thickets on being started, the 

 pointer is at a disadvantage, as it re- 

 fuses to enter them. 



The pointer originally is a cross of 

 the Spanish dog with the greyhound, 

 or foxhound, by which the delicacy of 

 the nerves of the nose, to some extent, 

 is diminished, and the body rendered 

 more light and elegant. No dog has a 

 higher step, sense of smell, or shows 

 greater intelligence or docility. The 

 principal reason that he becomes rigid, 

 or points, by the scent of game, is from 

 the extraordinary condition of his ner- 

 vous system, acquired centuries ago 

 and handed down by his ancestors. 

 According to Hallock, a thoroughly 

 broken pair of high-bred pointers are 

 so obedient to the voice and gesture of 

 their master and so well trained to act 

 with each other, that a wave of the 

 hand will separate them, one going to 

 the right and the other to the left, so 

 that they hunt the entire ground, cross- 

 ing each other regularly in front of the 

 sportsman as he walks forward. There 

 is one matter that is generally over- 

 looked in ranging with the pointer. If 

 in early life you have taught him to re- 

 trieve, and a case occurs in the field 

 where he has to cross a stream, as the 

 dog returns with the bird, never tell 

 him "down charge." His coat is so 

 thin and his organization so delicate 

 that he is sure to catch cold; therefore, 

 by all means, allow him to run around 

 a little. 



Points for the show bench, as given 

 by the Fancier s Gazette, are: 



Head should be moderately long, 

 narrowing from the skull; the skull not 

 too prominent above the eyes, as this 

 gives a heavy appearance; rather deep 



in the lip, but not any flaw, or very 

 slight; nostrils open, with level jaw; 

 eyes moderately bold; ears thin, set in 

 to the head, just where the skull begins 

 to recede at the sides of the head, 

 hanging flat on the cheek; throwing 

 the ears back so as to show the insides 

 has a bad appearance, and too often 

 indicates a cross; neck medium in pro- 

 portion to head, and body rather in- 

 clined to be long, but not much so, 

 thickening from the head to the set-in 

 of the shoulders; no looseness of the 

 throat skin; shoulders narrow at the 

 meeting of the blade bones, with a 

 great amount of muscle, long in the 

 blades, set slanting, with arm of the 

 leg strong and coming away straight, 

 and elbow neither out nor in; the legs 

 not great, heavy boned, but with a great 

 amount of muscle; leg pressed straight 

 to the foot, well-rounded, and symmet- 

 rical, with foot well rounded (this is 

 the forelegs and feet); chest moder- 

 ately deep, not over wide, but suffi- 

 ciently wide and deep to give plenty of 

 breathing-room; back level, wide in 

 loins, deeply ribbed and with ribs car- 

 ried well back; hips wide and full of 

 muscle, not straight in the hock, but 

 moderately bent; stifles full and well 

 developed; the stern nearly straight, 

 going off tapering to the point, set-in 

 level with the back, carried straight, 

 not above the level of back; symmetry 

 and general appearance racy, and much 

 beauty of form appears to the eye of 

 a real pointer breeder and fancier. The 

 weights considered best for different 

 purposes are from fifty pounds to 

 about sixty-five pounds. Coat short 

 and glossy, but a deal here depends on 

 condition. 



POINTS IN JUDGING. 



Head 25 



Neck 10 



Shoulders 15 



Leg-s..'. 10 



Feet 10 



Loins 10 



Stifles 5 



Stern 15 



- — 100 



Color and Coat, — The coat oug-ht to be very 

 short and soft, and fine, and the skin thin 

 and flexible. Most people in ling-land pre- 

 fer the lenion-and-white to liver-and-white, 

 or black-and-white. 



