The English Setter 133 



record shows him to have been very decidedly the best American-bred dog 

 of that date, if not up to that time. 



Sheldon would probably never have been shown if he had not been 

 "discovered" by that good judge of a setter and experienced breeder, 

 Dr. J. E. Hair, of Bridgeport, Conn. Up to that time he had been kept 

 as a private shooting dog, with no knowledge of how good he was from a 

 show point of view. Had he lived we are fully of the opinion that he 

 would have done wonders for the setter, for from the few bitches he was 

 bred to each of his get was a winner, and the second generation are to-day 

 about the only American-bred setters that have reached the title of champion 

 during the past two or three years. 



A setter which had a great reputation in the West now made his 

 appearance in the East, Rodfield, and although he was anything but a good 

 dog, he eventually got his champion title through winning three firsts in 

 the open class under fanciers of the field trials bred dogs, and then with no 

 opposition in the challenge class at small Western shows he got the necessary 

 three wins, a process which could not be repeated under present conditions. 

 A far better dog was Cincinnatus Pride, for Rodfield was short in head and 

 thick in skull, full in eyes, with an exceedingly bad front and weak pasterns 

 to offset his good neck, body and quarters. Because he was a field trials 

 winner he was bred to extensively, but as any person with knowledge of the 

 rudiments of breeding could have foretold, he got worse-looking progeny 

 than he was himself. Cincinnatus Pride was not a good-headed dog, but 

 nevertheless close to the best in those bad days for the breed. Still the 

 judges of that time would not have him till one day he did well at a field 

 trials; whereupon, although he could not be as good a dog as when younger, 

 he at once jumped from third and V.H.C. to first place and went over dogs 

 that should have beaten him. He was then bred to very extensively, and 

 it is gratifying to say that he materially improved the field trials dogs, it 

 being to that class of bitches he was mostly bred. It does not appear, 

 however, that he produced anything equal to himself in general merit for 

 show purposes. It is not so very certain that those who breed for type did 

 not miss an opportunity when they overlooked this dog, for on his dam's 

 side he was wonderfully well bred, the lines running quickly to such excellent 

 setters as Rock, Rum, Sir Allister, Belton, Fletcher's Rock, Novel and other 

 well-known setters of the past, and if used to good-quality bitches he might 

 have been a success. 



