CHAPTER XXXVI.

DOGS, AND THEIR CHARACTERISTICS.

CANINE character is mostly the result of education. While it may be in part inherited, yet, let the blue blood become estranged from, or deprived of, refining influences, and his life is barren of good actions. Instead of becoming what he might if properly raised, he seeks the companionship of the lowest of his race, and degenerates into a sheep-stealer, a scavenger of the alley, one who sleeps by day, and whose nocturnal wanderings are conducive of no good. While excellent traits of character may have been inherited by him, it requires the most careful attention to develop them, and to bring them out of their crude state; for the natural disposition of the dog will assert itself, and human kindness, ingenuity and force, are the only means that will disclose what there is in him, and educate him properly. This being the case, the man must be the teacher, and the dog becomes what is made of him. What that may be, depends on the character, temper and patience of the man. Dogs are like children; in their young minds they receive early impressions. If those impressions are for good, they are the guide which directs their after life, and as months are added to their young lives, and they receive from their master kindness, patience and generous forgiveness of their childish pranks, the mild overlooking of their

little puppyish tricks, they soon learn to know that master as their friend; they try to please him, to learn, perhaps not because they care for the knowledge themselves, but their little heads soon are wise enough to see that when they do as their master wishes, they please him, his pleasure is shown them, in divers ways, by fond petting, little delicacies to eat, and kind and affectionate words. These attentions soon wean him from his playmates, he longs to please his master; perhaps he may feel sometimes his master is a little too particular with him, or he is too severe, when he insists on his learning his lessons when other dogs are loafing in the streets; possibly, when his chum, the neighbor's dog, has treed a cat and barks loudly for him to come and help keep her there, yet, he has learned to love his master; kind words and loving caresses have won his heart. He looks on the man as his companion, his protector, his friend, and in his heart, although he is but a dog, the seeds of kindness have been sown, have sprouted, ripened and developed into everlasting love and gratitude. In the selection of a dog for wild fowl shooting the purchaser should take into consideration the places and seasons of the year the dog is to be used. This sport is full of hardships for the dog, and it is but seldom that he can be used, except when the water is of icy coldness, or the wind equally cold and penetrating, when it comes in contact with his shivering frame. A dog for this kind of sport should be one peculiarly fitted for it. His coat should be thick, oily, and liver or sedge color; as so much of his life is to be passed in the marsh, floundering in the mud, struggling through the tangled rice, or in the swollen stream, swimming against the rushing current, he

should be of compact build, and exceedingly strong and courageous. To use a pointer during the cold season is cruel, for nature did not intend him for this work; his place is in the stubble-field in the summer's sun. To use a setter at such times, is to test his courage and endurance. They will do the work, and will stand hour after hour retrieving without flinching, and no dog can do the work quicker or better.

But my idea of a duck dog is either a Chesapeake retriever, or an Irish water-spaniel. They are made for cold water, and take to it as naturally as a duck. Either breed are excellent and natural retrievers. But it requires education to make them perfect. Their color is liver or runs from a light to a dark-brown. They are unlike in looks, and the diversity of tastes in individuals ought to be satisfied here. The Chesapeake is smooth in coat, at times a trifle wavy; the hair thick, close, but oily, similar to an otter. The Irish waterspaniel is covered with kinky curls, a bushy top-knot on his head, and rather a rat tail. Of the two I decidedly prefer the Chesapeake. When one buys a duck dog untrained, no matter what his pedigree is, he must not expect too much of him. Buy one trained, or take one in puppyhood and bring him up as he should be, and he will be an ornament to his race. The peculiar traits are merely inherited; they must be developed and controlled by the human mind, and unless you are a monument of patience, don't attempt to train one. In the Western States, the dog used mostly for duck-shooting, is a cross between a spaniel and setter, the object being to combine the love for water found in the spaniel, and the speed and scenting powers of the setter. When one of these dogs is trained, there is no dog on

earth that will do his work better. In using the word "trained," I do not mean that when water is warm, and the elements combined make it a pleasure for a dog to retrieve-that he is then to be relied on; but I mean a dog who implicitly relies on the judgment of his teacher, allows no doubts to enter his mind, but is controlled entirely by the voice or hand of his master, whether he breasts a torrent of floating debris, or breaks ice to bring a bird, but goes and does his work because he is commanded to. In the selection of a dog, great stress should be laid on color, and the aim should be to pick out one wholly devoid of conspicuous markings. Black and white are the two colors that show up most plainly in the wild rice or grass, and unless the covering is especially thick, dogs of such colors are bound to be seen. As the color has nothing to do with the tractableness of a dog, there is no good reason for selecting one either with black or white markings, for these colors will be noticed by passing ducks, and the hunter should pick out one of dull, dead colors, trying as nearly as possible to get one the color of the faded swamp.

The best dog for all round shooting I ever saw was one raised and owned by Mr. Chas. Tate, of Low Moor, Iowa. In appearance, he was a spaniel, liver color, cross breed, his father a setter, his mother a spaniel. He was a stocky, square-built fellow, had unlimited endurance, while his speed, and the delicacy of his scent, were unapproachable. What Colonel" did not know about hunting, I have never discovered in any other dog His looks did not show it, for I knew men who never saw him in the field, offer to wager he would not point a bird. This conclusion they arrived at, wholly from his appearance, for his looks certainly did belie

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