Dogs and All about Them Part 11

Puppies, as a rule, a week or two after they are whelped, show a greater proportion of dark marking than any other, but this as they grow older soon alters, and their white marking becomes much more conspicuous. As in the case of the Foxhound, the Harrier is very seldom kept as a companion apart from the pack. But puppies are usually sent out to walk, and may easily be procured to be kept and reared until they are old enough to be entered to their work.

Doubtless the rearing of a Harrier puppy is a great responsibility, but it is also a delight to many who feel that they are helping in the advancement of a great national sport.

There is nothing to surpa.s.s the beauty of the Beagle either to see him on the flags of his kennel or in unravelling a difficulty on the line of a dodging hare. In neatness he is really the little model of a Foxhound. He is, of course, finer, but with the length of neck so perfect in the bigger hound, the little shoulders of the same pattern, and the typical quarters and second thighs. Then how quick he is in his casts! and when he is fairly on a line, of course he sticks to it, as the saying is, "like a beagle."

Beagles have been carefully preserved for a great many years, and in some cases they have been in families for almost centuries. In the hereditary hunting establishments they have been frequently found, as the medium of amus.e.m.e.nt and instruction in hunting for the juvenile members of the house; and there can be nothing more likely to instil the right principles of venery into the youthful mind than to follow all the ways of these little hounds.

Dorsetshire used to be the great county for Beagles. The downs there were exactly fitted for them, and years ago, when roe-deer were preserved on the large estates, Beagles were used to hunt this small breed of deer. Mr. Cranes' Beagles were noted at the time, and also those of a Colonel Harding. It is on record that King George IV. had a strong partiality for Beagles, and was wont to see them work on the downs round about Brighton. The uses of the Beagle in the early days of the last century, however, were a good deal diversified. They were hunted in big woodlands to drive game to the gun, and perhaps the ordinary Beagle of from 12 inches to 14 inches was not big enough for the requirements of the times. It is quite possible, therefore, that the Beagle was crossed with the Welsh, Southern or Otterhound, to get more size and power, as there certainly was a Welsh rough-coated Beagle of good 18 inches, and an almost identical contemporary that was called the Ess.e.x Beagle. Sixty years ago such hounds were common enough, but possibly through the adoption of the more prevalent plan of beating coverts, and Spaniels being in more general use, the vocation of the Beagle in this particular direction died out, and a big rough-coated Beagle is now very rarely seen.

That a great many of the true order were bred became very manifest as soon as the Harrier and Beagle a.s.sociation was formed, and more particularly when a section of the Peterborough Hound Show was reserved for them. Then they seemed to spring from every part of the country. In 1896 one became well acquainted with many packs that had apparently held aloof from the dog shows. There was the Cheshire, the Christ Church (Oxford), Mr. T. Johnson's, the Royal Rock, the Thorpe Satchville, the Worcestershire, etc., and of late there have been many more that are as well known as packs of Foxhounds. One hears now of the Chauston, the Halstead Place--very noted indeed--the Hulton, the Leigh Park, the Stoke Place, the Edinburgh, the Surbiton, the Trinity Foot, the Wooddale, Mrs. G. W. Hilliard's, Mrs. Price's, and Mrs. Turner's.

Beagle owners, like the masters of Foxhound kennels, have never been very partial to the ordinary dog shows, and so the development of the up-to-date Beagle, as seen at recent shows, is somewhat new. It is just as it should be, and if more people take up "beagling" it may not be in the least surprising. They are very beautiful little hounds, can give a vast amount of amus.e.m.e.nt, and, for the matter of that, healthy exercise. If a stout runner can keep within fairly easy distance of a pack of well-bred Beagles on the line of a lively Jack hare, he is in the sort of condition to be generally envied.

DESCRIPTION OF THE BEAGLE: HEAD--Fair length, powerful without being coa.r.s.e; skull domed, moderately wide, with an indication of peak, stop well defined, muzzle not snipy, and lips well flewed. NOSE--Black, broad, and nostrils well expanded. EYES--Brown, dark hazel or hazel, not deep set nor bulgy, and with a mild expression. EARS--Long, set on low, fine in texture, and hanging in a graceful fold close to the cheek. NECK--Moderately long, slightly arched, the throat showing some dewlap. SHOULDERS--Clean and slightly sloping. BODY--Short between the couplings, well let down in chest, ribs fairly well sprung and well ribbed up, with powerful and not tucked-up loins.

HIND-QUARTERS--Very muscular about the thighs, stifles and hocks well bent, and hocks well let down. FORE-LEGS--Quite straight, well under the dog, of good substance and round in the bone. FEET--Round, well knuckled up, and strongly padded. STERN--Moderate length, set on high, thick and carried gaily, but not curled over the back. COLOUR--Any recognised hound colour. COAT--Smooth variety: Smooth, very dense and not too fine or short. Rough variety: Very dense and wiry.

HEIGHT--Not exceeding 16 inches. Pocket Beagles must not exceed 10 inches. GENERAL APPEARANCE--A compactly-built hound, without coa.r.s.eness, conveying the impression of great stamina and vivacity.

CHAPTER XXII

THE POINTER

It has never been made quite clear in history why the Spaniards had a dog that was very remarkable for pointing all kinds of game. They have always been a pleasure-loving people, certainly, but more inclined to bull-fighting than field-craft, and yet as early as 1600 they must have had a better dog for game-finding than could have been found in any other part of the world. Singularly enough, too, the most esteemed breeds in many countries can be traced from the same source, such as the Russian Pointer, the German Pointer, the French double-nosed Griffon, and, far more important still, the English Pointer. A view has been taken that the Spanish double-nosed Pointer was introduced into England about two hundred years ago, when fire-arms were beginning to be popular for fowling purposes. Setters and Spaniels had been used to find and drive birds into nets, but as the Spanish Pointer became known it was apparently considered that he alone had the capacity to find game for the gun. This must have been towards the end of the seventeenth century, and for the next fifty years at least something very slow was wanted to meet the necessities of the old-fashioned flintlock gun, which occupied many minutes in loading and getting into position. Improvements came by degrees, until they set in very rapidly, but probably by 1750, when hunting had progressed a good deal, and pace was increased in all pastimes, the old-fashioned Pointer was voted a nuisance through his extreme caution and tortoise-like movements.

There is evidence, through portraits, that Pointers had been altogether changed by the year 1800, but it is possible that the breed then had been continued by selection rather than by crossing for a couple of decades, as it is quite certain that by 1815 sportsmen were still dissatisfied with the want of pace in the Pointer, and many sportsmen are known to have crossed their Pointers with Foxhounds at about that time. By 1835 the old Spanish Pointer had been left behind, and the English dog was a perfect model for pace, stamina, resolution, and nerve. The breed was exactly adapted to the requirements of that day, which was not quite as fast as the present.

Men shot with good Joe Mantons, did their own loading, and walked to their dogs, working them right and left by hand and whistle. The dogs beat their ground methodically, their heads at the right level for body scent, and when they came on game, down they were; the dog that had got it pointing, and the other barking or awaiting developments. There was nothing more beautiful than the work of a well-bred and well-broken brace of Pointers, or more perfect than the way a man got his shots from them. There was nothing slow about them, but on the contrary they went a great pace, seemed to shoot into the very currents of air for scent, and yet there was no impatience about them such as might have been expected from the Foxhound cross. The truth of it was that the capacity to concentrate the whole attention on the object found was so intense as to have lessened every other propensity. The rush of the Foxhound had been absorbed by the additional force of the Pointer character. There has been nothing at all like it in canine culture, and it came out so wonderfully after men had been shooting in the above manner for about forty years.

It was nearing the end of this period that field trials began to occupy the attention of breeders and sportsmen, and although Setters had been getting into equal repute for the beauty of their work, there was something more brilliant about the Pointers at first. Brockton's Bounce was a magnificent dog, a winner on the show bench, and of the first Field Trial in England. Newton's Ranger was another of the early performers, and he was very staunch and brilliant, but it was in the next five years that the most extraordinary Pointer merit was seen, as quite incomparable was Sir Richard Garth's Drake, who was just five generations from the Spanish Pointer. Drake was rather a tall, gaunt dog, but with immense depth of girth, long shoulders, long haunches, and a benevolent, quiet countenance. There was nothing very attractive about him when walking about at Stafford prior to his trial, but the moment he was down he seemed to paralyse his opponent, as he went half as fast again. It was calculated that he went fifty miles an hour, and at this tremendous pace he would stop as if petrified, and the momentum would cover him with earth and dust. He did not seem capable of making a mistake, and his birds were always at about the same distance from him, to show thereby his extraordinary nose and confidence. Nothing in his day could beat him in a field.

He got some good stock, but they were not generally show form, the b.i.t.c.hes by him being mostly light and small, and his sons a bit high on the leg. None of them had his pace, but some were capital performers, such as Sir Thomas Lennard's Mallard, Mr. George Pilkington's Tory, Mr. Lloyd Price's Luck of Edenhall, winner of the Field Trial Derby, 1878; Lord Downe's Mars and Bounce, and Mr. Barclay Field's Riot. When Sir Richard Garth went to India and sold his kennel of Pointers at Tattersall's, Mr. Lloyd Price gave 150 guineas for Drake.

The mid-century owners and breeders had probably all the advantages of what a past generation had done, as there were certainly many wonderful Pointers in the 'fifties, 'sixties, and 'seventies, as old men living to-day will freely allow. They were produced very regularly, too, in a marvellous type of perfection.

Mr. William Arkwright, of Sutton Scarsdale, Derbyshire, has probably the best kennel in England at the present time. He discovered and revived an old breed of the North of England that was black, and bred for a great many years by Mr. Pape, of Carlisle, and his father before him. With these Mr. Arkwright has bred to the best working strains, with the result that he has had many good field trial winners. For a good many years now Elias Bishop, of Newton Abbot, has kept up the old breeds of Devon Pointers, the Ch. Bangs, the Mikes, and the Brackenburg Romps, and his have been amongst the best at the shows and the field trials during the past few years. There are, of course, exceptions to the rule that many of the modern Pointers do not carry about them the air of their true business; but it would appear that fewer people keep them now than was the case a quarter of a century ago, owing to the advance of quick-shooting, otherwise driving, and the consequent falling away of the old-fashioned methods, both for the stubble and the moor. However, there are many still who enjoy the work of dogs, and it would be a sin indeed in the calendar of British sports if the fine old breed of Pointer were allowed even to deteriorate. The apparent danger is that the personal or individual element is dying out. In the 'seventies the name of Drake, Bang, or Garnet were like household words. People talked of the great Pointers.

They were spoken of in club chat or gossip; written about; and the prospects of the moors were much a.s.sociated with the up-to-date characters of the Pointers and Setters. There is very little of this sort of talk now-a-days. Guns are more critically spoken of. There is, however, a wide enough world to supply with first-cla.s.s Pointers.

In England's numerous colonies it may be much more fitting to shoot over dogs. It has been tried in South Africa with marvellous results.

Descendants of Bang have delighted the lone colonist on Cape partridge and quails, and Pointers suit the climate, whereas Setters do not.

The Pointer is a n.o.ble breed to take up, as those still in middle life have seen its extraordinary merit whenever bred in the right way. As to the essential points of the breed, they may be set down as follows:--

HEAD--Should be wide from ear to ear, long and slanting from the top of the skull to the setting on of the nose; cheek bones prominent; ears set low and thin in texture, soft and velvety; nose broad at the base; mouth large and jaws level. NECK--The neck should be very strong, but long and slightly arched, meeting shoulders well knit into the back, which should be straight and joining a wide loin. There should be great depth of heart room, very deep brisket, narrow chest rather than otherwise, shoulders long and slanting. LEGS AND FEET--Should be as nearly like the Foxhound's as possible. There should be really no difference, as they must be straight, the knees big, and the bone should be of goodly size down to the toes, and the feet should be very round and cat-shaped. HIND-QUARTERS--A great feature in the Pointer is his hind-quarters. He cannot well be too long in the haunch or strong in the stifle, which should be well bent, and the muscles in the second thigh of a good Pointer are always remarkable. The hocks may be straighter than even in a Foxhound, as, in pulling up sharp on his point, he in a great measure throws his weight on them; the shank bones below the hock should be short.

COLOUR--There have been good ones of all colours. The Derby colours were always liver and whites for their Pointers and black breasted reds for their game-c.o.c.ks. The Seftons were liver and whites also, and so were the Edges of Strelly, but mostly heavily ticked.

Brockton's Bounce was so, and so were Ch. Bang, Mike, and Young Bang.

Drake was more of the Derby colour; dark liver and white. Mr.

Whitehouse's were mostly lemon and whites, after Hamlet of that colour, and notable ones of the same hue were Squire, Bang Bang, and Mr. Whitehouse's Pax and Priam, all winners of field trials. There have been several very good black and whites. Mr. Francis's, afterwards Mr. Salter's, Chang was a field trial winner of this colour. A still better one was Mr. S. Becket's Rector, a somewhat mean little dog to look at, but quite extraordinary in his work, as he won the Pointer Puppy Stake at Shrewsbury and the All-Aged Stake three years in succession. Mr. Salter's Romp family were quite remarkable in colour--a white ground, heavily shot with black in patches and in ticks. There have never been any better Pointers than these. There have been, and are, good black Pointers also. HEIGHT AND SIZE--A big Pointer dog stands from 24-1/2 inches to 25 inches at the shoulder. Old Ch. Bang and Young Bang were of the former height, and the great b.i.t.c.h, Mr. Lloyd Price's Belle, was 24 inches.

For big Pointers 60 pounds is about the weight for dogs and 56 pounds b.i.t.c.hes; smaller size, 54 pounds dogs and 48 pounds b.i.t.c.hes. There have been some very good ones still smaller.

CHAPTER XXIII

THE SETTERS

I. THE ENGLISH SETTER.--In some form or other Setters are to be found wherever guns are in frequent use and irrespective of the precise cla.s.s of work they have to perform; but their proper sphere is either on the moors, when the red grouse are in quest, or on the stubbles and amongst the root crops, when September comes in, and the partridge season commences.

Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester, is supposed to have been the first person to train setting dogs in the manner which has been commonly adopted by his successors. His lordship lived in the middle of the sixteenth century, and was therefore a contemporary of Dr. Caius, who may possibly have been indebted to the Earl for information when, in his work on _English Dogges_, he wrote of the Setter under the name of the Index.

Though Setters are divided into three distinct varieties,--The English, the Irish and the Gordon, or Black and Tan--there can be no doubt that all have a common origin, though it is scarcely probable, in view of their dissimilarity, that the same individual ancestors can be supposed to be their original progenitors. Nearly all authorities agree that the Spaniel family is accountable on one side, and this contention is borne out to a considerable extent by old ill.u.s.trations and paintings of Setters at work, in which they are invariably depicted as being very much like the old liver and white Spaniel, though of different colours. Doubt exists as to the other side of their heredity, but it does not necessarily follow that all those who first bred them used the same means. Of the theories put forward, that which carries the most presumptive evidence must go to the credit of the old Spanish Pointer. Where else could they inherit that wonderful scenting power, that style in which they draw up to their game, their statuesque att.i.tude when on point, and, above all, the staunchness and patience by which they hold their game spellbound until the shooter has time to walk leisurely up, even from a considerable distance?

But, apart from the question of their origin, the different varieties have many other attributes in common; all perform the same kind of work, and in the same manner; consequently the system of breaking or training them varies only according to the temper or ideas of those who undertake their schooling.

Few dogs are more admired than English Setters, and those who are looked upon as professional exhibitors have not been slow to recognise the fact that when a really good young dog makes its appearance it is a formidable rival amongst all other breeds when the special prizes come to be allotted.

Seen either at its legitimate work as a gun dog or as a domestic companion, the English Setter is one of the most graceful and beautiful of the canine race, and its elegant form and feathery coat command instant admiration. Twenty years ago it was known by several distinct names, among the more important being the Blue Beltons and Laveracks, and this regardless of any consideration as to whether or not the dogs were in any way connected by relationship to the stock which had earned fame for either of these time-honoured names. It was the great increase in the number of shows and some confusion on the part of exhibitors that made it necessary for the Kennel Club to cla.s.sify under one heading these and others which had attained some amount of notability and the old terms have gradually been dropped.

Doubtless the English Setter Club has done much since its inst.i.tution in 1890 to encourage this breed of dog, and has proved the usefulness of the club by providing two very valuable trophies, the Exhibitors'

Challenge Cup and the Field Trial Challenge Cup, for compet.i.tion amongst its members, besides having liberally supported all the leading shows; hence it has rightly come to be regarded as the only authority from which an acceptable and official dictum for the guidance of others can emanate.

The following is the standard of points issued by the English Setter Club:--

HEAD--The head should be long and lean, with well-defined stop. The skull oval from ear to ear, showing plenty of brain room, and with a well-defined occipital protuberance. The muzzle moderately deep and fairly square; from the stop to the point of the nose should be long, the nostrils wide, and the jaws of nearly equal length; flews not too pendulous. The colour of the nose should be black, or dark, or light liver, according to the colour of the coat. The eyes should be bright, mild, and intelligent, and of a dark hazel colour, the darker the better. The ears of moderate length, set on low and hanging in neat folds close to the cheek; the tip should be velvety, the upper part clothed with fine silky hair. NECK--The neck should be rather long, muscular, and lean, slightly arched at the crest, and clean cut where it joins the head; towards the shoulder it should be larger, and very muscular, not throaty with any pendulosity below the throat, but elegant and bloodlike in appearance. BODY--The body should be of moderate length, with shoulders well set back or oblique; back short and level; loins wide, slightly arched, strong and muscular.

Chest deep in the brisket, with good round widely-sprung ribs, deep in the back ribs--that is, well ribbed up. LEGS AND FEET--The stifles should be well bent and ragged, thighs long from hip to hock. The forearm big and very muscular, the elbow well let down. Pasterns short, muscular, and straight. The feet very close and compact, and well protected by hair between the toes. TAIL--The tail should be set on almost in a line with the back; medium length, not curly or ropy, to be slightly curved or scimitar-shaped, but with no tendency to turn upwards; the flag or feather hanging in long, pendant flakes; the feather should not commence at the root, but slightly below, and increase in length to the middle, then gradually taper off towards the end; and the hair long, bright, soft and silky, wavy but not curly. COAT AND FEATHERING--The coat from the back of the head in a line with the ears ought to be slightly wavy, long, and silky, which should be the case with the coat generally; the breeches and fore-legs, nearly down to the feet, should be well feathered. COLOUR AND MARKINGS--The colour may be either black and white, lemon and white, liver and white, or tricolour--that is, black, white, and tan; those without heavy patches of colour on the body, but flecked all over preferred.

II. THE IRISH SETTER.--Though this variety has not attained such popularity as its English cousin, it is not because it is regarded as being less pleasing to the eye, for in general appearance of style and outline there is very little difference; in fact, none, if the chiselling of the head and colour of the coat be excepted. The beautiful rich golden, chestnut colour which predominates in all well-bred specimens is in itself sufficient to account for the great favour in which they are regarded generally, while their disposition is sufficiently engaging to attract the attention of those who desire to have a moderate-sized dog as a companion, rather than either a very large or very small one. Probably this accounts for so many lady exhibitors in England preferring them to the other varieties of Setters. We have to go over to its native country, however, to find the breed most highly esteemed as a sporting dog for actual work, and there it is naturally first favourite; in fact, very few of either of the other varieties are to be met with from one end of the Green Isle to the other. It has been suggested that all Irish Setters are too headstrong to make really high-cla.s.s field trial dogs. Some of them, on the contrary, are quite as great in speed and not only as clever at their business, but quite as keen-nosed as other Setters.

Some which have competed within the past few years at the Irish Red Setter Club's trials have had as rivals some of the best Pointers from England and Scotland, and have successfully held their own.

The Secretary of the Irish Setter Club is Mr. S. Brown, 27, Eustace Street, Dublin, and the standard of points as laid down by that authority is as follows:--

HEAD--The head should be long and lean. The skull oval (from ear to ear), having plenty of brain room, and with well-defined occipital protuberance. Brows raised, showing stop. The muzzle moderately deep and fairly square at the end. From the stop to the point of the nose should be fairly long, the nostrils wide, and the jaws of nearly equal length; flews not to be pendulous. The colour of the nose dark mahogany or dark walnut, and that of the eyes (which ought not to be too large) rich hazel or brown. The ears to be of moderate size, fine in texture, set on low, well back, and hanging in a neat fold close to the head. NECK--The neck should be moderately long, very muscular, but not too thick; slightly arched, free from all tendency to throatiness. BODY--The body should be long. Shoulders fine at the points, deep and sloping well back. The chest as deep as possible, rather narrow in front. The ribs well sprung, leaving plenty of lung room. Loins muscular and slightly arched. The hind-quarters wide and powerful. LEGS AND FEET--The hind-legs from hip to hock should be long and muscular; from hock to heel short and strong. The stifle and hock joints well bent, and not inclined either in or out. The fore-legs should be straight and sinewy, having plenty of bone, with elbows free, well let down, and, like the hocks, not inclined either in or out. The feet small, very firm; toes strong, close together, and arched. TAIL--The tail should be of moderate length, set on rather low, strong at root, and tapering to a fine point, to be carried as nearly as possible on a level or below the back. COAT--On the head, front of legs, and tips of ears the coat should be short and fine; but on all other parts of the body and legs it ought to be of moderate length, flat, and as free as possible from curl or wave.

FEATHERING--The feather on the upper portion of the ears should be long and silky; on the back of fore and hind-legs long and fine; a fair amount of hair on the belly, forming a nice fringe, which may extend on chest and throat. Feet to be well feathered between the toes. Tail to have a nice fringe of moderately long hair, decreasing in length as it approaches the point. All feathering to be as straight and as flat as possible. COLOUR AND MARKINGS--The colour should be a rich golden chestnut, with no trace whatever of black; white on chest, throat, or toes, or a small star on the forehead, or a narrow streak or blaze on the nose or face not to disqualify.

III. THE BLACK AND TAN SETTER.--Originally this variety was known as the Gordon Setter, but this t.i.tle was only partly correct, as the particular dogs first favoured by the Duke of Gordon, from whom they took the name, were black, tan, and white, heavily built, and somewhat clumsy in appearance. But the introduction of the Irish blood had the effect of making a racier-looking dog more fashionable, the presence of white on the chest was looked upon with disfavour, and the Kennel Club settled the difficulty of name by abolishing the term "Gordon" altogether.