CHAPTER VI. 



EETEIEVING. 



"OETRIEVING is an accomplishment that nearly ail sports- 

 J- u men place ahigh value upon, and even its opponenta gen- 

 erally become quick converts to the practice as soon as they are 

 fortunate enough to own a dog that is well-trained in this 

 almost indispensable branch of canine education. We have 

 often been amused at the sudden change in the mind of 

 some of these out-spnken adversaries of the practice upon 

 their acquisition of a really good retriever. How quickly their 

 fears that it will make him unsteady vanish ; how soon their 

 beUef that it will ruin his nose takes flight, and henceforth 

 the system has no stronger advocate until they get another 

 worthless animal. We do not propose to argue the question 

 here as to whether retrieving is detrimental to the dog or 

 not, but will, instead, state that it is our firm belief that if 

 our dog is properly trained in the first place, and kept up to 

 his work as he should be, no possible harm can accrue either 

 to his nose or steadiness; and that in no single instance 

 where evil results have ensued was it the fault of the practice 

 or the dog, but entirely the fault of the man ; for the dog is 

 certainly not to blame for breaking shot and chasing the 

 wing-broken bird when his master sets the example. Neither 

 should he be blamed for repeating the indiscretion. Here we 

 can see that the check cord and spiked collar could be used 

 to very great advantage, but we should by no means test its 

 efficacy upon the neck of the dumb animal. 



We will now resume our lessons, reserving further remarks 

 upon this very important subject until we come to actual 

 work in the field. We do not think it advisable to commence 

 teaching our pup to retrieve until he has shed his puppy 

 teeth, and his permanent set are pretty well grown ; for until 

 this time his mouth is generally more or less inflamed, and 

 his first teeth are sharp as needles ; and we may not hope to 



