CHAPTER XI 



CHESAPEAKES AND WATER-SPANIELS 



Retrieving from water is in a bad way as part 

 of American sport. A glance at the benches of 

 any show tells how feeble is the interest. Unless 

 it is one of the stronger Eastern events, there are 

 no Chesapeake Bay dogs and a few ordinary speci- 

 mens of the Irish water-spaniel. 



When I asked one of the organizers of the old 

 Baltimore Chesapeake Bay Dog Club how he 

 explained the decay of that breed, he replied, 

 " There is no decay of dogs ; the decay is of 

 ducks." 



Western sportsmen have a different reason, 

 though the " decay of ducks " is also afflicting 

 their section. I asked the most persistent duck 

 shot among the club men of St. Louis why there 

 were not more dogs of the water sort. His answer 

 was : " Why should there be even so many ? It is 

 as easy to gather dead ducks as to pick up decoys, 

 and both can be done at the same time. We keep 

 three or four Irish water-spaniels and a few Chesa- 

 peake Bay dogs at the club-house, but they are 

 seldom used. Nobody cares to bother with them 



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