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THE NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC MAGAZINE 



known by the kennel names of their breeders, 

 such as Belton and Llewellyn setters. These 

 are excellent quail-dogs, being somewhat more 

 of the build of the Irish setter and consider- 

 ably lighter and more delicately put together 

 than the staunch old English setter. Both are 

 white, with much fine ticking of black which 

 in the long white coat has a bluish appearance. 



All setters should show quite a marked stop, 

 have full, sympathetic, and intelligent eyes, 

 soft, fine, nearly straight hair, a full feather 

 along the back of all four legs, as well as from 

 the lower side of the tail. 



Tliey should be built much like a pointer, ex- 

 cept that they lack the springy arched quality 

 of legs and back, being rather more careful, but 

 much less rapid, workers than these rangers of 

 the open fields. The stifle should be straight 

 from front or back instead of free and out- 

 turned. 



Under his soft and rather silky coat, the 

 setter should be hard, finely muscled, and com- 

 pact, and none of these dogs should be allowed 

 to get fat and lazy, as they so often become in 

 the hands of affectionate owners. No dog has 

 a more wheedling way with him, and it takes a 

 rather firm nature to withstand his wiles. 



RETRIEVER 



(For illustration, see page S9) 



Many breeds of dogs have been trained to 

 find and bring in game which has been shot, 

 but retrievers, as their name implies, are bred 

 specially for that purpose. English sportsmen 

 had for some time been experimenting with 

 different breeds in an effort to find a dog ex- 

 actly suited for retrieving game, when, about 

 the middle of the last century, there was intro- 

 duced from Labrador a hardy, black-coated, 

 small-eared, medium-sized dog, which seemed 

 to answer the purpose. He was a typical water 

 dog and not subject to ear canker, which so 

 often develops in spaniels used to retrieve 

 waterfowl. 



This Labrador dog, crossed probably with 

 the English setter, and perhaps with other 

 breeds, produced the retriever, which may be 

 either black or liver brown. 



In size about like a pointer, covered all over 

 with a coat of tight, curly hair, Astrakhan-like, 

 except for his smooth head and face, he is a 

 curious-looking dog. He is a capable and 

 teachable creature, however, and makes a capi- 

 tal assistant in the duck-blind or as a gun-dog, 

 where birds are the quarry. 



The curly retriever may be either coal black 

 or dark liver brown. He should weigh about 

 65 to 80 pounds. 



There is also a smooth retriever, which is 

 much like the curly in form and size, but has 

 straight hair. 



The Labrador retriever is shorter of leg than 

 the other types and generally more solidly built. 

 It is generally some shade of brown, and none 

 of the retrievers should show more than a 

 trace of white on the chest. All have smaller 



ears than the pointer or setter, and the curly 

 type carries his close to the head. 



The original "Labrador," or something very 

 like, still exists under the same name, as a dis- 

 tinct and recognized breed. He has all the 

 good qualities of both of these highly intelli- 

 gent parents. 



CHESAPEAKE RETRIEVER 



{1-ur illustration, see page 39) 



This is an essentially American dog and has 

 come to a high state of perfection along the 

 eastern seaboard, and, as an introduced type, 

 is much esteemed in the ducking marshes of 

 the Northwest. His parentage is supposed to 

 be chiefly otterhound and Labrador, but it is 

 altogether probable that other blood runs in 

 bis veins, as he is one of the dogs that has 

 been developed for a particular use through 

 particular qualities his ancestors were found in 

 actual practice to possess. The result is a very 

 curious, very excellent, but not very stable nor 

 beautiful dog. 



But no knovi'n dog is such an unswervable 

 retriever or can stand a fraction of the ex- 

 posure to icy wind and icy water which this 

 hardy fowling dog seems to revel in. To meet 

 this rigorous demand, he has a curious, deep 

 woolly undercoat that seems never to wet 

 through, such as we find on water-dwelling 

 mammals like the otter ; this is protected and 

 covered by a harsh, strong coat of regular 

 hair, straight or slightly curly, from which one 

 good shake drives practically all the water. 

 They will chase a wounded duck over or under 

 the ice and will follow the liveliest "cripple" 

 till it wearies. In open deep-water duck bunt- 

 ing such a dog is invaluable. 



They vary from 60 to 80 pounds in weight 

 and from 22 to 25 inches in height. The ear 

 is quite short and set rather high, giving a 

 squarer look to the head than in the setter, 

 whicli it remotely resembles. They are tawny 

 brown or "sedge color" generally, though other 

 less desirable colors are met with occasionally. 



THE IRISH WATER SPANIEL 



(For illustration, see page S9) 



Identified more or less with the retrievers, 

 because they perform similar duties, are the 

 sporting spaniels, which, because they are di- 

 vided into so many branches, constitute per- 

 haps the largest dog family in the world. 



The English "Kennel Club" recognizes Irish 

 water spaniels, water spaniels other than Irish, 

 Chmiber spaniels, Sussex spaniels, field span- 

 iels, English springers, Welsh springers, and 

 cocker spaniels. They are all used to assist 

 the gunner to find his game and to retrieve it 

 after it is shot. 



The Irish water spaniel is in a class by him- 

 self. You need to see him but once to remem- 

 ber him forever. It is said that he was the 

 very last dog to be made, and that it was only 



