2S0 MANAGEMENT OF DOGS B Y KEEPERS 



and over-indulgence and over-severity. The latter is 

 worse than the former, for shyness or sulkiness will 

 be the result. Both are a curse to a dog-trainer. 

 When a dog is made the companion of his master 

 he very soon learns sense. It is not natural for 

 dogs to be either shy or sulky ; they are most anxious 

 to please their master. Kennel-dogs are often past 

 their prime before they evince any special sagacity or 

 make a name for themselves on the moor. 



There is doubtless a marked difference in the sagacity 

 exhibited by individual dogs; as I have before remarked, 

 I have known a terrier which belonged to a poacher 

 which used to ' set ' snipe in the most orthodox manner, 

 though I do not suppose his talents would have served 

 him equally well on a grouse moor. I have myself 

 also owned collies which were quite up to the average of 

 ordinary retrievers ; but though both terriers and collies 

 can be most useful for shooting purposes, it is not to be 

 expected that they are equal to those breeds whose 

 natural instincts are to ' set ' and retrieve, and they 

 would be infinitely of greater use in their natural voca- 

 tions. The hunting power of a collie is, of course, 

 very inferior to that of a pointer or setter. So, 

 although dogs may occasionally evince a talent for 

 a vocation which is not naturally theirs, they must be 

 far more valuable when used in that sphere which be- 

 longfs to them. 



As I have said, the sagacity shown by a dog very 

 much depends upon the treatment it receives, and 

 pointers and setters can be made just as sagacious 

 as a Newfoundland or an Irish water-spaniel, the 

 last-named being a marvel of intelligence, and a breed 

 which is, I grieve to say, daily becoming more scarce. 



