162 
June 12 
BE.\CH SHOWS A\D FIELD TRIALS. 
BY ARNOLD BURGES. 
So long as the ownership of finely-bred and superior 
field dogs is not made a matter of honorable competi- 
tion, and positive credit to our sportsmen, just so long 
the strongest incentive to the Improvement of the race 
•will be ■wanting; for even if the practical advantages of 
superior animals are recognized, there is still a feeling 
that these will not be known beyond their owners’ ken- 
nels, and the trouble and cost, as they are considered, 
of obtaining and keeping up pure blood, outweighs 
the gain toe frequently in the eyes of our sportsmen. 
It needs the spur of sharp rivalry to rouse these to an 
appreciation of the necessity for a radical change in the 
past and present systems of breeding. The setting up 
of a standard that can be approached only by dogs in 
whose veins fiows the blue blood of a long line of illus- 
trious ancestors, and whose form and action, instincts 
and intelligence are worthy of their descent. 
The desire to outdo each other has been the motive 
power, the regnant’principle which has prompted men 
of all classes and lands to every improvement whether 
little or great, and nothing has so conduced to this feel- 
ing as public shows and trials, where the results of in- 
di'vidual effort and enterprise have been brought to- 
gether andcompared, the best approved and the inferior 
rejected. To this ambition, and its offspring, turf asso- 
ciations, the world owes the wonderful development of 
the thoroughbred horse, and the trotter; both practic- 
ally beneficial to mankind by giving it animals able to 
perform their appointed duties with a speed and endur- 
ance infinitely superior to their progenitors. The same 
can be done for our dogs. It would be paradoxical to 
say that anything can be depreciated by improvement, 
and consequently whatever value may be attached to 
any animal, it must be increased as the animal pro- 
gresses towards perfection. 
It may be said that dogs are the servants of mere 
pleasure, yet this does not detract in the least from the 
force of the argument, because there is no reason why 
we should not refine our pleasures as well as our gen- 
eral actions, and consistency with the principles of a 
sensible life demands that we do'so. 
It is but a few years since English sportsmen appreci- 
ated this self-evident truth, and as the shortest road to 
the accomplishment of the desired object, instituted the 
first bench shows. In these, of necessity, the only 
points for judgment were pedigree, form, color and 
looks, a beauty show, in fact, where the handsomest 
won the prize, provided the all essential sign manual of 
royal lineage was alsp impressed upon him. These 
shows proved good so far as they went, but as thej" 
could not of necessity afford any opportunity for judg- 
ing the dog’s field performances, and it was evident 
that a dog inferior in looks might be superior for 
work, it became necessary to provide some test by 
which these qualities might be determined; this 
test was found in field trials where actual work 
on game was shown. These brought out promi- 
nently many dogs which would have been passed over 
on the show bench, their light being put out by more 
striking looking comrades. This was especially con- 
spicuous in the case of dogs where color was an essen- 
tial for a show winner, and breeders accordingly bred 
for this, thereby, as it became e-vident, sacrificing field 
qualities to a matter of mere taste; for no soonor did the 
crack colors meet the out colors on game, than the lat- 
ter beat them to a standstill. In no one case has this 
been more strongly shown than in the Gordons, where 
the rigid rule of black and tan has been enforced to the 
exclusion of all other colors, even though well proved 
to belong to that blood, in consequence of which there 
has not been a single prominent black and tan field trial 
winner for years, while the breed obtained by crossing 
Gordons and Laveracks, and showing all colors, has so 
far surpassed the liver colored dogs that it has landed all 
the prizes, and has attained to the distinction of being 
named the “ Field Trial Breed,” truly the chan^)ion of 
the sporting field. 
It must not, however, be understood that when I 
speak of inferior looking dogs I mean ill made or badly 
proportioned ones . A dog may be ill-looking in the 
eyes of a judge if he varies from the color, or peculiar 
and individual form of a particular breed, yet to •v%-in at 
a field trial he must be a handsome dog — that is, he 
must have a good form, and be well put together; for 
the simple reason that without these he cannot stay the 
pace necessary to carry him to the front, and keep him 
there long enough to show his superiority over his com- 
petitors. So thoroughly is this superiority of form 
and action over color recognized, and so fully has the 
new breed sustained itself, that it has, in a great 
measure, revolutionized public opinion, and made color 
of far less account; pro-vided always, and justly, that 
this does not indicate other breeding than that pro- 
fessed. This disability removed, dogs of varying and 
irregular colors are admitted to the show bench upon 
an equal footing with others, and judged upon the 
merits of their forms alone; they win or lose without 
prejudice. Thus it often happens that the noted win- 
ner in field trials becomes equally distinguished as a 
winner at shows, and thus gives double proof of his 
adaptability for stud purposes. 
Both shows and field trials have their peculiar mis- 
sion, and neither can be dispensed with. Their ver- 
dicts must be especially regarded by the breeder, as the 
one assures him of the most correct form and the other 
of the highest qualities; while if he can get a double 
winner, he need have no further care than to find a 
suitable mate. 
Since the introduction of these competitions, the im- 
provement in English dogs has been strikingly apparent. 
These are beyond all question now far superior to the 
dogs of thirty years since, whatever they may be when 
compared with animals of a prior date. The opportunity 
of winning honor through their kennels has also roused 
the English sportsmen to a pitch where ’nothing but 
the best will satisfy them, and has prompted the most 
searching and careful experiments, to discover which 
strains of blood nick with each other, and which are 
the best when kept separate and uncrossed. It may be 
reasonably supposed, therefore, that the present stand- 
ard will be sustained and no depreciation allowed, while 
further improvements, if possible, will be made, and 
the dog so bred that to rare beauty of form, endowed 
with lasting powers and great speed, will be joined the 
highest order of intellectual attainment and the most 
delicate olfactories, making in the aggregate the most 
perfect dog ever known. 
There is one point in which the present field trials are 
wanting and that is severity of test by a long continued 
match. There are doubtless many dogs among those 
who have borne away the honors, who owe their success 
to their great speed and apparent endurance, when if 
the matches had been extended over a day, instead of a 
few moments, these gallant gentlemen would have had 
to lower their flags to some of those whom their slash- 
ing gallop cut down in the brief trial. There is many a 
dog that starts comparatively slow, yet can maintain 
the same space for hours long after the hearts of his 
lighter heeled companions have failed them, and their 
muscles broken down under the strain. These are the 
very dogs that sportsmen want; animals that can hunt 
for an hour, possibly for a day, may do well enough for 
men whose means and facilities will allow them to keep 
up a large kennel, but they will not do for those whose 
one dog must do their entire work, and who conse- 
quently require genuine endurance and staying powers. 
It is urged as a reason for the brevity of these contests, 
that to give all a thorough trial would require a longer 
time than can be devoted to them, especially in cases 
where there are a large number of entries. This objec- 
tion can be met either by limiting the entries, and giving 
more frequent trials at such intervals of time as will 
accommodate both exhibitors and judges, or by running 
more than one brace at a time, and increasing the num- 
ber of judges proportionally, so that a careful scrutiny' 
of the performances of each animal can be maintained. 
Length of time is the only improvement necessary 
upon the present form of field trials, and when either 
this or some other method by which a more thorough 
test can be applied is adopted, these will then be all that 
can be desired. 
With such results before our eyes, and the experience 
of our trans-Atlantic cousins to guide us, there can be 
no question of the benefit which the institution of 
shows and trials will be to us, nor can there be any 
doubt of their success. This fact has been brought 
to the notice of many of our most influential sportsmen 
and to them we owe the efforts which have already been 
made to establish shows and trials in connection with 
the annual conventions of the State Associations. Of 
course the first attempts must of necessity be crude, 
and perhaps unsatisfactory in their results, but the idea 
when once accepted, will be endowed with an increas- 
ing interest which will prompt improvements till a per- 
fect system is organized. 
Within the last few years a great change has been 
effected in popular feeling as regards field sports, and of 
necessity sporting dogs. It is not very long ago, that 
the first were generally condemned, and with those who 
had more liberality than this, any kind of a dog would 
do, provided he would find and point game. Blood and 
breeding were mere expressions that scarcely seemed 
connected with dogs, and what are now common prices 
for good animals, would then have subjected a buyer te 
serious charges of insanity'. Fortunately, however, the 
reign of curs is over, and though their name is still 
legion, who consider that a good dog should be bought 
for a price, which would not pay for tanning his hide, 
there is also a class of more liberal sportsmen who 
know that a good thing cannot be got for a song, and 
who' set the example of encouragement to breeders by 
paying fair prices for pure blood. This class is also 
fast increasing, and consequently there is no danger of 
a relapse into the blindness of the past. Some of the 
choicest blood of the best English kennels has been 
imported into this country, and already we have dogs 
which approximate very closely to those of the crack 
strains abroad. We want now shows and trials to rouse 
a people and necessary interest in the matter of breed- 
ing; contests where winning a prize shall be deemed an 
honor, to induce men who are keen lovers of sport, to 
take time from the labors and cares of their business, 
and devote it to improving the blood and quality of their 
setters and pointers. 
There is no country in the world which affords 
greater facilities for thorough trials than our own. Our 
various kinds of game, and different styles of country, 
from the broad prairies of the west, to the close covers 
of Xew England, give an opportunity for testing dogs 
to the utmost, and with us, trials in all these will be 
essential, since unlike the English, we work our dogs in 
the woodland as well as the open. There is scarcely a 
season of the year in which a trial upon some kind of 
game cannot be had, and I am satisfied that when once 
introduced, these will become very popular and call out 
large entries. 
One result of the interest in pure blooded stock, fos- 
tered and strengthened by shows and trials, will be to 
take the breeding of sporting dogs out of the hands of 
the men who have hitherto controlled it, and give it to 
an entirely different class. Up to this time dog breed- 
ing has been regarded as a low business, and the men 
who engaged in it have borne an unenviable reputation. 
Sportsmen have been content to buy their dogs not 
breed them, and as a natural consequence they have 
been completely at the mercy of professional breeders, 
who have furnished them with anything they could 
most conveniently pick up. Bad as this has been in the 
past, when there was no special demand for fine animals 
it will be utterly destructive to any attempt to breed 
prize winners, and so the old breeders must go the wall 
and better men take their places. 
In England where the lines of class distinction are 
drawn much more sharply than with us, breeding of 
dogs has been considered no more undignified or derog- 
atory than the breeding of blood horses; and we find 
some of the most noted kennels bearing the names of 
the men whose rank and titles approach very near to 
royalty. The best dogs of the present time are owned 
bj' the representatives of Church and State, and in a 
great majority of cases have been bred as well as shown 
by their present owners. This is an example we will 
do well to follow, and as our shows prove to us the 
superiority of dogs bred by men fully the equals of our 
best in social position, the fact will force itself home 
upon us that if we desire to perpetuate such animals, 
breeding must be taken up by gentlemen of means and 
iudgment, who will consider it a matter of honor to 
show dogs equal to any in the world. The time has 
come when ignorant and irresponsible breeders must 
give way to men of position and intelligence, who will 
regard this matter in its true light, and give to it their 
best energies, staking their reputation as sportsmen 
upon the result. 
It is an attribute of our people that we count the cost 
of everything, and consider returns before we make in- 
vestments. This caution may induce some, to hold 
back, from a feeling that even if it is not derogatory for 
sportsmen to breed their own dogs, it becomes so if they 
breed for profit, without which they have no means of 
recovering their expenses; a matter necessarily of 
moment to many, as all are not rich enough to lay out 
hundreds each year for mere pleasure. This is a most 
mistaken idea, and we have only to turn again to our 
English friends to see that there is scarcely a kennel in 
the United Kingdom from which drafts are not con- 
