i 7 2 LETTERS TO YOUNG SPORTSMEN. 



15 ; last season any " skin on four legs " resembling a dog 

 would sell for twice the latter sum. Whether the team be 

 composed of pointers or setters or both matters little. The 

 greater docility and the consequently smaller amount of 

 preparatory work necessary in the case of pointers is largely 

 mythical, nor, if real, is it an unmixed blessing. The pointer's 

 feet are more tender, and to harden them properly preparatory 

 work is a necessity. No amount of road work will harden 

 the interdigital skin. Friction by heather is indispensable. 

 Avoid open feet. The pointer or setter marches on his feet 

 as surely as does an army on its stomach. And it is especially 

 on our wet West Coast, where grouse are none too plentiful, 

 that the combined conditions point to the tireless red Irish 

 setter as the ideal dog. Another argument in his favour 

 is his innate superiority on snipe ground, some of which is 

 likely to be included in the amenities of a West Coast moor. 

 Thus you will enjoy more days of his companionship and as 

 a companion he is hard to beat than of the pointer's, whose 

 coat and skin forbid his paddling in the marshes on a cold 

 day late in the season, gallant though he is. In fact, the 

 more gallant he is, i.e., the higher his breeding, the more he 

 will feel cold and wet, and I would advise you to tolerate 

 nothing plebeian in the pointer. Satin coat and fine " stern " 

 point back to distinguished ancestry. A vulgar pointer is 

 an eyesore. When the rainfall is not unduly high nor the 

 ground too rocky, the old Scottish breed of black pointer 

 will give you more pleasure, if you have eyes to see, than 

 any other. He looks, and is, the aristocrat of his race, 

 and you must treat him accordingly. Have his feet well 

 looked to after the day's work, and washed in a saline 

 solution when inflamed. Do not expose him to rain or cold 

 if you can avoid it, unless protected by a tarpaulin sheet 

 when awaiting his turn, nor to long walks home if you have 

 room for him in the car. A few tarpaulin sheets are easily 

 strapped on to the pannier pony, and although you should 

 never start dogging on a pronouncedly wet day, it is better 

 to be prepared for storms. 



Whatever the composition of your team, try to include 

 in it one or two bold and wide rangers (steadiness is not 

 incompatible with this quality) to enlarge on ground where 



