138 INSTINCT OF DOGS. 



for his own work : his thick rough coat protects him from 

 the severity of the weather, to which he is constantly 

 exposed, and his less ardent temper prompts him to look 

 for guidance from his master in all his movements. Both 

 sheep-dogs and terriers may be taught to point, but they 

 are always deficient in hunt, and their olfactory powers are 

 never so acute as in those dogs which nature seems to have 

 formed for the purpose. We thus see that dogs are trained 

 to different employments, for many qualifications apart 

 from their instinctive powers, though these may be 

 materially increased or retarded by the nature of their 

 occupations. 



The Newfoundland and water-dog are generally reckoned 

 paragons of sagacity ; but has their treatment nothing to 

 do with this? From their earliest days taught to fetch 

 and carry, and never leaving their master's side, they 

 learn to understand his least signal, and, from constant 

 practice, sometimes even anticipate his will. This is also 

 precisely the case with the colley: as soon as it is able, 

 made to follow the shepherd to the hill, and from every- 

 day habit always on the alert to please him, it daily 

 acquires greater dexterity both in comprehending and 

 obeying, till at last it can perform feats that perfectly 

 astonish those who have not seen the gradual process. 

 My retriever, to be spoken of anon, has given many 

 proofs of sagacity which have excited the admiration of 

 those present 5 and yet I don't consider him at all more 

 knowing than the old pointer, whose cut I have already 

 given. A superficial observer would wonder at the com- 



