THE GUN AT HOME AND ABROAD 
The result is seen in a strong family likeness, which shows itself not 
merely in colour, but in their manner of working — in which respect there 
is more uniformity than in any other breed of sporting dogs. No one 
who has seen Irish setters move in the field can ever again mistake one 
of these for a dog of any other breed. This point is easy to see when they 
come in contact with English setters, as at the field trials. The English 
setter has a quicker stroke, and carries itself differently. The Irish, even 
when equally fast, has a more stealthy, panther-like action, which it 
has no doubt learned in generations in the snipe bogs of its native country, 
where a rushing, dashing dog would be fatal to sport. Thus the Irish 
setter, while as a breed a very fast dog, possesses the instinct to moderate 
its pace when it comes on to ground requiring caution. The writer owns 
a bitch of that breed which, though extremely fast and lasting on open 
heather ground, will, when she approaches a piece of marshy ground 
likely for snipe, sit down on the edge of it until her master comes up, 
and then proceed to creep carefully through it like a serpent, knowing 
full well that any rushing or splashing in the water would drive every 
snipe to take wing. There seems to have been a very marked change 
in the temperament of the Irish setter within the last thirty or forty years. 
The old idea of an Irish setter used to be that of a dog of surpassing pace 
and indomitable endurance, but extremely headstrong, requiring much 
severity and hard work to keep him in order, and liable to fits of reckless 
insubordination, not over gifted with sensitive nose, but also no false 
pointer. This idea held good for a considerable time, and being so general 
was, no doubt, founded on fact. Right or wrong, the type has changed. 
Macdona’s Plunket, a famous field trial Irish setter, already mentioned, 
was by no means of the above type. A beautiful mover, fast as the wind 
and full of style, he yet was splendidly docile and amenable, and his 
training, which was perfect, never deserted him. No dog of any breed 
could have had better manners. Then came those of the late Rev. R. 
O’Callaghan, and of the late Mr Cooper, who had a strong, if not the 
strongest, kennel of red Irish setters in the kingdom. All of these dogs 
were vastly different from the old Irish setter. They were fast, but 
their nose and disposition had become sensitive, the nose in some of 
them too sensitive, so that false pointing was not uncommon, and with 
this the temper, instead of the bold rebellious devil-may-care Irish dis- 
position of old, was mild and tender hearted. 
The writer, having formed his own opinion, once asked Turner, the 
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