FIELD TRIALS — FISTULA 



met with in this variety, including black, roan, liver and 

 white, black-white-and-tan, but their points are all the 

 same. (See Black Field Spaniel^ 



Field Trials are the meetings held annually in different 

 parts of the country for the purpose of testing the working 

 abilities of gun-dogs over birds. They provide admirable 

 tests of the merits of the competitors, and have contributed 

 greatly towards sustaining the interest taken in training 

 pointers, setters, retrievers, and field spaniels. The oldest 

 established meeting is that held at Shrewsbury, it having 

 been established over a generation ago, under the patronage 

 of Lord Hill and Sir Vincent Corbett, with Mr. S. Ebrall as 

 secretary. The popularity of the fixture quickly became 

 established, with the result that the owners of the principal 

 pointer and setter kennels all sent representatives to com- 

 pete in the various stakes ; a wdn at Shrewsbury being 

 regarded as the supreme test of a dog's merits in the field. 

 Of more recent years many other fixtures have sprung 

 up, including that of the Kennel Club and those devoted 

 to spaniels and retrievers, all of which are movable 

 gatherings. 



Fighting. — When two dogs conceive an animosity for 

 each other it often becomes a very difficult matter to 

 prevent their fighting whenever they meet, and it is there- 

 fore most unwise to leave them together in the same 

 kennel. Bones left lying about are a very fruitful source 

 of trouble amongst dogs, and especially in such cases 

 as when one animal discovers the treasure which another 

 has buried under the straw on the benches. In ordinary 

 street fights the best way to separate the combatants is to 

 drag them from off each other by their tails, but if one has 

 got a firm hold of his opponent it may become necessary 

 to choke him off. (See Bites.) 



Fistula is not an uncommon form of trouble amongst 

 dogs, and especially if they are fed upon constipating 



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