254 



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TEAM OF MR. E. W. H. BLAGG'S RETRIEVERS. 

 BROKEN TO THE TAME RABBIT. 



CHAPTER XXV. 



THE RETRIEVERS. 



" Man is of kin to the beasts. For take an example of a dog, and mark what a generosity 

 and courage he will put on when he finds himself maintained by a man, who to him is in stead 

 of a god, or Melior Natura ; which courage is manifestly such as that creature, without that 

 confidence of a better nature than his own, could never attain." — Lord Bacon. 



I.-THE FLAT-COATED RETRIEVER. 



BY L. P. C. ASTLEY. 



IT is obviously useless to shoot game 

 unless you can find it after it has been 

 wounded or killed, and from the earliest 

 times it has been the habit of sportsmen to 

 train their dogs to do the work which they 

 could not always successfully do for them- 

 selves. The Pointers, Setters, and Spaniels 

 of our forefathers were carefully broken not 

 only to find and stand their game, but also 

 to fetch the fallen birds. This use of the 

 setting and pointing dog is still common on 

 the Continent and in the United States, 

 and there is no inaccuracy in a French artist 

 depicting a Pointer with a partridge in its 

 mouth, or showing a Setter retrieving 

 waterfowl. In the time of Morland and 

 Cooper it was equally correct in English art, 

 and the Setter or Spaniel was considered 

 quite normal if after the shot had been 

 fired he found the wounded bird, and laid it 

 crushed and mangled at his master's feet. 



The Springer and the old curly-coated 

 water-dog were regarded as particularly 

 adroit in the double work of finding and 



retrieving. Pointers and Setters who had 

 been thus broken were found to deteriorate 

 in steadiness in the field, and it gradually 

 came to be realised that even the Spaniel's 

 capacity for retrieving was limited. A 

 larger and quicker dog was wanted to 

 divide the labour, and to be used solely 

 as a retriever in conjunction with the other 

 gun dogs. The Poodle was tried for re- 

 trieving with some success, and he showed 

 considerable aptitude in finding and fetch- 

 ing wounded wild duck ; but he, too. was 

 inclined to maul his birds and deliver them 

 dead. 



Even the Old English Sheepdog was 

 occasionally engaged in the work, and various 

 crosses with Spaniel or Setter and Collie 

 were attempted in the endeavour to produce 

 a grade breed having the desired qualities 

 of a good nose, a soft mouth, and an under- 

 standing brain, together with a coat that 

 would protect its wearer from the ill effects 

 of frequent immersion in water. 



It was when these efforts were most 



