THE AMERICAN GORDON SETTER. 77 



had to suffer the odium cast upon him by these impostors, 

 whereas if the amateur had purchased of breeders who 

 could trace pedigrees to the above-named dogs, he would 

 have been a happier and wiser man. 



A dog who is simply a prize-winner, no matter if he is 

 not pure bred, or is even gun-shy, or has never seen game, 

 is more valued by the average mug-hunter than the finest 

 field dog in the country. The bench shows were to blame, 

 in a measure, at least, for this state of affairs, in having 

 only one class in which this breed could enter, and that for 

 Black and Tan Setters; when, in fact, they should have had 

 a class for Gordon Setters, and the Black and Tan should 

 have been in the cross-bred or English class. 



To remedy this evil, and save the Gordon Setter from the 

 odium that was being cast upon him by having to be 

 entered in the same class with the Black and Tan (causing 

 the best specimens of the Gordon Setter to be kept at home 

 for many years), the field sportsmen, and lovers of the pure- 

 bred Gordon Setter, met and formed a club, known as the 

 American Gordon Setter Club. We went before the Ameri- 

 can Kennel Club, requesting them to give us a class in the 

 Stud Book for our pure-bred dogs, and to call this strain the 

 American Gordon Setter. Our request was granted; and in 

 the future, none but a dog with a pure Gordon Setter pedi- 

 gree can be registered as an American Gordon Setter. 



The cross-bred dog, who depended upon his black-and- 

 tan color to deceive the public, has now to be registered 

 in the cross-bred class. The success of the American Gor- 

 don Setter Club in this matter has saved one of the best 

 strains of field dogs from utter ruin. So the strain of dogs 

 that was known at the Duke of Gordon's Castle as the Gor- 

 don Setter, and in England as the Black and Tan Setter, are 

 now known in America as the American Gordon Setter. 



The Gordon Setter as seen at Gordon Castle was un- 

 doubtedly black-and-tan, and black, white, and tan. Many 

 of the best-bred Gordon dogs throw, in their litters, pups 

 with a toe or two marked with white, or with a white frill 

 on same. A litter, a few years back, without some white 



