CH. xvii. ] HARMONY BETWEEN DOG AND MASTER. 301 



harmony in the mutual confidence of your, at all times, 

 thoroughly understanding each other and you should 

 carefully avoid the possibility of ever perplexing him by 

 giving him any order it is out of his power to obey, 

 however much he may exert himself. Moreover, if you 

 teach your retrieving setter to " point dead," you at once 

 relinquish surely unnecessarily ? all hope of ever wit- 

 nessing such a fine display of sagacity and steadiness as 

 has just been related in the first part of 546. 



549. If you object to a setter's being taught to lift on 

 the ground, that it will make the other dogs jealous, 

 pray remember that the argument has equal force against 

 the employment of a regular retriever in their presence. 



REGULAR RETRIEVER TO BEAT. 



550. We all have our prejudices, every Englishman 

 has a right to many. One of mine is to think a regular 

 retriever positively not worth his keep to you for general 

 shooting if one of your setting dogs will retrieve well but 

 what an all-important " if" is this ! However, if you shoot 

 much in cover, I admit that a regular retriever which can 

 be worked in perfect silence, never refusing to come in 

 when he is merely signalled to, or, if out of sight, softly 

 whistled to, is better* (particularly when you employ 

 beaters), but even then he need not be the idler that 

 one generally sees, he might be broken in to hunt 

 close to you, and give you the same service as a mute 

 spaniel. I grant this is somewhat difficult to accomplish, 

 for it much tends to unsteady him, but it can be effected, 

 I have seen it, and being practicable, it is at least 

 worth trying ; for if you succeed, you, as before (536), 

 make one dog perform the work of two ; and, besides its 



* Of course, a regular retriever of which are accustomed to re- 

 is absolutely necessary when a trieve (78). 

 team of spaniels is hunted, none 



