Retriever, mastiff, pointer, poodle, houndmy soul is a whole pack, sitting in circle, musing.

Ha, retriever, you retrieve? PATOU When you pour forth your heart in your ardent cry, giving it over and over, he calls it the same old saw that your jag-toothed red crest stands for! CHANTECLER

The Retrievers 25.

CHAPTER XXIV THE RETRIEVERS

Inherited qualities count for a great deal in the adaptability of all sporting dogs, and the reason why one meets with so many Retrievers that are incapable or disobedient or gun-shy is simply that their preliminary education has been neglectedthe education which should begin when the dog is very young.

A very prominent admirer and breeder was the late Mr. S. E. Shirley, the President of the Kennel Club, who owned many Retrievers superlative both as workers and as show dogs, and who probably did more for the breed than any other man of his generation.

Mr. Shirley's work was carried on by Mr. Harding Cox, who devoted much time and energy to the production of good Retrievers, many of which were of Mr. Shirley's strain.

Darenth and other excellent Retrievers of his own breeding, claims also a large share of credit for the part he has played in the general improvement of the breed.

Many of Colonel Legh's bitches were of Shirley blood, but it is believed that a breed of Retrievers had existed at High Legh for several generations, with which a judicious cross was made, the result being not only the formation of a remarkable kennel, but also a decided influence for good upon the breed in general.

But since the Shirley days, when competition was more limited than it is at present, no kennel of Retrievers has ever attained anything like the distinction of that owned by Mr. H. Reginald Cooke, at Riverside, Nantwich.

It has already been said that the majority of the best-looking Retrievers are also good working dogs, and it may here be added that many of the most successful working dogs are sired by prize-winners in the show ring.

Many a dog which is used to hunt or find game as well as to retrieve it, will often kill a wounded bird or rabbit rather than allow it to escape, while there are many Irish Water Spaniels who, under normal circumstances, are just as tender-mouthed as the most fashionable of black Retrievers.

At this juncture, the services of my old Newfoundlander, Retriever, came forcibly to my mind.

He informed us, as Retriever again swam away with the rope, that he feared his brother was much more exhausted than himself.

Elias Vail trains gun dogs, covering the pointing breeds, the spaniels, and non-slip retrievers.

pb id='153.png' /> MOFFIT, ELLA B. Elias Vail trains gun dogs, covering the pointing breeds, the spaniels, and non-slip retrievers.

MOORE, CONSTANCE H. Elias Vail trains gun dogs, covering the pointing breeds, the spaniels, and non-slip retrievers.

Retriever gun dogs.

Elias Vail trains gun dogs, covering the pointing breeds, the spaniels, and non-slip retrievers.

pb id='153.png' /> MOFFIT, ELLA B. Elias Vail trains gun dogs, covering the pointing breeds, the spaniels, and non-slip retrievers.

MOORE, CONSTANCE H. Elias Vail trains gun dogs, covering the pointing breeds, the spaniels, and non-slip retrievers.

Training your retriever.

Mr. Colquhoun winged two wild ducks, which fell on the farther side of a stream; his retriever tried to bring over both at once, but could not succeed; she then, though never before known to ruffle a feather, deliberately killed one, brought over the other, and returned for the dead bird.

Here we have reason, though not quite perfect, for the retriever might have brought the wounded bird first and then returned for the dead one, as in the case of the two wild-ducks.

I give the above cases as resting on the evidence of two independent witnesses and because in both instances the retrievers, after deliberation, broke through a habit which is inherited by them (that of not killing the game retrieved), and because they show how strong their reasoning faculty must have been to overcome a fixed habit.