Choosing a Shooting Dog 183 



delightful realizations of class. But three out of 

 five are likely to be insignificant, frivolous, and 

 useless to any good sportsman. Why this is a 

 fact is a story of some tedium and need not be 

 told ; nor has it anything to do with straight 

 breeding or inbreeding. It is enough to warn 

 readers who are not acquainted with the secrets 

 of field trial kennels that it is a fact, and that they 

 would better not order from a distance young 

 dogs of this fashionable blood without a guaran- 

 tee of individual worth. 



In the pointer pedigree, fashion requires Rip 

 Rap and Jingo blood. Perhaps extreme fashion 

 would be something like this : by King Cyrano, 

 Lad of Jingo or Jingo's Light, out of a dam by 

 Young Rip Rap, Ripstone, or Plain Sam. For a 

 comfortable and reliable shooting dog, I should 

 look for the Jingo blood crossed on the best of 

 the Croxteths, say the descendants of Trinket's 

 Bang or Ossian. 



It may be useful for an amateur to know that 

 there are differences in temper, among not only 

 individuals, but breeds. Irish and Gordon frailty 

 in preserving their good humor may partly ac- 

 count for their lower degree of popularity. Gor- 

 dons are the most uncertain of temper, Irish next, 

 then pointers; and English setters are the most 

 cheerful with friend or foe. A Gordon is likely 

 to be morose and sulky under correction, often 



