CHAPTER XVI 



MY DOGS AND OTHERS 



A good dog A wild dog Dog-dealing A London auction Two 

 little terriers Perfect obedience Two tragedies A beautiful 

 Clumber Distemper Natural accomplishments of dogs 

 Friendships among dogs And with a goose A mad dog Dog- 

 shooting Trespassing dogs. 



OPINIONS differ as to what is a good dog. A very 

 learned Oxford classic was standing by me while 

 I was ferreting and shooting rabbits in a dell ; and 

 so was a wavy-coated retriever bitch that I had 

 picked up in a neighbouring town for a sovereign 

 when I was hard-up for money and a dog. A 

 rabbit bolted, and tore round the side of the dell. 

 I scarcely had time to fire before the bitch was off 

 and back with the rabbit. So impressed was my 

 companion with the performance of the dog that 

 I am certain he would have given me a big price 

 for her had he been in need of a retriever. I got 

 a litter of puppies from her, one of which I sold 

 at eighteen months old for twelve pounds to the 

 son-in-law of a rich brewer, and then sold her 

 back to her former owner for the same price as 

 I gave for her. 



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