14 
FOREST AND STREAM 
RODFIELD DAN, JR., -U R 
e Grouse Dor Champion of 1915, on Point During His Championship Rac 
the securing of an ideal grouse dog as, for 
instance, steadiness to shot and wing; and 
we have perhaps had too much emphasis 
placed on the searching instinct, as dem¬ 
onstrated in ability to find birds, with a con¬ 
sequent sacrifice of the standard of staunch¬ 
ness and training; and we have had, in an 
individual instance, undue emphasis placed 
on the class or natural style of a dog; but 
we have not had, so far as the writer is 
aware, and he has seen almost every dog 
run that has competed in these trials, any 
dogs come there that were not hunting for 
birds and that did not handle birds, fairly 
well, at least when they found them. 
I N considering the history of grouse dog 
trials and their probable effect on the 
future lines of breeding among setters 
and pointers, we have advanced sufficiently 
to analyze the progress that we have made 
in the four years of these trials, as evinced 
by the physical standards, natural searching 
qualities, the training and style of the dogs 
that were placed. In the first trial at Kil- 
larney Park, which was judged by Mr. John 
Beggs, of Pittsburgh, with the writer acting 
as assistant in observing one of the dogs 
when they became separated, the cham¬ 
pionship was awarded to the dog, Fanny 
Russell, then four years old. 
Fanny was a dog of very considerable 
natural style, both on point and in her way 
of working. She was also an extremely 
intelligent searcher, and moreover, one of 
those dogs that seemed to have an uncanny 
ability to find birds. In her handling of 
birds at that time she was not perfect and 
her fault lay largely in the manner in_which 
she approached birds, as she had at times a 
tendency to crowd, and the ruffed grouse 
will stand no crowding. She was staunch 
and stylish on point and fairly steady to 
shot and wing. In physique, she was a 
fair-sized, close-coupled dog, black and 
white in color, with only a fair head but 
very sturdy in body, and very evidently 
a dog which could keep going at her hunt¬ 
ing gait all day long. Several of the dogs 
that were placed behind her excelled her 
in the handling of birds when found, sev¬ 
eral others Were possessed of even more 
style, and one or two were notably of bet¬ 
ter class in running and range. The qual¬ 
ities that won the championship for her 
were intelligence in searching and high de¬ 
velopment of the hunting instinct, with a 
consequent finding of more birds than any 
other dog, and a satisfactory amount of 
proper training, and style. 
The second Grouse Dog Championship 
was run at Penfield in Clearfield County 
and had 24 starters, just double the num¬ 
ber of the first. It was won by Boyd’s 
King, a big, sturdy, black and white son of 
Don Kaul out of Fanny Danstone. King 
was bred from a line of grouse dogs, as 
also was Fanny Russell, but he had far 
more class in running than Fanny, was a 
wider-ranging dog, and a more merry 
worker. He was also a more careful dog 
on approach and was under better control. 
To those of us who saw both dogs run, he 
did not seem to have quite the intelligence 
in searching that the previous champion 
had displayed, nor was he so stylish on 
point nor so positive in his location when 
he had found birds. 
Of the dogs that competed with him at 
Penfield, there were some who deserved 
special mention because exemplifying cer¬ 
tain traits that are either desirable or un¬ 
desirable in a grouse dog. Undoubtedly the 
best bird-handler at that trial was the bitch, 
Fieldy May Fly, who had to be withdrawn 
after her third series because of illness. 
She had not King’s merry way of hunting 
nor was she so classy a runner and per¬ 
haps she lacked championship caliber in 
these important essentials. It is notable 
that in this trial King went up against the 
dog that was later to take the championship 
crown from him, in Rodfield Dan, Jr., son 
of Rodfield Dan out of Furness Gladstone, 
which was placed third. At that time, 
Rodfield Dan seemingly lacked experience 
on birds and was defective to a marked ex¬ 
tent in his method of approach, although 
a dog of very evident quality and natural 
ability. 
The second place at Penfield went to 
perhaps the most consistently performing 
dog at the trials, Kirk’s Billy, by Sirdar 
Antonio-Springfield Bess. Billy was a big 
copper belton, and owed his lower rating to 
a lack of style both in hunting and bird¬ 
handling. In the judgment of many at that 
trial, the judges, by placing too great an 
emphasis on steadiness to shot and wing, 
eliminated one naturally great dog and the 
one which perhaps handled his birds on 
point more brilliantly than did any of the 
competitors excepting Fieldy May Fly, and 
that was the dog, Doctor D., by Pompey- 
Meadow View Lady Bess. Doctor D. was 
by all odds the most industrious worker, 
the most merry runner and persistent 
searcher in the race, handling his birds 
beautifully on point, and made his fatal 
error in chasing a crippled bird. After 
penalizing him severely for his unsteadiness 
to wing and shot, the judges, in the third 
series of the race, found so many other 
dogs lacking in this same quality that they 
were compelled to go back and take up dogs 
that had been discarded after their first 
series and put them in a fourth series. 
Champion King was a contender from the 
first and after Doctor D.’s error in the 
second series was conceded the champion¬ 
ship, and the third and fourth series were 
run solely for the purpose of determining 
the second, third and fourth places. 
S O great had the interest in these trials 
become and so large was the number 
of probable entries for the third grouse 
trial championship which was run last year 
on the same ground as this year’s champion¬ 
ship, that the club, after careful consider¬ 
ation, added two stakes to its program 
one a Derby and the other an All-Age 
stake, which was supposedly to be judged 
on shooting dog standards, eliminating 
many of the factors of natural class and 
style which were considered in the making 
of a champion. It was the presumption 
that this stake would be judged largely on 
bird work. In many respects the grounds 
at Kane proved to be the best yet found, 
the country was more birdy, the cover was 
more open so that the runnings could be 
seen, and the courses were more equal in 
birds. The championship was won by Rod- 
field Dan, Jr., whose breeding has been 
previously described. Dan proved to be a 
much better dog in 1915 than he was in 
1914. He is essentially a bird-finder, work¬ 
ing his course with extreme intelligence and 
a very fair amount of range. In his actual 
work on birds after they were found, he, 
