356 WILD FOWL SHOOTING. 



little puppyish tricks, they soon learn to know that mas- 

 ter as their friend ; they try to please him, to learn, per- 

 haps not because they care for the knowledge them- 

 selves, but their little heads soon are wise enough to 

 see that when they do as their master wishes, they 

 please him, his pleasure is shown them, in divers ways, 

 by fond petting, little delicacies to eat, and kind and 

 affectionate words. These attentions soon wean him 

 from his playmates, he longs to please his master ; 

 perhaps he may feel sometimes his master is a little 

 too particular with him, or he is too severe, when he in- 

 sists on his learning his lessons when other dogs are 

 loafing in the streets ; possibly, when his chum, the 

 neighbor's dog, has treed a cat and barks loudly for him 

 to come and help keep her there, yet, he has learned to 

 love his master ; kind words and loving caresses have 

 won his heart. He looks on the man as his companion, 

 his protector, his friend, and in his heart, although he 

 is but a dog, the seeds of kindness have been sown, 

 have sprouted, ripened and developed into everlasting 

 love and gratitude. In the selection of a dog for wild 

 fowl shooting the purchaser should take into considera- 

 tion the places and seasons of the year the dog is to be 

 used. This sport is full of hardships for the dog, and 

 it is but seldom that he can be used, except when the 

 water is of icy coldness, or the wind equally cold and 

 penetrating, when it comes in contact with his shiver- 

 ing frame. A dog for this kind of sport should be one 

 peculiarly fitted for it. His coat should be thick, 

 oily, and liver or sedge color ; as so much of his life is 

 to be passed in the marsh, floundering in the mud, 

 struggling through the tangled rice, or in the swollen 

 stream, swimming against the rushing current, he 



