THE DOG 69 



interest in this subject, and it has become so common 

 for tenants to depend on getting their dogs from dealers 

 at the beginning of each season, regardless alike of their 

 appearance or their qualifications in fact, they prob- 

 ably never set eyes on the animals till they, the sports- 

 men, arrived at their shooting quarters. Still, apart 

 from your peripatetic sportsman, we have a large class 

 who are more interested in their dogs, and who wish to 

 see them not only better looked after, but better trained, 

 who do not wish to have their sensitive feelings dis- 

 turbed and their sport marred either by the unnecessary 

 loss of wounded birds, or their minds haunted by the 

 frantic yells of " Carlo" under the lash, even though 

 the flagellation was well merited. 



Even from a commercial point of view, it is im- 

 portant to consider this question, because the value of 

 game, unnecessarily lost, at the end of the season may 

 represent a total which would have been many times 

 the value or keep of a good dog. 



It is part of a good keeper's duties to be able to 

 train a dog both for the moor and the covert, just as 

 well as he can rear pheasants or trap vermin ; and yet 

 how many do we find thoroughly proficient in these 

 latter who have the most elementary ideas on the sub- 

 ject of the former ? By contrast, and not by any means 

 by way of disparagement, we would point out another 

 class, who, with no better material to work upon, if so 

 good, get on the whole better results. We refer to 

 shepherds and their collies. We hear of the sagacity 



