Sept. 5, 1908.] 
FOREST AND STREAM. 
375 
The Hunting Dog. 
I.— Physical Condition. 
The genesis of a fat dog—which oftentimes 
is equivalent to an unhealthy dog, or at least 
to the early stages of unhealthfulness—lies in 
the mistaken sympathy and kindness of the 
owner, or of the members of his household. 
There is a general absence of knowledge con¬ 
cerning the dog’s actual needs in respect to a 
food supply. Hence he is overfed. Many times 
more food than his actual needs are daily be¬ 
stowed on him. 
As a rule the dog constitutes himself an alert 
but humble hanger-on at all family meals, and 
he is reliably upon the spot between meals when 
there is a probability of food. His hungry glare 
of eye and beseeching manner at meal time win 
him many tidbits from the family during that 
time. In addition he, besides having three good 
meals a day, is the recipient of many palatable 
nutritious morsels between meals. 
Also the ladies, out of sympathy for the silent, 
interminable appeal for food, usually see that 
the dog has his portion of cake, pie, ice cream, 
sugar, candy, etc., all of which tickle his palate 
and shorten his life. The dog doesn’t know it. 
In passing, it may be remarked that no dog, 
however valued or valuable, should be tolerate:! 
in the dining room. He has many filthy habits, 
and, while he is a good friend of man, he is 
also an organism of many dangers. It may be 
noted also that if the dog is kept out of the 
dining room, or even out of the house, his 
friendship will remain quite unimpaired, for 
even at that, man is the best friend the dog ever 
had. 
While all dogs suffer many hardships from 
being over-fat, the working dogs—setters and 
pointers—are specially prone to afflictions. The 
over-fatness also impairs their value. 
By nature, the dog is a glutton. He will eat 
all he can hold, and if he observes another dog 
eating, he will oust the eating dog and then eat 
some more. His stomach, relative to his size, 
is capable of enormous distension, and there¬ 
fore has a corresponding food capacity. His 
powers of digestion are active and comprehen¬ 
sive. If by chance he should gorge too sumptu¬ 
ously, he simply vomits, straightens up, and is 
ready to eat again. 
In a wild state this unlimited capacity for 
gluttony served him a good purpose, inasmuch 
as he had an uncertain supply of food. It was 
then useful to lay in a full supply when oppor¬ 
tunity offered. 
Like his brother, the wolf, he lived often 
either in feast or famine, though the former 
might be a matter of minutes while the latter 
was a matter of days. He might be gorged to¬ 
day and lank and empty for several days there¬ 
after, yet in a wild state the dog is incom¬ 
parably more capable of prolonged effort in 
fighting his enemies, in pursuing his prey, or 
in fleeing from danger. 
This gluttony, so beneficial from the circum¬ 
stances of a wild state of life, when exercised 
in a state of domesticity, where the supply of 
food is regular and permanently assured, is un¬ 
necessary and out of place. 
Although carnivorous, the dog can eat and 
digest certain kinds of vegetable food ; less per¬ 
fectly, it is true, than he can digest meat, but 
still quite sufficiently digested to sustain life and 
effort. 
Thus in domesticity it is not good judgment 
to permit the domestic dog to indulge his wild 
gluttonous appetite. 
It is torture to a dog to see others eat if denied 
a portion or all for himself, therefore if for 
no other reason than for the dog’s own com¬ 
fort, he should be barred from the presence of 
the family at meal time, if sanitary reasons are 
then not considered of sufficient importance so 
to bar him. 
In field work it is a fair assumption that, for 
every mile walked by the shooter, the dog gal¬ 
lops ten or more Also, the going is rough. 
In a way the exertion in hunting is the coun¬ 
terpart of the dog’s life in nature; therefore 
there is a requirement for sufficient good food 
to supply his bodily needs. This violent, pro 
longed exertion prohibits the accumulation of 
fat. The dog becomes lean, lank, strong, alert, 
enduring, etc.; in short, much as he would be 
in a wild state, physically. 
Morally, the dog never becomes wholly domes¬ 
ticated. He reverts to a wild state quickly and 
wholly when the conditions favor it. When they 
only partly favor it, then he is as wild as oppor¬ 
tunity permits. The country dog roams over 
the farm, prowling along fences, walls, hedges, 
timber lands, etc., for such prey as he may safely 
kill. If he can join forces with some neighbor¬ 
ing cur or curs, the excursions are likely to in¬ 
clude a wide area and a longer time, perhaps 
days. They thus enjoy as much as possible all 
the delights of savagery. They return to their 
homes for rest as they would return to their 
lair in a wild state. On opportunity, they sneak 
away again and again to self hunt. 
In the city, the environment is not favorable 
for an indulgence of their prowling instinct, yet 
vagrant and prowling dogs are not uncommon. 
But, as to fatness. The wise shooter gives 
his dog one, and only one, good full meal per 
day; all the dog can eat. This is given in the 
evening after the day’s sport is over. The dog 
would eat another large meal for breakfast and 
yet another at midday if opportunity offered; 
but then he would be practically worthless as 
a seeker and finder of game—first because he 
could exert himself but moderately with a loaded 
stomach, and second, because if he could do 
so, the functional powers of his nose would be 
so impaired, sympathetically with a full stomach, 
that it would be of little use in distinguishing 
and following the scent. 
As one full meal is ample to sustain the dog 
in the best physical condition, the sentimental 
consideration concerning the dog’s state of 
hunger may be dismissed as negligible. He is 
always hungry, as becomes a true glutton. 
When in the best physical condition the dog 
is extremely gaunt, a matter of skin and bones. 
Apparently he is on the border of famishment. 
However, in this condition, the dog eats better, 
sleeps better, works better; in short, is better. 
After the shooting season is over the emaci¬ 
ated condition of the dog almost moves to tears 
the female members of the family. His raven¬ 
ous appetite is quite sufficient evidence then that 
he has been starved. 
When resting and well fed after a season of 
hard work the dog takes on fat at an astonish¬ 
ing rate. 
The need of a large quantity of food in idle 
days does not exist. However, the dog’s appe¬ 
tite, undiminished, is ready at all times for food 
offered. As a rule the owner’s protests against 
feeding avail naught. The over-feeding by sis¬ 
ters, cousins and aunts continues. In a few days 
the dog’s body is rounded out, much to the 
gratification of the female contingent. They 
note that he has passed the period of starvation. 
As the dog grows fat he grows more indolent, 
and, as he grows indolent, fat accumulates much 
more quickly. The generous feeding still con¬ 
tinues. In a fat state he usually then remains 
till the next shooting season returns. 
Once a dog becomes habitually indolent from 
fatness and the incidental overweight, it is ex¬ 
tremely difficult to bring him again into the 
proper physical condition for work. 
[to be continued.] 
