The Sussex Spaniel. 461 



covert untried ; he is a faster and merrier worker 

 than the Clumber, and will go on quite as long. 

 He is not mute, though not a noisy dog by any 

 means ; a slight yelp or whimper every now 

 and then, when on a hot scent, which becomes 

 more of a round full bark when close to his game 

 or when it is in sight. Of course, some dogs 

 may be more excitable than others, but what I 

 call a very noisy spaniel is quite out of place, for 

 it often enough leads the shooter to believe it has 

 game in front of its nose when such is far away, and 

 perhaps never comes within distance to afford a 

 shot. He readily retrieves, is tender-mouthed, and 

 makes by no means a bad single-handed dog where 

 a pointer or setter will not do. As a water dog he is 

 excellent when properly trained for the purpose. 



In a great measure the present popularity of the 

 pure Sussex spaniel is due to what Mr. T. B. 

 Bowers, who lived near Chester, did for it some 

 twenty-five years ago. He was energetic in 

 defining the type, got to the right strains, and 

 protested against the award of prizes to brown dogs 

 that had sprung from black parents, and had little 

 or no Sussex blood in them. This he did so success- 

 fully that a well-known liver-coloured dog called 

 George, a great winner in Sussex classes and 

 mentioned earlier on, was withdrawn from .competi- 



