714 THE AMERICAN FARMER. 



Retrieving. Few Pointers and Setters will carry game far, nor indeed is it worth 

 while to spend much time in teaching them to do so; and when they are set to retrieve, it is 

 better to follow them, and help them in their search, so as to avoid all necessity for develop 

 ing the fetch and carry quality, which in the genuine retriever is so valuable. But it is 

 chiefly for wounded hares or running pheasants that such a retriever is required ; and as the 

 former spoil a Pointer or Setter, and are sure to make him unsteady if he is allowed to hunt 

 them, it is desirable to keep clear of the position altogether, while pheasants are so rarely 

 killed to these dogs that their retrieval by them need not be considered. 



The regular land retriever requires much more careful education, inasmuch as he is 

 wanted to abstain from hunting, and from his own especial duties, except when ordered to 

 commence. The breed generally used is the cross of the Newfoundland with the setter or 

 water-spaniel, but, as I have explained in another place, other breeds are equally useful. In 

 educating these dogs, they should be taken at a very early age, as it is almost impossible to 

 insure perfect obedience at a later period. The disposition to &quot;fetch and carry,&quot; which is 

 the essence of retrieving, is very early developed in these dogs, and without it there is little 

 chance of making a puppy perfect in his vocation. Young dogs of this breed will be seen 

 carrying sticks about, and watching for their master to throw them, that they may fetch 

 them to him. 



This fondness for the amusement should be encouraged to a certain extent almost daily, 

 but not so far as to tire and disgust the dog, and care should always be taken that he does 

 not tear or bite the object which he has in charge. On no account should it be dragged 

 from his mouth, but he should be ordered to drop it on the ground at the feet of his master, 

 or to release it directly when it is laid hold of. The consequence of pulling anything out of the 

 young retriever s mouth is that he becomes &quot;hard bitten,&quot; as it is called; and, when he 

 retrieves a wounded bird, he makes his teeth meet, and mangles it so much that it is utterly 

 useless. A dog which is not naturally inclined to retrieve may be made so by encouraging 

 him to pull at a handkerchief or a stick; but such animals very seldom turn out well in this 

 line, and it is far better to put them to some other task. As soon as the puppy has learned 

 to bring everything to his master when ordered, he may be taught to seek for trifling articles 

 in long grass or other covert, such as bushes, etc. 



When he succeeds in this, get some young rabbits which are hardly old enough to run, 

 and hide one at a time at a little distance, after trailing it through the grass so as to imitate 

 the natural progress of the animal when wounded. After putting the young retriever on 

 the scent at the commencement of the &quot;run,&quot; let him puzzle it out, until he finds the rabbit, 

 and then make him bring it to his master without injuring it in the least. Encouragement 

 should be given for success, and during the search the dog should have the notice of his 

 master, by the words: &quot;Seek! &quot; &quot; Seek! &quot; A perseverance in this kind of practice will soon 

 make the dog very bright in tracing out the concealed rabbits, and in process of time he may 

 be entrusted with the task of retrieving a wounded partridge or pheasant in actual shooting. 

 But it is always a long time before the retriever becomes perfect, practice being all important 

 to him.&quot; 



