278 CHALLENGE GLVEN TO LORD LOVAT 



their training was simply perfection. I remember on 

 one occasion his challenging the late Lord Lovat to 

 run any one of his, the latter's, dogs, which he might 

 select from his kennel of some thirty dogs, against one 

 of his own which he named. I persuaded Lord Lovat 

 to agree to run one, but somehow or other the match 

 never came off, discretion proving more advisable than 

 valour, I presume ; and it was just as well for Lord 

 Lovat that it did not, for I afterwards heard that no 

 better dog than the one named ever set a grouse. 



Now that birds have become so extraordinarily wild, 

 I think my silent system will be found invaluable. 

 The system of shouting ' To ho !' to a dog often 

 causes him to ' set ' when he really is in doubt, and so 

 he is very apt to become a false pointer through sheer 

 nervousness ; indeed, I have known dogs made so 

 nervous by being constantly shouted at and whistled 

 to, that they would ' set ' at anything, even a field- 

 mouse. 



Nervous dogs should have their fears overcome by 

 judicious handling, and an utter absence of whip, 

 whistle, or shouting ; and with such measures they will, 

 after a time, gain confidence, and work with satisfaction 

 to themselves and their owners. 



No class of dog is more sagacious than a pointer, 

 not even the Newfoundland, St. Bernard, or Scotch 

 collie breeds. The dog-trainer must ever bear in 

 mind that intelligence is more developed in some 

 breeds of dogs than in others, and this intelligence 

 may exhibit itself in different ways in individual dogs. 

 It is not always possible to control the keenness of 

 setters and pointers as readily as that of retrievers. 

 The instinct in one breed appears greater than in the 



