242 BREAKING AND ENTEEING. 



and, if he is not very bold, the plain collar will suflacc, as it may 

 be made \)y a sharp jerk to throw him back, to his great annoy- 

 ance. Pointer Daisy, page 237, took first prize in her class, I^evv 

 YorR Bench Show of 1877< 



BREAKING TO RETRIEVE. 



Retrieving, in my opinion, should be invariably committed to a 

 dog, specially kept for that purpose ; but, as this is not the uni- 

 versal practice, it will be necessary to say a few words on this 

 subject. When pointers or setters are broken to retrieve, in addi- 

 tion to those qualities peculiar to them, they should always be so 

 much under command as to wait " down charge," until they are 

 ordered on by the words " seek dead," when they at once go up to 

 the place where they saw their game drop, and, taldng up the 

 scent, foot it until they find it. Some breeds have no nose for a 

 foot-scent, and, if ordered to " seek dead," will beat for the body- 

 scent as they would for a single bird ; and, when they come upon 

 the lost bird, they " peg " it with a steady point in the same way. 

 This 'docs not injure the dog nearly as much as working out a 

 runner by the foot-scent; but a retrieving pointer of this kind, is 

 of little use for any but a badly wounded bird, which has not run 

 far. Few pointers and setters will carry game far, nor indeed is 

 it worth while to spend much time in teaching them to do so ; and 

 when they are set to retrieve, it is better to follow them, and help 

 them in their search, so as to avoid all necessity for developing 

 the " fetch and carry" quality, which in the genuine retriever is 

 so valuable. But it is chiefly for wounded hares or running 

 pheasants that such a retriever is required; and as the former 

 spoil a pointer or setter, and are sure to make him unsteady if he 

 is allowed to hunt them, it is desirable to keep clear of the posi- 

 tion altogether, while pheasants are so rarely killed to these dogs 

 that their retrieval by them need not be considered. 



The regular land retriever requires much more careful educa- 

 tion, inasmuch as he is wanted tr^ «hst,a«r from hunting, and from 



