BREAKING AND HANDLING. 41 



inside of his thighs, his flanks and under his feet, the pain 

 forcing him to stop and pick them out with his teeth. 

 Plucky setters will run regardless of them, but they chafe 

 and gouge the skin into sores in the afflicted parts. This 

 may be corrected by clipping the hair off, then the setter is 

 on the same equality in this respect with the pointer. Or 

 the difficulty may be overcome by trimming the hair closely 

 about the armpits and inside the thighs, thus keeping the 

 action free. 



Neither setter nor pointer is fitted for retrieving from 

 water in cold weather. Both suffer seriously from the 

 exposure if long continued. 



Some dogs are very intelligent, precocious, and pleasingly 

 submissive ; such may train easily, but the special aptitude 

 shown in the beginning is no indication whatever that no 

 training is necessary, although they may require less of it 

 and apply it more quickly. Those which are born with a 

 full knowledge of retrieving, a knowledge of a gun and its 

 uses, a comprehension of orders, signals and field work, are 

 never discovered by experts. Limited knowledge always 

 encounters the marvelous. There are no dogs or families 

 of dogs which inherit their training. 



As a matter of course, it is desirable to have a dog as 

 well-bred, symmetrical and graceful as possible, such being 

 a source of constant pleasure and an ornament to a home. 

 His value is greatly enhanced if he is a good worker, not so 

 much with respect to his increased monetary value as to the 

 superiority of the sport afforded by his superior capabilities 

 afield ; successful days days of pleasant reminiscences 

 are largely due to a good dog's efforts. A well bred dog 

 does not necessarily imply a weakly one. The well bred 

 one should not be confounded with the poorly bred. The 

 constitution and intelligence of the setter and pointer are of 

 paramount importance ; without these the value of the 



