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With Rod and Gun in New England 



CHAPTER XXIX. 



POPULAR BREEDS OF DOGS. 



OT every person is a dog fancier, but almost every- 

 one has a fancy for some especial breed; the 

 stately mastiff, the great Dane, the terrier, setter, 

 pointer or spaniel each has its admirers, to whom 

 the other varieties, as a rule, offer less attractions. 

 While dogs, as a class, have certain attributes in 

 common, such as fidelity and affection for their 

 masters, they have in the different breeds as a 

 result of persistent education, cultivation and 

 breeding, fixed peculiarities of character and habit which render each vari- 

 ety valuable for the special purposes for which it is desired. 



The sportsman in going forth in quest of partridges and woodcock 

 has as his companion his high-bred setter or pointer ; the fox-hound or bull- 

 dog would be of no value to him ; and the farmer, to guard his flocks of 

 sheep, employs the intelligent collie rather than the destructive hound. 



Each breed, therefore, has its particular characteristics and is valuable 

 each in a certain sphere and for a special purpose. 



Of the modern breeds of dogs the setters are among the most highly 

 improved types ; their intelligence is such that they are capable of receiv- 

 ing an education and training that can be excelled by few other varieties, 

 and they have been bred so long and carefully that their characteristics 

 have become permanently fixed. 



There are now three breeds of setters — the English, Scottish or 

 Gordon, and the Irish — and they are all so popular that it would be diffi- 

 cult to state which has the most admirers. The English setter is one of 

 the oldest of breeds, mention of it having been made as far back as the 

 close of the 17th century. It, undoubtedly, originated as a cross between 

 the pointer and spaniel, and has retained many of the peculiarities of both. 

 The modern high-bred English setter is a beautiful animal, one of the 

 most handsomely formed and most graceful of dogs. 



Its coat is fine and silky, and its predominating color is pure white, 

 which is broken more or less with spots and patches, of orange, lemon or 



