CHAPTER XIV. 



Retkieving. — Natural and force system ; dangers of the spike 

 collar ; a new method. 



THERE has been in years past some dis- 

 cussion as to the desirability of having a 

 setter or pointer trained to retrieve, and a 

 small body of breakers and sportsmen still exist 

 who contend that it is not a bird dog's work 

 and claim that it makes a dog unsteady and 

 affects the delicacy of his scent. 



These are largely old-fashioned, English 

 ideas. The greater body of sportsmen consider 

 retrieving not only a very pretty accomplish- 

 ment, but in some sections of the country a 

 necessity, and that it is an advantage every- 

 where will be difficult to deny. A well-broken 

 dog will retrieve a dead or wounded bird 

 promptly and tenderly, and can be kept just as 

 steady as- one which is incapable of doing so. 



There are two systems of teaching a dog to 

 retrieve, the force system and the natural sys- 

 tem. The latter consists in teaching a dog, 

 while in a spirit of playfulness, to fetch a ball 

 or any soft object that, is thrown for him. 

 Some dogs take to this very readily and make 



