44 SECOND DIVISION OF THE 



THE COCKER. 



It is chiefly used in flushing woodcocks and pheasants in thickets and 

 copses into which the setter, and even the springer, can scarcely enter. 



" But, if the shady woods my cares employ, 

 In quest of feathered game my spaniels beat, 

 Puzzling the entangled copse, and from the brake 

 Push forth the whirring pheasant." 



The cocker is here very useful, although he is occasionally an exceed- 

 ingly impatient animal. He is apt to whimper and babble as soon as he 

 comes upon the scent of game, and often raises the bird before the sports- 

 man is within reach : but when he is sufficiently broken in not to give 

 tongue until the game rises he is exceedingly valuable. There can 

 scarcely be a prettier object than this little creature, full of activity, and 

 bustling in every direction, with his tail erect, and, the moment he scents 

 the bird, expressing his delight by the quivering of every limb, and the low 

 eager whimpering which the best breaking cannot always subdue. Presently 

 the bird springs, and then he shrieks out his ecstasy, startling even the sports- 

 man with his sharp, shrill, and strangely expressive bark. 



The most serious objection to the use of the cocker is the difficulty of 

 teaching him to distinguish his game, and confine himself within bounds ; 

 for he will too often flush everything that cornes within his reach. It is 

 often the practice to attach bells to his collar, that the sportsman may 

 know where he is ; but there is an inconvenience connected with this, that 

 the noise of the bells will often disturb and spring the game before the 

 dog comes fairly upon it. 



Patience and perseverance, with a due mixture of kindness and correc- 

 tion, will, however, accomplish a great deal in the tuition of the well-bred 

 spaniel. He may at first hunt about after every bird that presents itself, 

 or chase the interdicted game ; but, if he is immediately called in and rated, 

 or perhaps corrected, but not too severely, he will learn his proper lesson, 

 and will recognise the game, to which alone his attention must be directed. 

 The grand secret in breaking in these dogs is mildness, mingled with per- 

 severance, the lessons being enforced, and practically illustrated by the 

 example of an old and steady dog. 



These spaniels will sometimes vie with almost every other species of 

 dog in intelligence, and will not yield to one of them in fidelity. A 

 gentleman in Sussex had an old cocker, that was his constant companion, 

 both in the house and the field. If the morning was rainy the dog was 

 perfectly quiet ; if it was fine he became restless, and, at the usual time 

 for his master to go out, he would take him by the flap of his coat, and 

 gently pull at it. If the door was opened, he ran immediately to the 

 keeper's lodge, which was at a considerable distance from the house. This 

 was a signal for the other dogs to be brought up, and then he trotted back 

 to announce their approach. 



THE KING CHARLES'S SPANIEL, 



so called from the fondness of Charles II. for it who usually had some 

 of them following him, wherever he went belongs likewise to the cockers. 

 Its form and character are well preserved in one of the paintings of the 

 unfortunate parent of that monarch and his family. The ears deeply 

 fringed and sweeping the ground, the rounder form of the forehead, the 



