20 ON THE DOGMATISM 



minimum — a retrieving pointer and a dachs- 

 hund ; and I am not sure he is wrong. But 

 this does not warrant his talking of retrievers, 

 which he has never seen, as "poodles," or 

 laughing at the idea of long-legged deer- 

 hounds for securing a wounded stag. The 

 Scottish keeper with his pointers or setters, 

 retrievers, perhaps spaniels and even beagles, 

 and certainly deerhounds (or, more's the pity, 

 collies now-a-days) for stalking, looks ask- 

 ance at the heavy retrieving pointer with the 

 docked tail, and absolutely explodes at the 

 idea of a dachshund as a sporting dog. 

 Dogmatism ! pure dogmatism on both sides ! 

 The German's kennel is exactly the thing 

 for the great majority of German shootings. 

 But his heavy pointer would soon collapse in 

 an August day on the heather ; and the 

 dachshund, though excellent to guide one to 



