THE DOG 71 



tions on the sporting dog. Much good has been done 

 by these, but, alas! much evil. The sporting dog, how- 

 ever, has suffered less than most other breeds, and on 

 the whole, in the writer's opinion, distinct benefit has 

 accrued, except in the case of the spaniel breed. This 

 is due to the fact that these others have not been 

 tampered with to the same extent by " fanciers" as 

 the spaniel has, and the result is seen in the numerous 

 grotesque creatures which appear on the bench, and 

 with considerable difficulty are able to walk a few times 

 round the judge's ring. With these, however, the 

 gamekeeper has nothing to do. The breed is right 

 enough, but by selection a non-sporting class has pro- 

 duced an animal unfitted for work owing to their (the 

 exhibitors) want of knowledge and the apathy of the 

 class who do know. One must remember, however, 

 that those are selected specimens, and that it is possible 

 to find animals of the same breed which are quite fit 

 and able for field work. The majority of our judges 

 of sporting dogs are men who are good sportsmen, and 

 who judge the animals from a working point of view. 

 So also are the majority of the exhibitors of sporting 

 dogs. For this reason the type of our best animals 

 which win on the bench is an improvement on the dog 

 of thirty years ago, and there is undoubtedly greater 

 uniformity. We would advise, therefore, our reader 

 to attend these exhibitions, not to walk round when 

 the dogs are benched, but to make a point of being- 

 present at the judging, to plant himself stolidly down 



