THE POINTER 245 



ago, ought to be taken into account in considering this matter. 

 It is more than probable that, the slower a dog goes, the greater 

 are his facilities for taking into his nostrils the atoms of scent. 

 Assuming this to be the case, the slow dog of the past had an 

 advantage in * winding ' game over the flyers of to-day. 



I may be permitted to remark that many of my sporting friends 

 who have used Pointers all their lives are of my opinion upon the 

 subject. My father has used Pointers and Setters for nearly fifty 

 years, and has within the last few trained some (and seen others 

 at work) of my Pointers by Champions Rap, Pax, Chang, Macgregor, 

 and Bang ; and although he willingly admits their superior pace 

 and style, yet he fails to detect any increased range of nose over 

 that he has been accustomed to in good dogs he used very early 

 in his sporting experience. 



There is no doubt whatever that the modern Pointer, owing 

 to his increased pace, and through being able to endure (by his 

 better formation) harder work, with less fatigue, is of more 

 service to the sportsman ; still, there is room for improvement in 

 him. What we want is to make htm as much superior in nose as 

 he is beyond his ancestors in pace. This as yet we have not 

 accomplished. Of course, increased pace allows of more ground 

 being hunted in the same time, and this of itself is a great advantage; 

 and it is this alone, in my opinion, that gives the modern fast 

 Pointer the advantage over his slower rival. To illustrate what 

 I mean, I may say that I have often put down my field-trial winner 

 Romp with good-nosed slow dogs (local celebrities, too), and, 

 owing to her terrific pace, she could always take and keep the 

 outside beat ; consequently, her chances of finding game were 

 much increased, and she invariably beat them ' hands down.' But 

 it was only her pace, not her nose, that gave her the advantage. The 

 dogs she could easily beat were her equals in nose. I have attended 

 field trials for the last fifteen years, and in no case have I seen any 

 Pointer exhibiting an increased range of nose over that I have 

 seen in other good dogs. 



A fear has often been expressed that, by breeding for pace, 

 the staunchness of the Pointer would be detrimentally affected. I 

 am pleased to say I do not find this to be the case. He is now, 

 in this respect, all that a sportsman can wish for. 



The Pointer, I am fully persuaded, is more readily trained to 

 his duties than the Setter. He seems to take more kindly to 

 his work, and is generally kept up to his training with less trouble. 

 I have seen Pointers that have not been turned into a field for 

 a year or two go and do their work in rare form, as if they had 

 been in full training. I do not think the Pointer is such a 

 companionable dog as the Setter. He is * all there ' when at 

 work, but afterwards the kennel seems his proper place. He does 



