THE HUNTING DOG 
Fairbanks, taking twelve and a-half days on the 
trail. The next stage was to Fort Gibbon, 230 
miles. After a brief halt they went on to 
Nulato, 225 miles, and then found they could 
not get out over that trail, so returned to Fair- 
banks, making 500 miles useless travel, and 
then hit the Valdez trail. In eleven and a-half 
days’ actual traveling the outfit reached Valdez, 
just in time to catch a steamer that was sailing 
for Juneau. The Valdez trail was in very bad 
condition, which made the journey by that the 
more wonderful. 
From Juneau Higgins took ship to Skagway, 
boarded the train for White Horse and then 
struck the trail again for home. In six days he 
covered the long run between White Horse and 
Dawson. At Circle City one of the dogs played 
out and two were bought to replace it. With 
this exception the seven dogs that started re- 
turned safe and sound to their starting point, 
after a midwinter journey of 2,500 miles. The 
best day’s run was seventy-two miles and the 
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181 
worst ten miles. Higgins has the reputation 
of being kind to his dogs—feeding them well, 
but always keeping them in hard condition. 
Now, the dog that is to be used steadily for 
sport during the shooting season should be 
treated pretty much as Higgins treats his team. 
Lots of good, solid food and, above all, suffi- 
cient preparatory exercise, will make any dog 
able to hunt day after day for several days at a 
stretch. One often hears that such a dog is 
“only good occasionally,” and that it cannot 
keep the field for more than half a day, but it is 
more probable that its master does not under- 
stand the art of keeping it in hard condition. 
It is, however, true that many of the most 
fashionable strains of to-day are so inbred.as to 
have lost much of the stamina for which their 
ancestors were noted. For an _ all-around, 
everyday dog it is important to choose one that 
is strong enough to bear hard work and thrive 
on it. 
There is quite a strong leaning toward a 
SOME THRIFTY LOOKING COLLIES 
Owned by A. D. Burhans, Lincoln, Neb. 
