114 
FOREST AND STREAM 
March, 1920 
THE BUYING AND SELLING OF DOGS 
HOW TO REMEDY THE DISSATISFACTION WHICH USUALLY RESULTS BECAUSE 
OF THE SLIP-SHOD METHODS OBSERVED IN THE KENNEL MART TODAY 
J OHN SMITH and Bill Brown both 
wanted to buy a dog. Smith wanted 
just a dog — an Airedale, Boston 
Terrier or Chow. Something just to 
add to the trimmings of his car, to sit 
on the front seat, look wise and per- 
chance guard the gasoline can in his ga- 
rage. His car was his pride, cost a lot 
of money; the upkeep was heavy, and 
any old dog wouldn’t do; it just must 
be some dog to go with that car, and 
Smith had the money with which to buy. 
After a family conference the breed was 
decided upon, and then the various ad- 
vertising mediums were gone over care- 
fully and a shopping tour began, with a 
hired expert in attendance, that no mis- 
take might be made in the purchase. 
After a matter of some weeks’ traveling, 
a bill of expense and much reading up 
on the subject of dogs in general and 
type in particular, Smith lands a beau- 
tiful specimen on the front seat as tour- 
ing companion, pays a good round sum 
of money, and is envied of his motor- 
ing and social companions. Now, mind 
you, all Smith bought was a dog — a 
corking good one it is true, but one that 
if he consumed sufficient suitable food, 
wore a blue ribbon or two, kept free of 
disease, posed, and at times showed some 
such ray of intelligence as giving one 
paw after another in handshake, filled 
the bill for Smith exactly. This dog 
was kept to a ripe old age, and went 
down in family history as the greatest 
dog of all time. 
N OW Bill Brown was a sportsman. 
He owned a dozen fine guns, and, 
although a very busy man, the 
stubble fields of the quail country, the 
woodcock cover, and the chestnut covered 
hills of the ruffed grouse, knew him in- 
timately for more or less of the open 
season. 
Brown wanted a dog — the season was 
fast approaching; in fact, his plans 
were already made for opening day; he 
must get busy or he would be without 
a suitable companion, one that would, 
as he well knew, either make or mar his 
vacation. 
Brown was to open the season up in 
one of the New England states — ruffed 
grouse, woodcock and an occasional 
quail. 
He was a good shot, knew how to hunt, 
and used a foreign made-to-order gun 
By EDWARD RUSSELL WILBUR 
Success 
that made a thousand dollar bill look 
like a broken clay pigeon. 
He was a man who had the money to 
spend, and was ready to spend it on 
board, guide hire, expensive footwear 
and clothing, but was always looking for 
a cheap dog. Time was growing short; 
Brown was busy; something must be 
done, so again we find the advertising 
columns hastily gone over, and Brown 
fastens on an ad reading something like 
this : 
“Grab-Bag Kennels — Pluck ’em, Ok- 
lahoma. Rare type of Pointer fob sale — 
young, fast, wide and handsome; staunch 
as a rock; steady wing and shot. Re- 
trieve from land or water — Hunted 
North, South, East and West on all 
game birds. Full Pedigree — Quick sale, 
$35. A dog the like of which you will 
only own once in a lifetime — Better 
wire.” 
Smith wired; had the dog shipped up 
in the hills; met him on his arrival; paid 
a small fortune in express charges; 
yanked “Ponto” out of the crate and 
started for the nearest cover. 
After three days afield, during which 
the performance screened Ponto as a 
chicken killer; wide and fast enough for 
a rabbit hound; absolutely ignorant of 
his mission on earth; a retriever of man- 
gled remains; old enongh to have hunted 
every corner of the earth ; in short, 
worthless to Brown in every particular, 
Brown chained him up in the cowshed, 
borrowed the Farmer’s beagle hound 
and went rabbit hunting. Then followed 
a series of more or less blasphemous 
letters, ending in Brown shooting the dog 
because the kennels were too far away 
to prosecute and the amount too small 
to fuss about. 
Now why is it that sportsmen will and 
do patronize kennels that advertise dogs 
such as Brown bought, and, that know- 
ingly swindle and get away with it? 
It would seem to us that the demand 
for these bargain counter, thoroughly 
broken dogs, would cease, and that after 
a suitable number of sportsmen had 
been cheated, these kennels would auto- 
matically be obliged to suspend opera- 
tions. 
Smith wanted just a dog; yet he 
.spends his time and carefully selects, by 
personal inspection, the dog he is look- 
ing for. 
Brown, who wants a thoroughly 
trained animal, one that must perform 
according to the wants of his master, 
buys at long range, without inspection, 
at a price at which any sane man would 
know was impossible to produce the fin- 
ished dog, and in a locality where a brush 
dog, for use on grouse and woodcock, 
would be as liable to be found as an 
alligator on the shores of Hudson Bay. 
OREST AND STREAM believes that 
there is a right and wrong way to 
purchase a hunting dog. We know 
that there are kennels and individuals 
selling dogs that have no consciences, 
and should be excluded from the columns 
of every sporting magazine, yet there 
are many reliable dealers who produce 
and sell many good dogs every year, who 
are imposed upon by the buyer. The 
question of shipping dogs on trial, de- 
positing money in a third parties’ hands, 
all have their good and bad points. We 
have seen the trial privilege abused, 
and we know reliable kennels and dog 
men who will not ship on trial or refund 
money after a stated period. Their side 
of the story being that the privilege has 
been abused by men who used the dogs 
during their short and only outings, re- 
turning them as unsatisfactory at the 
end of their vacations. 
There is a long story to be told on this 
