PREFACE vii 



timeless. There is nothing new to offer. I wish 

 there was one thing new, a sure serum for dis 

 temper. That dread scourge is still unconquered, 

 but we at least have had a considerable advance 

 in the potency of the serums in the last five years. 

 I would like to call your attention here to the 

 last half of this book. It is of most unusual for 

 mat. Instead of an academic discussion, I used 

 here excerpts direct from life on all matters con- 

 nected with training, feeding, and hygiene of dogs. 

 During the seven years that I was editor of Field 

 & Stream^litersilly thousands of inquiries similar 

 to these came in to me. I doctored dogs by mail 

 all over the country. It was part of my regular 

 editorial work, and drew no reward save the 

 thanks of anxious dog owners, but these letters 

 are rich and racy with the life of hunting-dog 

 people. You see us there, not merely talking about 

 the sick dog but doing something for him. The 

 same with training, correcting faults, feeding, 

 housing, all the thousand and one things that come 

 up in connection with our four-footed friends. I 

 know of no more forcible way of presenting to you 

 your own dog problems than to let you see us 

 actually solving them, a real owner writing the 

 inquiry, the editor replying to the best of his 

 ability. And I'll match any human doctor as to 



