198 TRAINING THE HUNTING DOG 



Notwithstanding the disadvantages which are 

 likely to accrue when the dog is used both as a finder 

 and retriever, the demands of sport as conducted in 

 America require that he be so used. The average 

 American sportsman owns but one or two dogs, and 

 he desires that they serve him as finders. He has 

 neither the time nor inclination to bother with a dog 

 whose sole specialty is retrieving, and as a matter of 

 economy some sportsmen would not consider that 

 such dog's services counterbalanced the extra ex- 

 pense. 



The average American sportsman has but a few 

 days of shooting each season, and therefore his one 

 dog in his service must be broadly proficient. While 

 the dog may not be so good a finder if he retrieves, 

 nor so good a retriever if he finds, a compromise may 

 be established which will insure at least passable per- 

 formance in both finding and retrieving, thus afford- 

 ing to the shooter the advantages of both. 



Moreover, two dogs, the one a finder, the other a 

 retriever, could not be handled at the same time by 

 the average American sportsman, who, as a rule, 

 finds quite enough difficulty in handling one dog at a 

 time, 



