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MY advice on the subject of dogs must begin with the
caution, never to lay too much stress on their general appearance. For my
own part, I must confess that I am not very partial to the exceedingly
fine-coated, silken-eared, tobacco-pipe-tailed canine aristocracy; for, even
if their noses and style of hunting be good, they are invariably much
affected by cold and wet weather, and can seldom undergo the fatigue
requisite for the moors.
The most necessary
qualifications of a dog are travel, lastiness, and nose. The two first are
easily ascertained; but the other may not be found out for some time. I have
seen dogs shot over for a season without committing many mistakes, and on
that account thought excellent by their masters : their steadiness of course
has been shown, but they have given no proof of first-rate nose. Even a good
judge may be unable to form an accurate estimate of a dog's olfactory powers
until he has for several days hunted him against another of acknowledged
superiority. The difference may then be shown, not by the former putting up
game, but by the latter getting more
points. Should there be no tip-top dog at hand to compete with, the only
other criterion, though not at all an infallible one, is the manner of
finding game. The sportsman must watch most narrowly the moment when the dog
first winds: if he throws up his head, and moves boldly and confidently
forward, before settling on his point, it is a very good sign ; if, on the
contrary, he keeps pottering
about, trying first one side, then another, with his nose sometimes close
upon the ground, even though at last he comes to a handsome point, I should
think it most probable that he is a badly-bred, inferior animal.
Of all dogs, the worst for the moors
is what is called a near ranger. Such flinchers may do well enough in
preserved partridge ground, but on the steep hill it is quite sickening to
see their everlasting canter fifteen or twenty yards on each side. The
dog-breaker may say that although the dog ranges near, he is working as hard
as his more high-mettled competitor. For my own part, I never saw one travel
in that way that either worked so hard, kept it up so well, or
found half as much game as a
free-hunting dog.
Let your pointers be
first-rate, and a couple will
then be quite enough to hunt at a time; more only encumber. [The
only way to hunt two couple of dogs at the same time, without risk of
slacking their mettle, or otherwise spoiling them, is for each couple]
If well broke, they will not pass over the near to be commanded by a
separate keeper, and at a sufficient distance apart to prevent interference.
The sportsman can thus move from one to the other, as they find game. I,
however, always prefer hunting my own dogs, and never suffer them to be
spoken to by any one until I have fired, when I trust to my man to enforce
the "down charge" without noise.] game, and
when birds are scattered (the only time when the near-ranging potterers
are in their element), will find them one by one, with equal certainty
and greater despatch. Many gentlemen, however, take no trouble about
procuring good dogs, until just before the season begins, and consequently
must put up with inferior ones, in which case they are forced to hunt three
or four together, or have little chance of finding game. And a most
vexatious thing it is, after all, to see these cross-bred ill-broke curs
uniting their efforts to annoy;-one putting up birds, another finding none,
while a third contents himself with admiring the feats of his companions !
"What's Bob doing?" "Nothing." "What's Don doing?" " Helping Bob!!" Aware of
what he has to expect should he be unprovided, the knowing man of the moors
has always as many good dogs as he can work himself, and never
suffers them to be hunted or shot over by another.
The purchaser, before taking the
trouble to try a dog, should make sure that he has a hard round foot, is
well set upon his legs, symmetrically though rather strongly made ; but the
great thing is the head. It ought to be broad between the ears, which should
hang closely down; a fall in below the eyes; the nose rather long, and not
broad; nostrils very soft and damp. If these points are attended to, the dog
will seldom have a very inferior nose. The above remarks relate principally
to pointers, as I greatly prefer them to setters; but if the sportsman has a
scanty kennel, I should rather recommend the latter, as they are often
capable of undergoing more fatigue, and not so apt to be foot-sore. For my
own part, however, I find the pointer so much more docile and pleasant to
shoot with, that I never use setters; concerning the choice of which, as
there are so many varieties, totally differing in appearance from each
other, it would be useless to lay down any rules.
Many gentlemen, when the shooting
season begins, are shamefully taken in by dog-breakers and others. Few are
aware how difficult it is to know a good dog before he is shot over. The
breaker shows his kennel, puffing it off most unmercifully. The sportsman
chooses one or two dogs that suit his fancy; they drop at the sound of the
pistol, and perhaps get a point or two, when birds are so tame that no dog
but a cur could possibly put them up. The bargain is struck, the dog paid
for; but, when fairly tried, shows his deficiency in finding game. I have
seen the breaker look round with an air of the greatest triumph if a hare
should start, and his dog not chase: this is what any man who under-stands
the elements of breaking, by a little trouble, and taking the dog into a
preserve of hares, can soon effect.
Other obvious defects, such as not quartering the ground,
hunting down wind, not obeying the call or signal, the veriest novice in
field-sports will immediately detect. It is not, however, with faults so
apparent that dogs for sale are generally to be charged. They are, for the
most part, drubbed into such show subjection, [Dogs of this kind remind me
of an anecdote I remember to have heard from a brother sportsman, but for
the truth of which I cannot vouch :Walking out with a high-broke pointer, he
suddenly missed him, when he presently espied him soberly and submissively
following the heels of an old Guinea-fowl, whose reiterated cry of "Come
back! Come back!" he had thought it his duty to obey !!] that the tyro
fancies them perfect, and only finds out their bad breeding and nose after a
week's shooting. To assist the judgment of the uninitiated, I have given
accurate likenesses of the three best pointers I ever had. I know some
faults might be found in them, but they have all the main requisites.
If your dogs are well bred, the great secret of making
them first-rate on the moor is, never to pass over a fault, never chastise
with great severity nor in a passion, and to kill plenty of game over them.
There are two faults, however, to which dogs, otherwise valuable, are
sometimes addicted; these give the sportsman great annoyance, but may often
be more easily corrected than he is aware. One is the inveterate habit,
contracted through bad breaking, of running in when the bird drops. This
trick is acquired from the breaker's carelessness, in not always
making the dog fall down when birds rise, a rule which should never be
neglected, on any pretence. The steadiness of a dog, whether old or
young, depends entirely upon its being rigidly observed. After the fault
of running in is once learned, the quickest remedy is the trash-cord and
spiked collar; but many gentlemen buy dogs before shooting over them, and
commence their day's sport without these appendages. They are thus obliged
either to couple up the dog or run the risk of having any birds that remain,
after the pack has risen, driven up, and those that have fallen mangled by
him. I have seen dogs most unmercifully flogged, and yet bolt with the same
eagerness every shot. It was easy to see the reason: the dog was followed by
the keeper, endeavouring to make him "down;" there was thus a race between
them which should reach the fallen bird.
The plan to adopt with a dog of this description is, when
the grouse drops and the dog rushes forward, never to stir--coolly allow him
to tear away at the game until you have loaded ; by which time he will most
probably have become ashamed of himself. You will now walk up most
deliberately, and without noticing the bird take the dog by the ear, and
pull him back to where you fired,
all the time giving several hearty shakes, and calling "down." When you get
to the spot where you shot from, take out your whip, and between the stripes
call "down" in a loud voice ; continue this at intervals for some time, and,
even when you have finished your discipline, don't allow the dog to rise for
ten minutes at least; then, after speaking a few words expressive of
caution, take him slowly up to the bird and lift it before his nose. If this
plan is rigidly followed for several points, I never saw the dog that would
continue to run in at the shot.
The other defect is chiefly
applicable to young dogs; it is when they trust to their more experienced
comrade to find the game, and keep continually on the outlook expecting him
to do so. Nothing can be done for this but to pay the greatest attention to
their point; selecting it in preference to that of the other dog, and always
to fire, however small the chance of hitting the bird. Also change the dogs
they hunt with as often as possible. Young dogs, with this treatment, will
very soon acquire confidence, and never keep staring at their companion,
unless he is settling upon a point.
When the sportsman rears his
own puppies, he should be most particular, not only about the acknowledged
excellence of the sire and dam, but also that their breeding is
unexceptionable and well known-especially that there is no cross of the
rough, however remote, when breeding pointers, and no smooth blood when
setters are the object. It sometimes happens that a dog, though not well
bred, may turn out first-rate; but the progeny of such dog or bitch hardly
ever do. This double caution is therefore most necessary, as otherwise much
time and trouble might be spent upon a dog that never would be worth it,
from a mistaken idea, that as his parents were excellent, he must in the end
turn out well too.
To cross pointers and
fox-hounds, or setters and spaniels, for the sake of improving the noses of
the former or the travel of the latter, seldom answers. The one
qualification may be gained, but the dog generally loses in every other.
The essentials of
dog-breaking may be found in a pamphlet, published in London a few years
ago, by the gamekeeper of Sir John Sebright. Although not agreeing with it
in every particular, I certainly think it the best that has been written on
the subject. |
