THE POINTER 253 



where birds are scarce : he must also have a bright, kindly tempera- 

 ment, plenty of courage without being headstrong, and must tolerate 

 a co-worker, despite his desire to undertake all the work : he must 

 stand correction for a fault, without getting sulky and skulking, being 

 honest, bold, and dutiful : he must carry his head well up, and never 

 stoop to ground scent : he must have sufficient brains to make the 

 best use of the wind in quartering the ground, and must merrily lash 

 his tail as an earnest of his good intentions. When a sportsman has 

 succeeded in breeding or obtaining Pointers possessed of the qualities 

 above enumerated, he will be naturally very reluctant to part with 

 them. 



At the present time it is probable that America possesses quite 

 as many handsome English Pointers as England ; and several of 

 the continental countries of Europe show excellent dogs in great 

 quantities, notably Russia, Belgium, France, Sweden while Italy, 

 Spain, Finland, Denmark are not far behind. In fact, the dogs 

 of some of these countries show a higher degree of average merit 

 than those of Great Britain ; owing to the foreigners having been 

 less led away by love of Foxhound type, and their shows occurring 

 too seldom to make the cultivation of the professional show-dog 

 a commercial possibility. But it is safe to say that the best- 

 looking individuals, like the finest workers of all, are still to be 

 met with in the land of their origin. With trial- workers, however, 

 certain of the continental countries, notably Belgium and France, 

 where they run their dogs under precisely similar conditions and 

 rules, are close on our heels. 



It is more difficult to gauge the comparative merit of the 

 American and Russian trial dogs with ours, as the work required 

 of them is so different. Indeed, on the vast prairies of the New 

 World, both judges and breakers are on horseback, and all 

 methodical quartering of the ground is literally " thrown to the 

 winds"; while the Russians require the dog to be worked in 

 thick scrub, where he is lost to sight, and has to return to his 

 master to "report" a find, instead of remaining firmly at the 

 point. 



