BREAKING TO RETRIEVE. 339 



once go up to the place where they saw their game drop, and, 

 taking up the scent, foot it till they find it. Some breeds have 

 no nose for a foot-scent, and, if ordered to " Seek dead," will beat 

 for the body-scent as they would for a single bird ; and, when 

 they come upon the lost bird, they " peg " it with a steady point 

 in the same way. This does not injure the dog nearly so much 

 as the working out a runner by the foot-scent ; but a retrieving 

 pointer of tins kind is of little use for any but a badly-wounded 

 bird which has not run far. Few pointers and setters will carry 

 game far, nor indeed is it worth while to spend much time 

 in teaching them to do so ; and when they are set to retrieve 

 it is better to follow them, and help them in their search, so as 

 to avoid all necessity for developing the " fetch and carry " quality 

 which in the genuine retriever is so valuable. But it is chiefly 

 for wounded hares or running pheasants that such a retriever 

 is required ; and as the former spoil a pointer or setter, and 

 are sure to make him unsteady if lie is allowed to hunt them, 

 it is desirable to keep clear of the position altogether, while 

 pheasants are so rarely killed to these dogs that their retrieval 

 by them need not be considered. 



The regular land retriever requires a much more careful 

 education, inasmuch as he is wanted to abstain from hunting, 

 and from his own especial duties, excepting when ordered to 

 commence. The breed generally used is the cross of the New- 

 foundland with the setter or water-spaniel, but, as I have described 

 at page 234, other breeds are equally useful. In educating these 

 dogs they should be undertaken at a very early age, as it is 

 almost impossible to ensure perfect obedience at a later period. 

 The disposition to "fetch and carry," which is the essence of 

 retrieving, is very early developed in these dogs, and without it 

 there is little chance of making a puppy perfect in his vocation. 



