THE ENGLISH SETTER. 33 



work, the dog may with advantage be fed on a meat diet 

 exclusively. During the close season, the dog, if confined, 

 should have as large a yard as possible for the purpose of 

 exercising, and thereto the owner should give him a run 

 night and morning. The dog is a nervous, restless animal, 

 generally of unlimited energy and spirits, and plenty of 

 exercise is an absolute requirement to keep him in good 

 health. In connection with feeding a dog, it may be men- 

 tioned that it is a mistake to give a dog a large, hard bone. 

 The dog will gnaw it by the hour, but he gets no nourish- 

 ment, and wears out his teeth. Young dogs may be fre- 

 quently seen with their front teeth worn to the gums, from 

 the effect of this kind of misdirected kindness. Soft bones, 

 which the dog can crush easily, such as the ribs of sheep, 

 etc., keep the teeth white and clean, and gratify the dog's 

 craving for bones. 



Good, clean straw makes an excellent bedding. It 

 should be changed as often as it gets broken or soiled; 

 about twice a week will usually be often enough, unless the 

 weather should be very rainy and the ground muddy, 

 when it should be changed of tener. Where but one or two 

 dogs are kept, any dry, clean out-building will do for a 

 kennel; or a small kennel can be made at little expense. 



The field training of a dog is an art on which there is a 

 voluminous literature. The modern trainer has improved 

 greatly on the methods of his predecessors, and the Ameri- 

 can trainer of the present has no peer in his special calling; 

 a calling which has its hardships, however, for it is shorn 

 of all artificial advantages which are incidental to training 

 on a preserve in England. The trainer, when the training 

 season begins, locates in some favorable section in the South, 

 where he has an abundance of old fields, open and cover, 

 and where birds are known to be plentiful; thus training 

 his dogs in actual hunting. In this manner, they get their 

 education in practical work. The trainer has to reconcile 

 himself frequently to the discomforts of poor lodgings, 

 worse fare, and isolation from congenial civilization. But 

 fondness for the dog and gun overcomes all the hardships 



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