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 LIBRARY OF CONGRESS. 
 
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 UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. 
 
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Norfolk Spaniel, 
 The property of Mr. F. II. F. Mercer. 
 
THE SPANIEL 
 
 AND 
 
 ITS TRAINING. 
 
 By F. H. F. mercer, 
 
 ("D. BOULTON HERRALD," "CLUMliEK," "DOGWHIT," ETC.) 
 KENNEL EDITOR OF " SPORTS AFIELD." 
 
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 CIIAMI'ION "bene silk.' 
 
 To Which is Added the American and Eng- 
 lish Spaniel Standards. 
 
 NEW YORK: 
 
 Forest and Strea:\i Publishing Co. 
 
 1890. 
 

 Copyright, iSgo, by 
 The Forest and Stream Publishing Co. 
 
 /Z-3U3I 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 When, several years ago, I stood in need of a 
 work to instruct me in the art of spaniel training, I 
 found that none existed which was at all suited to 
 my needs. I had, perforce, to study out the subject 
 for myself without assistance and to be my own 
 tutor in threading its intricacies. The training 
 system described in this book is the result of my 
 labors, and while I do not proclaim it to be infallible, 
 still I am positive that most, if not all, spaniels may 
 be well and thoroughly taught if the rules laid down 
 herein are strictly followed. 
 
 In the main it is purely original, for it was not 
 until I had practically completed the system, to my 
 own satisfaction at any rate, that 1 read a book on 
 general training. 
 
 It has been thought that such a work as this would 
 
vi Preface. 
 
 be acceptable to many sportsmen, especially to 
 novices in spanieldoin, and certainly if one may judge 
 by the numerous queries to be seen in our sporting 
 papers, as to where a book on spaniel training may 
 be obtained, there will be no lack of readers for 
 this, the pioneer publication of its kind. 
 
 F. H. F. Mercer. 
 Ottawa Club, February, 1890. 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 Page 
 
 Chapter I. — Introductory, - - 9' 
 Chapter II. — Spaniels, - - - 18 
 Chapter III. — Selection, - ^$ 
 Chapter IV. — Preliminary Hints, - - 44 
 Charper V. — First Lessons, - - 49 
 Chapter VI. — Retrieving, - - - 57 
 Chapter VII. — Retrieving from Water, 69 
 Chapter VIII. — "Heel," "Hie On," - 73 
 Chapter IX. — Dropping to Hand, Com- 
 mand, Shot and Wing, - - 76 
 Chapter X. — Gunshyness, - - 80 
 Chapter XI. — Ranging, - - - 84 
 Chapter XII. — Miscellaneous Hints, - 95 
 Chapter XIII. — A Day Afield, - - 100 
 Chapter XIV. — Spaniels in America, 108 
 Chapter XV. — Standards of English 
 
 and American Spaniel Clubs, - 122 
 
The Spaniel and its Training. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 INTRODUCTORY. 
 
 To THE best of my knowledge there is not in 
 all America a professional trainer of spaniels. 
 When one considers the immense numbers of these 
 dogs owned throughout the continent, it is a matter 
 of surprise that some enterprising individual does 
 not launch an establishment for the training of the 
 sporting varieties. No one, however, has done so 
 as yet. 
 
 In England they have the advantage over us, for 
 many gamekeepers on the estates of noblemen and 
 landed gentry find time to train a spaniel or two for 
 outsiders each season. But with the alterations 
 brought about by the "improved" farming now in 
 
to TJic Spaniel ajid Its Training. 
 
 vogue there, the spaniel's days as an actual sporting 
 dog are well nigh numbered. The keepers who 
 could at one time pocket fifty guineas for a broken 
 spaniel, cannot now sell for a fifth of the sum a dog 
 of just as perfect training. Consequently the spaniel 
 has been neglected, and English keepers have turned 
 their attentions to the more lucrative breeds — point- 
 ers, setters and retrievers. 
 
 There are men, however, even in England, who 
 still maintain that the spaniel is, par excellence, the 
 dog for all around shooting. On several large estates 
 these dogs are used exclusively on all game, 'and I 
 understand that heavy bags are made over them 
 annually. 
 
 All books, in which the training of spaniels for 
 the field has been touched upon, have been written 
 by Englishmen, consequently their methods cannot 
 be followed by us. We do not take the field with a 
 team of four to eight spaniels, a man to handle the 
 dogs, a beater or two, keeper, and two or three 
 "guns." Nor is our shooting done over land of 
 which every tree and bush and hedge is known to 
 men and dogs. With one or two spaniels, aloive 
 or accompanied by a friend, we cruise about over 
 strange country, oftentimes, and first must exercise 
 our woodcraft in learning where to eo for birds. 
 
-'^y^^ 
 
 Irish Water Spaniel Bitch Champion "HArp," 
 The property of Colonel The Hon. W. Le Poer Trench. 
 
12 The Spaniel and Its Training. 
 
 The covert entered, we work the spaniels, shoot, 
 mark birds down, take the game from our dogs, and 
 carry it afterward. Ours is the rough and tumble 
 style, the English the sport refined; though, asked 
 which I should enjoy the better, my answer would 
 not long be deferred. From this it will be seen that 
 the methods of training and management must of 
 necessity differ. 
 
 The English recommend more outdoor training 
 for their dogs than we can give ours, for few of us 
 have suitable lawns and grounds at our disposal. 
 Then too, the very climate is against any other than 
 house training in winter time. 
 
 A nonsensical notion prevails that a spaniel re- 
 quires no training whatever to fit him for use afield, 
 in covert or in marsh. Could anything be more 
 foolish and silly? What that is worth doing can be 
 done without previous preparation and training? and 
 how can we expect a spaniel to start in the race han- 
 dicapped with an entire ignorance of his vocation, 
 not kno.wing what to do nor how to do it ? He does 
 not, to be sure, need so careful and painstaking an 
 education as his pointer or setter brethren require, 
 still some teaching imperatively must be given him. 
 
 As a rule, a spaniel is brimming over with life and 
 spirits; and loves nothing better than to fly helter- 
 
Introductory. 13 
 
 skelter through marsh and mire, over the fields and 
 through the woods. This being done generally some 
 hundred yards ahead of the sportsman, is not the sort 
 of work to fill the game bag; but rather is conducive 
 to a sore throat and aching head, caused by fruitless 
 yellings to unheeding ears. Then is the time when 
 the sportsman feels sorely tempted to send one more 
 canine to join the great majority by emptying the 
 charges of both barrels into the riotous one's hide. 
 
 A spaniel does not set game but flushes it, hence 
 the name "springer." Consequently it is absolutely 
 necessary that he should be kept to his range and 
 never permitted to run beyond easy gun shot. For 
 instance, you are walking in the woods, your spaniels 
 questing about, not more than twenty yards away. 
 By their actions you know they are "feathering," 
 /. t'., coming upon the scent of game. Keep your gun 
 at the ready ! The dogs look toward you every now 
 and then, taking care not to follow on the trail too 
 fast. They reach the birds and with a plunge and a 
 frantic waving of sterns they are in. Whirr ! Whirr ! 
 Three ruffed grouse flush within twenty yards and 
 you are allowed ample time to get in both barrels 
 with telling effect. 
 
 A spaniel may easily be taught to set birds; but 
 in my opinion it is nut desirable to do this. Every- 
 
14 The Spaniel and Its Training. 
 
 thing to its appointed work — the hound to trail, the 
 pointer and setter to point or set, and the spaniel to 
 flush. There is a great deal in what " Idstone " 
 writes in his book : " In thick covert, wherever it 
 is over two feet six or three feet high, spaniels should 
 be used in preference to any other sort of dog. 
 People used to write of using pointers in cover with 
 bells on their necks, but the bells ought to be on the 
 cap of the pointer's owner. I confess I have done 
 this very thing myself years ago, but it was with an 
 old pointer, and at the time the only one I had ; but 
 it is sheer folly to talk or write of using a pointer for 
 spaniel work. A keeper, the other day, brought a 
 spaniel to me, which he said with a grin, stood like 
 a pointer, and appeared dumbfounded when I re- 
 joined: ' That is not his trade.' " 
 
 It only stands to reason that spaniels should be 
 superior to their ranging brethren, the pointer and 
 the setter, for routing out birds ; for, while the 
 rangers must keep their heads up and quest for wind 
 scent, the spaniel has his nose on the ground and 
 can trace both foot and body scents. 
 
 I recollect well one lovely October day when 
 afield with the spariels. AVe were crossing an ex- 
 tensive clearance on the way to a favorite covert of 
 •mine and I found the greatest difficulty in preventing 
 
Introductory. 15 
 
 the dogs from running out to the right, where I 
 could distinctly see, so I thought, that there was 
 nothing. At length losing patience I let them go, 
 and they ran straight as arrows in their flight for 
 quite fifty yards, and flushed a covey of a dozen 
 ruffed grouse ! I could not see them on the treeless 
 hillside, but their scent discovered the birds to the 
 spaniels even at this great distance. 
 
 This is not an isolated case, for 1 have time and 
 again seen them do the same thing, though not to so 
 marked a degree. A peculiar instance of a spaniel's 
 capacity to profit by wind scent occurred on one 
 of my hunts. Just at dusk I had shot a duck, which 
 fell some distance off. My retrieving spaniel lay on 
 the bottom of the canoe and certainly did not see 
 the bird fall. The water was deep and I did not 
 send him after it, but paddled to the spot where I 
 had marked the game down. No sign of a bird was 
 to be seen, therefore I ordered the dog to "seek 
 dead." He at once jumped into the water and, dis- 
 regarding my orders to him to seek ahead where I 
 believed the bird lay, swam back quite twenty yards 
 and picked up the duck, which was quite dead ! It 
 was altogether too dark for him to have seen it, so 
 the bird could only have been traced by scent. 
 
 As for following up and puzzling out a foot scent. 
 
1 6 The Spaniel and Its Training. 
 
 I have seen a spaniel puppy trail a "flapper" in all 
 its windings for a quarter of an hour and finally 
 effect its capture. This, too, when he had been 
 put upon the scent certainly many minutes after 
 the bird had escaped from the game bag in which I 
 had confined the duckling. 
 
 The pointer and setter gallop, the spaniel walks or 
 trots — which then is the more likely to discover close 
 lying birds? The spaniel searches the ground 
 thoroughly that his galloping brethren would race 
 over. Does it not stand to reason that he can dis- 
 cover birds that the others would pass by? 
 
 Having occasion once to spend a day in woods 
 where I had done a good deal of shooting, I took 
 with me a pointer and a setter. All through the day 
 they found not a solitary bird (it was in the moult- 
 ing season). A few days later I went over the same 
 woods accompanied by a spaniel, who routed out a 
 goodly number of grouse. 
 
 Never, in my recollection, have I turned my span- 
 iels in where birds had been marked down, that they 
 failed to account for them. Few can say this of 
 their pointers or setters, though for many spaniels 
 the claim would be a just one. 
 
 Let it not for a moment be imagined that I advo- 
 cate the use of the spaniel for open shooting on 
 
Introductory. 1 7 
 
 large meadow lands or prairies. There is the do- 
 main of the pointer and the setter, and in it they 
 cannot be excelled. The covert and wooded coun- 
 try is the spaniel's ground, and in this, his sphere, 
 he is unapproachable. 
 
CHAPTER II. 
 
 SPANIELS. 
 
 IT is now in order to give a brief description of 
 the several varieties of working spaniels, to- 
 gether with a consideration of their respective claims 
 to usefulness in the field. 
 
 The spaniel, as the name denotes, came origin- 
 ally from Spain, " notwithstandying yat ther ben many 
 in othir countries," vide " The Maister of the Gaime," 
 by Edmund de Langley; and from his description 
 of the " Spaynel " I infer that even at the time he 
 wrote (in the fourteenth century), there were more 
 varieties than one of this useful dog. 
 
 Dr. Johannes Caius, writing at a later date, notes 
 the fact that a new variety had been introduced into 
 England from France. These dogs were white and 
 black in color, and from this we can, without dififi- 
 culty, see that the modern black spaniel may have 
 
From •' The American Book of the Dog." 
 
 Clumber Spaniel Dog Champion "Johnny, 
 The property of Mr. F, H. F. Mercer. 
 
20 The Spaniel and Its Training. 
 
 come b^'- his color honestly through judicious breed- 
 ing and selection of specimens of the black and 
 white persuasion. 
 
 The Irish Water spaniel is the first of the varieties 
 to be considered, as the English water dog in its 
 purity is extinct. In the East good specimens are far 
 from being common; but in the Central and Western 
 States they enjoy a fair share of popularity, and, 
 comparatively speaking, are there owned in num- 
 bers. The show benches, too, in those sections of 
 the country, contain Irishmen of a far higher grade 
 than the East can boast. As a breed, the Irish Water 
 spaniel can never become popular with any but wild 
 fowl shooters, for, outside of water work, they are of 
 little service. Such unkempt, ragged-looking creat- 
 ures are they, that the Paddies as companions are 
 anything but ornamental, though that wild-looking 
 eye is certainly attractive. The coat exhales a most 
 unpleasant odor, arising from the oil with which the 
 hair is saturated— nature's provision against the icy 
 water in which they are so often required to work. 
 
 In Ireland, the place of their nativity, as the name 
 denotes, there were two varieties — the northern and 
 the southern, the latter being more generally known 
 as the " MacCarthy breed," after a gentleman of that 
 name. The northern breed is now, as far as recogni- 
 
spaniels. 21 
 
 tion goes, extinct, and it is scarcely probable that 
 there are any pure specimens living to-day. They 
 were lower on the leg than their brethren of the 
 south, averaging 19 or 20 inches in height at the 
 shoulder, with short legs, long bodies, close coats, 
 short ears, without feather, and altogether, to quote 
 l.Ir. J. S. Skidmore, " like a bad specimen of a liver- 
 colored retriever." The prevailing type of what is 
 now known as the Irish water spaniel was built up, 
 in fact owes its very existence to, Mr. Justin Mac- 
 Carthy, an Irish gentleman whose published des- 
 cription of the breed in- the London Field as far 
 back as 1859, is identical in all salient points with 
 the modern standard. At their legitimate work — 
 wild-fowl retrieving from the water — it is a question 
 if their superiors exist, not excepting even the 
 vaunted Chesapeake Bay dog; but in thorny, dense 
 coverts their curled coats and long heavily feathered 
 ears are a terrible handicap. Despite the willing- 
 ness of these plucky dogs to work a/iyic/ierc, the)' 
 cannot be considered good workers afield. As may 
 be imagined, the " wild Irishman " is a natural re- 
 triever and requires but little teaching to perfect him 
 in this branch, though he is inclined to be hard in 
 mouth, consequently the greatest care should be ex- 
 ercised in this branch of his education. 
 
2 2 Tlie Spaniel and Its T'uiniiig. 
 
 An extinct variety of the spaniel family is that 
 known as the English Water spaniel, and a sad pity 
 it is that the breed has been lost, for by what one 
 can gather from those who knew the dog, he must 
 have been a useful animal indeed. The breed is 
 said to have had its origin in a union of the old 
 world water dog and the spaniel. As retrievers of 
 wounded game they are said to have excelled, and 
 altogether appear to have been '•'varmints" for work. 
 
 The Clumber spmiel, some writers contend, is the 
 origin '1 land* spaniel, and their contention is cer- 
 tainly borne out by weighty evidence. About two 
 hundred years ago the immediate founders of the 
 present race were imported into England by the 
 then reigning Duke of Newcastle from the kennels 
 of the Due de Noailles in France. The name is de- 
 rived from the Nottinghamshire seat of the house 
 of Newcastle, Clumber, where they were taken on 
 iheir landing from France and have since been main- 
 tained. The breed is very scarce in America, and 
 strangely so, for not only are they beautiful and at- 
 tractive dogs, but workmen of the " Garter " order 
 of merit. In the water the Clumber is almost as 
 much at home as on the land, consequently he makes 
 a most excellent wild-fowl retriever. The light color, 
 however, is against him for this work, as it readily 
 
Spain els. 23 
 
 reveals his presence to the keen-eyed duck. The 
 Clumbers' scent is of the keenest, they range close 
 to the gun, require less training for field work than 
 does any other breed, and being perfectly mute when 
 on game, are enabled to draw right up to the birds 
 before flushing. The breed is fast gaining friends, 
 and soon I hope to see it receive the recognition 
 that is only its due. 
 
 The cradle of the Sussex spaniel may be said 
 to have been Rosehill, in the county of Sussex in 
 England. What the origin of the variety may have 
 been it is impossible to say, and while some writers 
 claim for it the palm of greater antiquity than any 
 other breed of the spaniel, it is noteworthy that 
 neither De Langley nor Caius mention dogs in any 
 way resembling the Sussex. From one cause and 
 another the breed became practically extinct in its 
 purity, and in 1872 several admirers of the handsome 
 "golden livers," notably Mr. T. B. Bowers, banded 
 together for the purpose of bringing about its re- 
 suscitation. Their efforts were crowned with suc- 
 cess, and we have now, in all probability, better 
 specimens of this beautiful and useful variety than 
 ever were before. In America they are scarce at 
 the time of writing; but no doubt when the dog be- 
 comes better known this will be remedied. They 
 
24 The Spaniel and Its Traifjing. 
 
 are dogs of unquestionable beauty, being of a rich 
 golden liver in color, and built on somewhat the same 
 lines as the Clumber, though, unlike that silent aris- 
 tocrat, they give tongue freely when at work. The 
 Sussex is an excellent dog afield. The most prob- 
 able reason for their lack of popularity with sports- 
 men is that the color blends so exactly with the 
 hues of an autumnal covert that the dog is in danger 
 of being shot, owing to his master's inability to de- 
 tect his exact whereabouts. This objection, however, 
 would not hold good with duck shooters, and I have 
 no doubt that they could readily be trained to do 
 duty in water as well as on land. 
 
 Though virtually extinct in its purity, the impress 
 of the Norfolk spaniel may still be seen in the liver 
 and white nondescript spaniels, of which one sees so 
 large a number. The writer owned a pure bred 
 Norfolk spaniel a dozen years or more ago. He was 
 a very beautiful and intelligent dog, but had been 
 spoiled for work afield when young, through having 
 been struck about the head with some stray pellets 
 of shot. They were exceedingly useful shooting 
 dogs, although arrant babblers, a most objectionable 
 trait in a sporting dog; but as an offset to this, the 
 Norfolk was good alike on or in either element. The 
 breed is said to have been originated by a Duke of 
 
spaniels. 25 
 
 Norfolk, hence the name. Youatt, in his work on 
 the dog, ascribes the origin to a union between the 
 black and tan terrier and the spaniel, but the state- 
 ment is most difficult to credit. 
 
 By far the most popular spaniels of the present 
 time are the black field and cockers. The blacks 
 were first brought prominently into public notice in 
 England by the late Sir Francis Burdette, and from 
 him the better known Mr. Phineas Bullock obtained 
 his best dogs. As for the origin of the variety, we 
 cannot do better than quote from the remarks of 
 Mr. 'lliomas Jacobs, of Newton Abbott, England, 
 who is facile princcps of admirers and breeders of 
 the black spaniel: 
 
 " Much has been written and said on the purity 
 of the breed, deprecating the means I have adopted 
 to produce them as calculated to alter a presumed 
 type, and frequent missiles have been hurled at me 
 and my dogs from behind the hedge. But where is 
 the pure bred black spaniel we hear so much about? 
 Proof of the existence of the pure bred one (if there 
 ever was one !) has not been forthcoming. Like 
 most sporting dogs, they are the result of different 
 crosses. 
 
 " I have bred many times from the most noted 
 dogs and bitches said to be the only pure strain of 
 
26 The Spaniel and Its Training. 
 
 black spaniel, and have never known them to throw 
 one even litter of blacks, always a mixture — liver, 
 black, black and white, black and tan; some with 
 long, some short, bodies and legs, curly, wavy and 
 smooth, and all sizes and shapes. 
 
 " What does this indicate? Common-sense tells 
 me a cross with different types, varieties and colors 
 some time or other must have been introduced. I 
 ndver can believe there ever was a distinct breed of 
 black spaniel, nor do I believe the Sussex is a dis- 
 tinct breed; it is true we can trace them back for 
 many generations, like we do the Laverack setter, 
 but how were they derived in the first place?" — 
 (From the Illustrated Book of the Dog.) 
 
 In popularity and in the number of its representa- 
 tives entered at our shows the black spaniel is sec- 
 ond only to the cocker spaniel. With their beautiful 
 jet black, glossy coats, and lean, ''blood-like" heads, 
 they form a most attractive feature of the show 
 benches, though candor obliges me to admit that as 
 at present bred the black spaniel would soon tire in 
 covert. When bred up a little more "on the leg," 
 however, they make rattling good workers. 
 
 There are, of course, field spaniels that display 
 colors other than liver and black, apart from the 
 Norfolk; but these may be classed with the blacks, 
 
tYom " The American Book of the Dog." 
 
 Clumber Spaniel Puppy "Quester," 
 Tlie property of Mr. F, H. F, Mercer. 
 
 Copyriglit. 
 
28 The Spaniel and Its Training. 
 
 as they are judged under the same standard, bar 
 the color of coat. 
 
 We now come to the most popular variety of its 
 family in America — the cocker. This, the smallest 
 of all sporting spaniels, was in early days more fre- 
 quently met in the ancient kingdom of Wales and 
 in the county of Devonshire, than elsewhere in the 
 British Isles. The name is derived from these dogs 
 having been principally used in woodcock shooting, 
 hence cocking spaniel — cocker. 
 
 That it is an actual and unadulterated breed no 
 one who has seen a litter of so-called cocker spaniels 
 can believe for one moment. Whether the toy spaniel 
 emanates from the cocker or vice versa it is impos- 
 sible to say, but it is significant that Youatt in his 
 book gives a fine steel engraving entitled "Blen- 
 heims and Cockers," that the ty])es of both are iden- 
 tically the same, and that that type is tJic toy. 
 
 The distinction drawn nowadays between cockers 
 and the field spaniels is merely one of weight, a 
 spaniel weighing over 28 lbs. having to compete in 
 the field class, and vice versa, no matter what the 
 characteristics of the individuals may be. The ab- 
 surdity of this must be apparent to any thinking man. 
 The great majority of the show cockers of the day 
 are nothing more nor less than small field spaniels. 
 
spaniels. 29 
 
 111 no breed of the spaniel has so great an altera- 
 tion been effected in structural formation as in the 
 cocker. From an active, lively little dog, rather high 
 on the leg, he has been moulded into a very long- 
 bodied, short-legged creature. A champion cocker 
 of to-day could not last through a hard day in covert 
 or marsh. 
 
 To quote an emment breeder, Dr. Boulton, of 
 Beverley, Yorkshire, who has done more than any 
 other man to rescue the cocker from oblivion : " While 
 the smallest of all sporting spaniels, he is neither a 
 weed nor a toy." Yet, surely the now prevailing 
 type is more of a toy than anything else ! The fol- 
 lowing letter was written to me by Dr. Boulton: 
 " You ask my opinion of the modern cocker spaniel 
 as a worker. I can only speak of my own breed and 
 can most confidently assure you, that after sending 
 specimens all over the world, /. <'., to most counties 
 of England, Scotland and Ireland, Wales, the Chan- 
 nel Islands, France, America, Australia, Smyrna, etc., 
 etc., the universal verdict has been Ai in the field. 
 As to their success on the show bench, I can say that 
 I never sent my dogs to any show where they failed 
 to score, and that most winners on the show benches 
 of late years have been the result of my breed or 
 crosses with my old strain. 
 
30 The Spaniel and Its Training. 
 
 " As to the history of my strain, I can look back 
 to when I was a lad aged twelve years, I was visiting 
 an uncle in York, who went to call on an old sport- 
 ing friend, taking me with him. I saw, and at first 
 sight fell in love with, his old-fashioned team oi liirr 
 and white ticked cocker spaniels, and on the spot 
 registered a vow that if ever I lived to be a man I 
 would have dogs like them. 
 
 " Many years passed over, and after settling here 
 in Beverley, January, 1855, my mind was fixed as 
 ever on the determination of my boyhood. Not a 
 spaniel of any kind was here nor in the neighbor- 
 hood. One day, however, when .the East York 
 militia was, for the first time, billeted in Beverley, I 
 was driving through the town and saw a militiaman 
 with a sweet little liver-colored cocker bitch. I 
 stopped him, ascertained where he was billeted and 
 made him promise not to sell the bitch till I had 
 seen him again. On my return I called on him and 
 bought this bitch. I found her nose perfect, also 
 that she was one of the most untiring little spaniels 
 I had ever met with. 
 
 " I crossed her with a black spaniel dog, passing 
 through the town the following year. His pedigree 
 I could not get, but he bore it on his face and type. 
 I then picked up, at a high figure, a real pedigree. 
 
spaniels. 3 1 
 
 old world black cocker dog, and crossed him with a 
 bitch of the first cross from the liver bitch, etc. Our 
 great judge, Mr. Lort, became deeply interested in 
 my earnest endeavors to save from extinction the old 
 English cocker, and from time to time wrote to me 
 where I could find a desirable cross or specimen, 
 I culled with the utmost determination all the blood 
 I could secure of the strain produced by the late Sir 
 Francis Burdette, and when I exhibited for the first 
 time at Manchester in the Puppy Class, my Rex and 
 Rhea, taking first prize with Rhea, second prize with 
 Rex, Mr. Lort, the judge, was delighted and proph- 
 esied the success that would surely attend my en- 
 deavors. Since Rex and Rhea won at Manchester, 
 I can only say I never exhibited without winning 
 prizes, and have scored at all our best shows, Bir- 
 mingham, Crystal Palace, etc., etc., etc. 
 
 " I fear all this rigmarole must sound very egotis- 
 tical, but it cannot be avoided when writing of one's 
 own productions. 
 
 " Of one thing I am confident, viz.: that the modern 
 show bench cocker cannot be of any practical use if 
 required for the work of the old world cocker. 
 
 " The face of our country is so altered that we 
 have little use for the cocker spaniel now, which once 
 was the very best all-round sporting dog in existence. 
 
32 The Spaniel and Its Training. 
 
 the most perfect in nose, and, at the same time, the 
 most active and untiring. 
 
 " Common sense and experience must convince 
 any thinking mind that a long, loiu dog, with com- 
 paratively weak loins, cannot possibly work so long 
 or with such activity as a shorter-backed animal on 
 straight legs and with good feet and a more perfect 
 concentration of muscular power. 
 
 " I feel sure that your ideas of ivhat a spaniel should 
 be agree with mine; indeed, I have been specially 
 struck with the practical ideas of American spaniel 
 fanciers on the points and necessary requirements of 
 this variety of sporting dog. All I can add in con- 
 clusion is this, if you, as you say you do, possess any 
 of the old Rhea strain, stick to it and treasure it as a 
 priceless possession, for in this country, since I gave 
 up breeding, our fanciers have so crossed the breed 
 that the very type is altered, and with this change I 
 fear its utility also." 
 
CHAPTER III. 
 
 SELECTION. 
 
 TOO much care cannot be taken in selecting a 
 dog, no matter what the breed, and spaniels 
 are not an exception to the general rule. It is wasted 
 time to spend days and weeks in the invariably vain 
 attempt to make a worker out of a dog that has no 
 natural ability. 
 
 A high-class working spaniel must come of work- 
 ing stock, be high-couraged, obedient, keen of scent, 
 enduring and persevering. A dog that will flinch 
 from a thorny thicket or funk a miry pond is of little 
 use, for just there the birds are most likely to lie. 
 
 A wild one can, with judicious handling, be 
 moulded into a most valuable animal, but the chances 
 are greatly against a timid animal turning out to be 
 of much use. For my part, the only dog I should 
 give up trying to train would be a timid, spiritless 
 
34 The Spaniel and Its Training. 
 
 creature, such as one so often sees. In time, one of 
 the crouching, nerveless wretches might be made 
 something of, but it would be so unlikely that I cer- 
 tainly should not persist in the attempt. Of course 
 if a person has plenty of spare time, and an insuffi- 
 ciency of the wherewithal to purchase another dog, 
 he needs must do the best that can be done with the 
 material at hand, and by dint of perseverance and 
 ceaseless patience perchance will succeed in making 
 a worker out of h'xs/ain^int. 
 
 In the first place, be sure to purchase a thorough- 
 bred, whatever the variety. He may turn out a rank 
 bad one, but the chances of his doing so are infini- 
 tesimally less than that of a mongrel's so doing. 
 The former comes of a "straight" stock, the latter 
 of the reverse; and while you may have owned, seen 
 or heard of a mongrel that was a good shooting dog, 
 you might have to try scores of curs and then not 
 get a decent worker. Probably for every good work- 
 ing cur there are five hundred thoroughbreds his 
 equal or superior, only one is so surprised at the 
 cur's good qualities, appearing where they do, that 
 he magnifies the performance to an undue degree. 
 Whereas from the thoroughbreds one expects much, 
 and little is thought of their achievements in conse- 
 quence. 
 
a H 
 
36 The Spaniel and Its Training. 
 
 We often hear and read of " common little yellow 
 dogs, part terrier and the rest just dog" that the 
 owner alleges he would not trade for acres of "blue- 
 bloods." How he once bought one of the "most 
 fashionable blood," a descendant of Rover and Ponto 
 and other like celebrities, who wasn't worth the price 
 of the powder and shot it would have taken to des- 
 troy him, and, therefore, he knocked the brute's 
 brains out with an axe. He does not mention how 
 many "just dogs" he has tried, yet, because the one 
 "blue blood" he owned was a failure, condemns all 
 all thoroughbred canines to outer darkness ! On 
 the same line of argument we might say that be- 
 cause we have known one worthless cur, there never 
 lived a cur worth his food. The contention cuts in 
 two directions. 
 
 Outside of the question of utility, it is most advis- 
 able to acquire a thoroughbred. In the first place, 
 instead of having to apologize for your dog's appear- 
 ance several times a day by veraciously recounting 
 his accomplishments as an offset to his ugliness, you 
 experience the pleasurable sensation of hearing re- 
 marks of admiration from friends and passers-by upon 
 his beauty. Then, too, it should be remembered that 
 there is more or less profit to be derived from the 
 ownership of a thoroughbred. If a bitch, she can be 
 
Selection. 37 
 
 bred to and the progeny sold. If a dog, his services 
 will be in requisition to a greater or a lesser extent, 
 as his individual merits warrant, even though he may 
 never have been exhibited. 
 
 Too many are led away by the promise of a puppy 
 out of Smith's Juno (pedigree and breed unknown). 
 She, mayhap, is a good-looking beast, and having 
 been bred to Jones' Ponto (whose antecedents are 
 an unknown quantity), the would-be dog-owner 
 reasons that the offspring should be something 
 " pretty good." In due course they appear upon 
 the scene, and are pretty — nearly all puppies are, in 
 a measure, and the happy recipient carries home the 
 little lump of fat and fur with jubilation. He rears it 
 with care and grows fond of it, but to his horror the 
 dog grows more and more ugly every day, and when 
 matured hangs about the house a constant source of 
 chagrin to its master. 
 
 If you wish to get hold of a worker, do not blindly 
 rush to buy a dog from out of the kennel that is win- 
 ning the greatest number of prizes in the show ring, 
 but inquire carefully whether the proprietors or keep- 
 ers are sportsmen and shoot over their winning stock. 
 I have in mind a prominent exhibitor of spaniels who, 
 in answer to my query as to whether he worked his 
 champions, replied: "When I want to go shooting I 
 
38 , The Spaniel and Its Training. 
 
 take my workers, Jack and Jill, Nebuchadnezzar 
 [his crackj, would have made a good one, but he 
 never was trained." 
 
 While I do not, for a moment, mean to infer that 
 prize takers cannot also be workers (indeed, I 
 know that such is not the case, and so can any one 
 ascertain who takes the trouble), I am alive to the 
 fact that many prominent kennels are made up of 
 dogs that not only have never heard a gun fired 
 afield, but are bred from generations of stock of the 
 same description, and such cannot be expected to 
 make useful animals. The aptitude for work is dead 
 within them. 
 
 Do not trust too much to advertisements of how 
 the dogs are regularly shot over each season. The 
 "shooting over," for all you know, may be only a 
 few random shots fired in the kennel yard by the 
 conscientious owner, though others, of less tender 
 sensibilities, may consider the statement in itself 
 sufficient, and refrain from a reckless expenditure of 
 ammunition. 
 
 Seek, rather, kennels of well-known blood that 
 are, beyond all doubt, good afield, and, if possible, 
 at the same time one whose dogs are up to show 
 form, for it largely adds to the value of a worker if he 
 is known to possess the qualification of good points. 
 
Selection. 39 
 
 The prevailing craze for spaniels so low that their 
 stomach feathering sweeps the ground, and so short 
 of limb that they can barely waddle, has sounded 
 the death-knell of some varieties, at all events in the 
 "show division," in so far as ability to work goes. 
 Why it has been done is a mystery to all, and the 
 only answer to be adduced is that "fancy" is to 
 blame. Even upon the score of beauty, the croco- 
 dile spaniels are behind. What unprejudiced man 
 can look at an engraving of Kaffir, and then at 
 Moonstone, and hesitate for a moment as to the 
 former being the handsomer dog ! I cannot see 
 why "low" in a standard should be construed into 
 meaning lowest, and "long" into longest. If the 
 craze goes much further an extra pair of legs will 
 have to be grafted on amidships to help the poor 
 seal -like spaniels crawl along. Extremes of any 
 kind are detestable, whether it be a pug-nosed, cow- 
 hocked mastiff, or a longest and lowest "modern" 
 spaniel; and I think and hope that the time is com- 
 ing when there will be a change. Mind you, I de- 
 test an over-leggy dog, but for that reason I do not 
 like one with no legs at all. 
 
 The trouble, to a great extent, lies in the fact that 
 no time nor trouble is devoted. to the breeding of 
 "common-sense" animals; consequently a judge, no 
 
40 The Spaniel and Its Training. 
 
 matter how favorably disposed, cannot consistently 
 give the leggy, bad-headed, bad-coated and bad all- 
 around "workers" brought before him the awards 
 over the heads of carefully bred and cared for 
 "show " animals. 
 
 A spaniel is a sporting dog; so are setters, point 
 ers and hounds. Would it not, then, be as sensible 
 to breed "long and low" setters as spaniels of that 
 type? One would have thought there were varieties 
 enough of non-sporting dogs for the fancy fiend to 
 turn his restless energies loose upon, and that so 
 grand a breed of working dogs as the spaniel could 
 be left "unimproved," but, alas! it is not so. The 
 fad is omnipresent, and every breed has been either 
 injured or benefited through its manipulations. 
 
 Were I selecting a general purpose spaniel, a 
 cocker should not be my choice. He is a good little 
 dog for his inches, but is physically incapable of 
 doing the work a larger spaniel can. He is unable, 
 for instance, to bring a black duck or goose out of 
 "bad" marshland, for he has not the requisite 
 strength and size to admit of the possibility of his so 
 doing. There is not enough dog. Even that through 
 and through cocker enthusiast, Mr. Fellows, has ac- 
 knowledged that for work he would rather have a 
 dog over than under the standard weight (28 lbs.). 
 
Selection. 41 
 
 Then, too, the cocker is, as a rule, more difificult to 
 train than one of the larger varieties, for he is more 
 impetuous and brims over with restlessness. My 
 choice would be in the direction of the larger vari- 
 eties. Clumber, Sussex, Norfolk or field, for there 
 is in them to be found the same capabilities for 
 work, with more power to do their duty and last 
 through it, at the same time, with less of impetuosity. 
 
 Nor must one expect to pick up a really first-class 
 spaniel for a song. He may succeed in doing so, 
 now and then, but certainly, like angels' visits, such 
 prizes will be few and far between. I often receive 
 letters of inquiry as to spaniels, in which the writers 
 occupy several pages in describing the good qualities 
 the dog they would buy must possess, and conclude 
 by saying that they will not give a "fancy price" for 
 the animal. No matter how moderate the price at 
 which you quote your stock, considering its quality, 
 breed and achievements, and, above all, the money 
 it has cost you to get together and maintain, these 
 people will howl " fancy price," probably for no other 
 reason than that they can buy a nondescript mongrel 
 for a "quarter." Every breeder of high-class stock 
 knows how hard it is to pay bare running expenses, 
 leaving out any consideration of the first outlay in 
 the purchase of stock entirely. What one dog makes 
 
42 The Spaniel and Its Training. 
 
 another loses, and so it goes. Food, attendance, 
 housing, medicines, exhibiting, taxes, traveling ex- 
 penses, etc., etc., cost money, and when all this is 
 considered no fair-minded man can help admitting 
 that $25 for a spaniel puppy of the best breeding 
 and form, from a famous kennel, is not an extrava- 
 gant price. 
 
C cy 
 
 ^ H 
 
CHAPTER IV. 
 
 PRELIMINARY HINTS. 
 
 BEFORE going into the details of training let 
 me impress upon you the vital importance of 
 keeping your temper under control. I am aware 
 that this is decidedly difficult, especially when one is 
 dealing with a wayward, heedless pupil, and I own 
 to having frequently lapsed from my creed under 
 trying circumstances. Still, every man can exercise 
 a certain amount of control over himself, and if one 
 wishes to meet with success in spaniel training, con- 
 trol his temper he must. 
 
 I had this brought forcibly before my notice not 
 more than two months ago when training a team of 
 spaniels. Among them was one that I had never 
 handled before, consequently she was obstinate and 
 very hard to manage. Her master was present and 
 took it upon himself to bring her into a proper state 
 
Preliminary Hints. 45 
 
 of behavior, but without success. He beat and beat, 
 and yelled and shouted, but nothing would she do 
 except either run away or lie down without moving. 
 
 After enduring this exhibition for some minutes, 
 I requested my friend to go away and leave the bitch 
 to me. In a quarter of an hour she was doing as 
 well or even better for me than any of the others! 
 I simply kept my temper and handled her judiciousl}^ 
 
 A dog studies the human face, and if he sees rage 
 depicted thereon is almost certain to become fearful 
 of what will follow, for intelligence teaches him that 
 something surely will follow. If he is a timid ani- 
 mal he becomes paralyzed with fear, and is incap- 
 able of entertaining any thought but of the chastise- 
 ment which he knows is impending. Is it likely, 
 then, that he can bestow proper attention upon his 
 work, when in constant terror of increasing your 
 displeasure? 
 
 There are those that tell us that dcgs cannot 
 reason. What folly! Reason, Webster says is, "A 
 thought or a consideration, as bearing on a deter- 
 mination or an opinion." * * * ^^ (JQg gggg yQ^ 
 take up your hat and immediately jumps up in the 
 hope of being allowed to follow you in your walk. 
 How could he do this did not your action bear on a 
 determination in his mind that you were going out? 
 
46 The Spaniel and Its Training. 
 
 This is but a single exemplification of scores that one 
 may observe, if he but takes the trouble, any day of 
 the year. 
 
 Try to be kind, not brutal, with your dog — it will 
 pay better in the end. Do not shout and scream at 
 him in a frenzy — it frightens the game and gives you 
 a sore throat. Use the whip as little as possible, but 
 when its use is necessary, apply it with telling effect. 
 One good, sound whipping is worth a dozen taps, 
 and " Oh! you naughty dog, don't do so again." 
 
 If you find it necessary to punish, call the dog to 
 you, and taking hold of him by the throat, under- 
 neath, make him look up in your face, and chide 
 him severely, taking care to leave no doubt in his 
 mind about your being displeased with him. Should 
 the offense be of so flagrant a nature as to merit a 
 whipping in expiation, scold him at the time you are 
 
 plying the lash, saying, " Bad dog for doing 
 
 (name the offense), bad dog !" 
 
 Of the rival systems, training and breaking, the 
 results are generally as follows: The trained dog 
 obeys and works because he takes pleasure in the 
 performance of his duty; the broken dog works me- 
 chanically and in constant fear; in short, he is afraid 
 not to. Which, think you, would it be the pleasanter 
 to spend a day afield over ? 
 
Preliminary Hints. 47 
 
 Gain the confidence of your dog. Never deceive 
 nor play cruel tricks with him. There may be an 
 immense amount of fun to be derived from holding 
 a lighted cigar for a puppy to smell at, though for 
 my part I can't see where the joke comes in; but I 
 don't think any one will say that the dog enjoys 
 it, nor that it is conducive to gaining his confidence. 
 
 Be gentle, kind and considerate. Remember that 
 a dog has feelings just as you or I have, and that 
 you can offend him just as you can a human being. 
 Above all, therefore, be patient and keep your temper. 
 
 "You should have your dog so that he will tremble 
 when you look at him and crouch to the ground when 
 you speak to him." Such was the dictum of a sports- 
 man of forty years' standing, as expressed to me 
 some years ago. I did not say anything; neverthe- 
 less I thought a lot, among the visions being, that to 
 my certain knowledge he had never owned even a 
 fairly good dog, supplemented by the notion that 
 his system of training was to blame, not the poor 
 dogs. 
 
 Never kick your dog, for there is no knowing what 
 injury a careless kick may do. A man's leg is tre- 
 mendously strong, much stronger than his arm, and 
 there is nothing easier than to fracture a couple of 
 ribs, break a shoulder, or do some equally serious 
 
48 The Spaniel and Its Training. 
 
 hurt by a kick. A man who will kick a dog does 
 not deserve to have one. 
 
 And another thing, letane pray you — do not teach 
 your spaniel to tree grouse. Therein lies the secret 
 of the decimation this matchless species has under- 
 gone, for how can a bird sitting in a tree escape your 
 shot! Is it any more sportsmanlike to shoot a 
 "treed" grouse than a hen sitting on a fence? Pur- 
 sued with setter or springing spaniel there can be no 
 more wily bird than an old cock grouse; but when a 
 "treeing" cur is after him, he has not as much sense 
 as a barn-door fowl, by half. 
 
 Just as human beings display temperaments di- 
 rectly opposed to one another, so do dogs, and a 
 successful trainer of spaniels will always be a good 
 judge of dog nature. Scarcely any two dogs can be 
 handled alike, each has his peculiarities, and it should 
 be the trainer's study to learn their characters and 
 treat them accordingly. He must understand his 
 dogs. 
 
CHAPTER V. 
 
 FIRST LESSONS. 
 
 WHF.N a spaniel puppy is between two and four 
 months he is usually taken from his dam. 
 For my part I prefer the earlier age, as the pup be- 
 comes more attached to one, as he is of necessity 
 more dependent upon you at the earlier age. 
 
 Some sportsmen believe it to be inadvisable to be- 
 gin training a pup that is less than four or six months 
 old; but if my advice is followed you will commence 
 the lessons when the little creature is two to three 
 weeks old. 
 
 This, probably, strikes you as being absurd, but it 
 is not. The lesson is not a very advanced one, to be 
 sure, yet a lesson it is, nevertheless, and, moreover, 
 the first step of the ladder. Of course in this case I 
 am supposing you to be the owner or keeper of the 
 dam and her nurslings. 
 
50 The Spaniel and Its Training. 
 
 When going to the kennel where the bitch is con- 
 fined with her puppies, make it a practice to whistle 
 as you would if signalling to the grown dogs. It is 
 well for every dog owner to have his own peculiar 
 whistle, that the dogs may become accustomed to it 
 and therefore enabled to distinguish it from others. 
 Young as the puppies are, your whistling will attract 
 their attention, and in time, when they are old enough 
 to seek a little food themselves, they will at once be 
 on the alert and keep a sharp watch for whatever 
 may be "going." I have myself had puppies of only 
 three weeks old, which, whenever I went into their 
 kennel, would run to the feeding-pan, around which 
 they would range themselves, and, sitting on their 
 haunches, look expectantly up into my face. Young 
 as they were, they knew whence came the dainties. 
 
 Should there be any trace of gunshyness in their 
 parental tree (and in what strain is there not?) it is 
 well to guard against its reappearance by making 
 noises when taking your pups their food. Begin, 
 say, by banging a tin basin, gently at first, with a 
 stick, and gradually hitting harder and harder, mak- 
 ing a proportionately increased uproar thereby. 
 
 When they cease to present any symptoms of fear, 
 it is well to advance a step, firing a child's toy-pistol 
 close by them, taking care that it does not make an 
 
Cocker Spaniel Bitch Champion " Khea, 
 The property of Dr. W. W. Boulton. 
 
52 The Spaniel a/ui Its Training. 
 
 overloud report. Confirmed gunshyness and its cure 
 will be touched upon further on. 
 
 If it is to be managed, by any possibility, bring 
 up two puppies together. For many reasons it is ad- 
 visable — they keep one another company, and there- 
 by that dreadful squalling, vvith which a lonely, fright- 
 ened puppy regales you throughout the " watches 
 of the night," is prevented. It is but little more 
 trouble, teaching two puppies than one, and often 
 there is a rivalry between them that is a most advan- 
 tageous aid to rapid progress. 
 
 Let us suppose, then, that you have your puppy 
 at home, safe and sound. He has already been ac- 
 customed to the whistle, so that is done with. First 
 make him understand that when you call or whistle 
 it means that he is wanted. It is well to christen 
 him at the outset, and always to use his name when 
 addressing him. "Baby talk" I find most useful in 
 gaining a new puppy's confidence, and in teaching 
 him his name, for while fondling him I interlard the 
 nonsense with his name as plentifully as possible. 
 
 Should he refuse to come when called, catch hold 
 of him and putting the hands behind his shoulders, 
 drag him to the spot where you stood when the first 
 call was given, saying, while doing so, " Come here, 
 good dog. Jack, come here." Be careful to be gentle 
 
First Lessons. 53 
 
 and that you do not betray in the sHghtest any mark 
 of the anger and annoyance you may feel at his dis- 
 regard of your orders. He is but a baby, bear in 
 mind. 
 
 When you come to your former standing place, 
 let him go free and praise and pet him, saying, 
 " Good dog, Jack, for coming here, good dog." At 
 the same time bestow some dainty upon him, there- 
 by inducing him to come when called in future in 
 the hope of receiving similar rewards. 
 
 Care should be taken against having any one pres- 
 ent when a lesson is in progress. Neither should 
 even an old dog be near during these preliminary 
 lessons, for it would only serve to distract the pup's 
 attention from the business in hand. 
 
 Then, too, he should have but one instructor, for 
 no matter if their systems of training are indentically 
 the same, there is yet a difference in manner and in 
 voice. 
 
 Prevent his playing with children as you would 
 shun a pestilence; in fact, the less a working-dog 
 sees of children the better. Though it may be with- 
 out your knowledge, they will throw sticks and 
 stones for him to fetch, and then what becomes of 
 his "mouth?" Especially when, as is oftimes their 
 practice, they hold on to one end of the stick while 
 
54 The Spaniel and Its Traiiii/ig. 
 
 the dog grabs the other extremity and a " tug of 
 war" for its possession ensues. They will encour- 
 age him to chase birds and cats and run riot gener- 
 ally. If you wish the children to have a pet, buy 
 them one by all means; but unless you wish your 
 spaniel ruined, lay an interdict against their making 
 a playmate of him. 
 
 In these first lessons do not dream of whipping or 
 scolding your pupil, neither employ a check-cord, 
 choke-collar, or other restraining device. The pup 
 must be made to look up to you as a companion and 
 a friend, not as a taskmaster and an enemy. 
 
 Many sportsmen believe in field training only for 
 their spaniels; that is, in taking them out on the first 
 of the season and, without preliminary training of 
 any kind, with the aid of boot-toe and whip, bring- 
 ing them under some sort of subjection. But a dog 
 so " trained " is scarcely likely to turn out a success 
 as a worker, and the treatment being a " kill or cure " 
 one appears to me most undesirable. 
 
 When I think of the splendid work I have got out 
 of house-trained spaniel puppies on their first morn- 
 ing afield, I cannot help but be an advocate for pre- 
 liminary training. 
 
 Undue haste cannot be too strongly deprecated. 
 See that your pupil is thoroughly familiar with and 
 
First Lessons. 55 
 
 grounded in the rudiments before you advance to 
 higher branches. It is just as with a boy at school. 
 He must learn his ABC before he can read or 
 write, and so must your spaniel learn /its alphabet 
 before he can graduate in the field. 
 
 For my part, I should not dream of taking a 
 youngster afield unless he had been house-trained 
 previously. In my opinion, it is folly, pure and sim- 
 ple. It takes but five minutes, or ten, here and there, 
 for a month or two, while you are waiting for dinner 
 or breakfast, thoroughly to house-train your dog. 
 With him you can enjoy good sport the first day you 
 take him out, whereas with a spaniel whose teaching 
 has been reserved until the commencement of the 
 shooting, you would have precious little fun for days 
 and weeks to come. Where a man has a couple of 
 steady old spaniels, it is different, for the puppies 
 will speedily learn to imitate them; but even in that 
 rare case it is best to house-train, more or less. 
 
 I no longer give myself further trouble than to 
 train my puppies to come when called, "heel," etc. 
 A few days out with the old dogs and they are all 
 right. My pups of the last three years will actually 
 drop what they may be carrying at the command of 
 "dead," and this without having been trained at all ! 
 
 When you find it necessary to punish your pupil, 
 
56 The Spaniel and Its Training. 
 
 do so without the least delay, so that he may not be 
 in doubt as to wherein he has erred. If sufficient 
 time has elapsed between the committal of the mis- 
 demeanor and his coming within your reach to ad- 
 mit of the possibility of his having forgotten wherein 
 he has done wrong, do not punish him. 
 
 Above all, do not weary your pupil with prolonged 
 lessons. When he exhibits any signs of indifference, 
 discontinue the lesson for that day. 
 
 Do not expect your dogs to learn everything at 
 once. It took you a long time to learn reading and 
 writing, and though you may say that the hunting 
 sense is bred into sporting dogs, are not the "three 
 Rs" bred into the bone in you? 
 
CHAPTER VI. 
 
 RETRIEVING. 
 
 THE first "field" lesson that should be taught 
 is that of retrieving. I consider it the first 
 because the most easily taught and the one in which 
 the least amount of compulsion is necessary; for the 
 puppy engages in it in pla)^ but before he knows 
 what he is about, it becomes one of the ruling pas- 
 sions of his life. Who can doubt this, when once he 
 has seen a retriever begging to have something 
 thrown for him to fetch, and quivering from head to 
 foot with excitement at the anticipation of a plunge 
 amid the ice of a half-frozen river. 
 
 I must impress upon you of what vital importance 
 it is that your pupil should never have been allowed 
 to carry sticks, stones, or other hard substances in 
 his mouth, nor yet allowed to tear and maul, for it 
 will inevitably make him "hard in the mouth." 
 
58 The Spaniel and Its Training. 
 
 Never yield to the dog — it is ruination. He must, 
 from the outset, learn that he is to follow your wishes, 
 not his own. 
 
 Some sportsmen advocate delaying training to re- 
 trieve until the puppy has lost his milk teeth, for, 
 they contend, a dog is apt to be hard - mouthed 
 should the exercises be begun earlier. In my ex- 
 perience, following as I have the hereinafter des- 
 cribed system, I have experienced no evil results 
 from training dogs to retrieve at the earliest ages. 
 I have in mind a spaniel in my kennel at the present 
 moment that will catch and kill a rat one minute, 
 squeezing the vermin into a pulp in so doing, and 
 the next carry an ^g^ in his mouth without breaking 
 it ! It is all a matter of training. 
 
 Take an old and soft woolen sock, and after roll- 
 ing it into a ball, stitch it through and through to 
 prevent its coming unrolled. Then get the puppy 
 by himself in a room. Sit down on the floor and 
 call him to you. After fondling liun for a little, 
 show him the ball and push it in his face, so that he 
 will attempt to take it, and after making sure that 
 he sees what is being done, throw it away a few 
 inches. He will run to pick it up. 
 
 When he does so, call to him, saying, " Come here 
 and fetch it, Jack." If he brings the ball, praise and 
 
Cocker Spanikl Dog Ciiami>io\ "Or.o II. 
 The property of Mr. J. P. Willey. 
 
6o The Spaniel and Its Training. 
 
 pet him without stint, and take good care that he 
 receives some dainty by way of reward. Whatever 
 you do, do not pull the ball out of his mouth, for 
 he will think there is no better fun than to pull, too, 
 and if this practice grows upon him your birds will 
 not look very well when sent to the kitchen or pre- 
 sented to a friend. Holding him with one hand by 
 the ''scruff" of the neck, take the ball in the other, 
 saying, " Dead!" 
 
 Should he refuse to deliver, as almost of course 
 he will, force the jaws open by inserting the thumb 
 and second finger at the base of the jaws and press- 
 ing in hard. Then take the ball out of his mouth, 
 saying while doing so, "DeadI Dead!" 
 
 Some sportsmen prefer to have the dog lay the 
 bird down at their feet when retrieved, while others 
 will not tolerate anything but a delivery into the 
 hand. Where the bird is a wounded one and able 
 to run, the latter plan is by far the more desirable 
 of the two for obvious reasons. 
 
 Of course the dog must be thoroughly trained to 
 drop whatever he may be carrying when the order 
 " Dead " is given. It is often convenient to have a 
 sign take the place of a verbal command, as for in- 
 stance, when you are duck shooting and birds are 
 near. If then, when you deliver the verbal order. 
 
Retrieving. 6i 
 
 you point the -right arm at him, holding the fore- 
 finger out and the other fingers folded, he will 
 speedily connect the two, and in the future a sign 
 only will be necessary. 
 
 Just as with a blind-deaf-mute, so with a dog. 
 You must first gain a starting point in his under- 
 standing, and so pass on and up in regular sequence, 
 taking care always to keep "in touch" and not to 
 hurry your pupil. 
 
 Should the pup refuse to bring the ball to you, 
 but either not notice it or run away into a corner 
 with it and there indulge in a game of play, go to 
 him in either event, and forcing the ball into his 
 mouth, hold it there while at the same time you 
 drag him to the place you threw from, whereupon 
 proceed as before directed. 
 
 Very gradually increase the distance of your 
 throw, making the pup fetch further and further as 
 he progresses. It is, indeed, a dull puppy that will 
 not speedily learn to retrieve the thrown ball in a 
 lesson or two, for he enjoys the fun and unwittingly 
 learns the lesson, thinking it but a game of play. 
 
 Make a point of obliging him to fetch the ball 
 close up to you, whether he delivers to hand or drops 
 the object at your feet; for, unless you do so, he 
 may develop a habit of setting down a wounded 
 
62 The Spaniel and Its Training. 
 
 bird far from you to please himself, dnd this might 
 prove decidedly awkward, to express it mildly. 
 
 It is well to train the dogs to seek things that you 
 have dropped, either purposely or accidentally. 
 When you see his eye is upon you, set down the ball, 
 and saying, "Dead," make him go with you a few 
 steps, then say, "Go back and fetch," waving your 
 arm in the required direction. Should he refuse to 
 obey the order, walk back with him, and pointing to 
 the ball, proceed as before. If he still persists in 
 his refusal to obey orders, go back again, and placing 
 the object in his mouth, force him to bring it to 
 where you stood. When this first step has been ac- 
 complished, gradually increase the distance until at 
 last you can send him back for hundreds of yards 
 and even miles to look for a thing he has not seen 
 you set down. 
 
 Although this last mentioned accomplishment is 
 not by any means necessary, it is as well to teach it 
 to your pupil, as it not only may be useful at some 
 time or other, but causes your spaniel to be more 
 alert and to keep his eye constantly upon you. I 
 remember being in a shop with a six months old 
 spaniel that I was training. I had paid for my pur- 
 chase and gone out when I noticed that the pup 
 seemed anxious to attract my attention. After a bit 
 
J^r.trieving. (>t^ 
 
 I stopped and asked him what he wanted, when he 
 dropped a $io bill at my feet. On examining my 
 "wad" I found that it was short just that amount, 
 therefore 1 must have unknowingly lost it in the 
 shop. That lesson, consequently, brought me out 
 ahead just an X. 
 
 Several of my spaniels have a peculiar trick of 
 bringing me what I term a "present" when I return 
 home. Whatever may come first to mouth, a stick, 
 boot, piece of bone or paper, they at once take up 
 and bring to me, walking round and round proudly. 
 One bitch that my brother keeps for me in the 
 country has developed this trait to a rather unpleas- 
 ant extent, for after he has given her a beating or a 
 scolding for some misdemeanor, he finds it well to 
 examine carefully between the sheets before getting 
 into bed, for, likely as not, Maude will have deposited 
 tokens of peace there in the shape of old bones, dead 
 mice and such like curiosities. One day, probably 
 finding nothing else conveniently near, she took up 
 a three or four days old chicken from a clutch that 
 was running about, to present my brother on his ar- 
 rival. He was later than usual that day, and the 
 housekeeper, who saw the bitch take up the chicken, 
 vouches for it that she carried it about lox two hours. 
 The servants tried to take it from her, but she would 
 
64 Tlic Spaniel and Its Training. 
 
 give it to none of them. On my brother's return 
 they dried the chicken and it suffered no evil effects 
 from the adventure. 
 
 When the thrown ball has been nicely retrieved, 
 we can advance the pupil a step, and to teach him 
 to quest about for an object that he cannot see. 
 Some sportsmen believe in employing pieces of meat 
 or biscuit for this, but, for my part, I incline to using 
 a game bird's wing. "Train up a child in the way 
 he should go, and when he is old he will not depart 
 from it," you know. 
 
 When you have accustomed him to the change 
 from the ball to the feathers, show them to the pup 
 and put him out of the room. Then place the wing 
 in some out-of-the-way corner, and, opening the 
 door, say, "Seek dead and fetch him out," motion- 
 ing at the same time in the direction he is to go, 
 with the right hand. I say with the right, because 
 it is generally the custom to hold the gun after firing 
 in the left hand as in unloading, and the right hand 
 is free. Should he fail to understand your meaning, 
 go yourself to where the wing is hidden, show it to 
 him, taking care that he does not seize it, saying, 
 "Dead bird," then return to where you at first stood 
 and repeat the order, signalling, at the same time, 
 in the manner before described. 
 
Retrieving. 65 
 
 Most probably he will obey and fetch, but if not, 
 why you must force him to do as he is told. As he 
 progresses, hide the wing in more and more out-of- 
 the-way places, until at length he will search the 
 house from cellar to attic in hope of finding it. It 
 will be well, after a time, to use two or three wings, 
 which must be hidden in different places, and the 
 spaniel must be made to retrieve one after the other 
 until all are found, for unless this is done, he may, 
 when two or more birds are down, retrieve the first 
 one perfectly, but utterly refuse to even quest for 
 the others. Indeed, I have myself had instances of 
 this, and very annoying it is, I can assure you. 
 
 A spaniel remembers whatever may have been 
 taught him in his youth, and a habit once formed in 
 him is most difficult to eradicate. For instance, 
 once when training two dogs I forgot to make them 
 keep literally at heel, /. <?., with nose just in a line 
 with my heels when walking, and now they insist 
 upon running, when at heel, with their head or noses 
 in a line with my knee. This, as may be conceived, 
 is most annoying, especially when one has a com- 
 panion, as t]|eir heads constantly rub against one's 
 legs. Even now they could be broken of this an- 
 noying trick by my having a "snap" fastened to the 
 end of a stick about three feet in length This 
 
66 The Spaniel and Its Training. 
 
 would be attached to their collars and by means of 
 the stick they could be held at the proper distance 
 behind, until at length they would, by force of habit, 
 remain there. It is a very tiresome plan, but a most 
 efificacious one. 
 
 While the retrieving lessons are- in progress, take 
 especial pains to insure the pup's always being suc- 
 cessful in the search. Should he be unable to find 
 the object that he is sent in search of, show him 
 where it is hidden and then make him fetch. On 
 no account deceive the youngster by sending him 
 off on false scents or by pretending to throw, for 
 by no means must his confidence in you be shaken. 
 
 It is well, after he has been thoroughly grounded 
 in retrieving indoors, to take him out where the 
 vegetation is not too dense and there practice the 
 pup at finding hidden wings and so forth. Indeed, 
 should he not display a sufficient degree of eager- 
 ness it will be well to scatter small bits of well boiled 
 bullock's liver broadcast among the bushes, to en- 
 courage him to quest about. 
 
 A spaniel is apt to depend too much upon sight 
 in retrieving, unless steps are taken l(# prevent it, 
 and for this I think there cannot be anything better 
 than to have the lessons take place frequently at 
 night and in the dark Nothing can be simpler, and 
 
Cocker Spaniel Dog Champion " Hornell Silk," 
 The property of Mr. J. Otis Fellows. 
 
68 The Spaniel and Its Training. 
 
 it is undoubtedly most efficacious. I myself have 
 spaniels that will find and retrieve a stranger's walk- 
 ing-stick just as readily at night as by daylight, and 
 that no matter how far it may have been cast. 
 
 From the first, when throwing the ball for him to 
 retrieve, wave your hand in its direction, and when 
 he is to quest for a hidden thing, motion toward 
 the place where it is hidden. Thus he will, in time, 
 learn that he is to quest in the quarter indicated. 
 In time a spaniel will begin to understand less marked 
 signals, and a nod of the head either forward or to 
 right or left will suffice to teach him in what direc- 
 tion he is to go. 
 
CHAPTER VII. 
 
 RETRIEVING FROM THE WATER. 
 
 'TT^HE first lesson in retrieving from the water 
 -*- should be given on a warm, sunshiny day. 
 when the water is temperate and the spaniel will not 
 become chilled. I once taught a spaniel to retrieve 
 in the springtime, when the water was full of ice, 
 and the dog had frequently to break his way through 
 to get at the object thrown. He turned out the best 
 retriever I have ever seen, yet I cannot recommend 
 any one to do likewise, for had he not been a prac- 
 ticed land retriever already and a very high-couraged 
 animal besides, I am convinced he would have been 
 ruined for good and all as a water retriever. 
 
 The place selected should be one where the beach 
 shelves very gradually, and on no account must 
 there be deep holes near the shore, into which the 
 
7© The Spaniel and Its Training. 
 
 beginner might stumble out of his depth and so ac- 
 quire a horror of the element. 
 
 Into the woolen sock we used at the outset some 
 shavings of cork should be rolled to float it, and if a 
 pair of duck wings are added it will be the better. 
 This should first be thrown just at the water's edge, 
 where the pup can reach it without wetting his feet. 
 After he has retrieved a few times and commences 
 to gain confidence in the new lesson, throw the ball 
 a little further, obliging the pup to wet his feet. 
 Accustom him to this and then throw further still, so 
 that he has to go well out to retrieve. 
 
 The greatest patience should be exercised in this, 
 as undue haste may spoil all. Do not be in a hurry 
 for him to swim out to retrieve, but for the first few 
 days be content with letting him paddle about and 
 get used to being in the water. On no account 
 whatever throw the puppy in out of his depth, for 
 most likely it will cause him to dread it in future, 
 and an infinite amount of trouble may be entailed in 
 overcoming his distaste for the element. He is 
 young and does not know how to swim, beyond 
 what nature teaches him. Just think of what your 
 own feelings were as a child when some big boy 
 thought it a huge joke to "chuck" you into water 
 beyond your depth; and then apply them to the 
 
Retrieving front the Water. 71 
 
 puppy with the reservation that while you knew 
 that help was at hand and that you would not be 
 allowed to drown, the pup does not. 
 
 When by degrees you have induced your pupil to 
 swim a little distance to retrieve the ball, your task 
 is well-nigh accomplished, and time will do the rest. 
 Bear in mind, always, that he must on no account 
 be permitted to come ashore, leaving the ball in the 
 water. 
 
 Keep him at it for hours if necessary, and if he 
 then fails to retrieve, fetch it yourself either by wad- 
 ing, swimming, or by means of a boat. Whatever 
 of persistency you may exhibit there will be im- 
 pressed upon him and bear fruit in after years. 
 
 You will have remembered to reward him both by 
 praise and by more substantial evidences of your 
 appreciation in the way of dainties for good be- 
 havior. To teach diving, weight the worsted sock 
 with shavings of lead and throw it first into water 
 an inch deep. Do not be in too great a hurry, and 
 for some time throw only into water of about one 
 foot deep, where he will wet only his head in reach- 
 ing for the ball. When he has become accustomed 
 to this, increase the depth of the water into which 
 you send him until he will at length dive entirely 
 out of sight. 
 
72 The Spaniel and Its Trai>n'ng. 
 
 While it is often useful to have with you a spaniel 
 that will dive, as, for instance, when he is in chase 
 of a wounded duck, it is inadvisable to let him do 
 much of it, for diving is apt to bring on deafness 
 and even to cause canker of the ear. 
 
 In water retrieving as well as land work the spaniel 
 must be made to work by signals of hand as well as 
 by voice. Often when waves are running high you 
 can see the position of the bird, while your dog, 
 being so low in the water, cannot, and thus you are 
 enabled to direct his movements. 
 
 When one duck is dead and another wounded, the 
 dog should be made to go after the latter first. He 
 will, most probably, do this instinctively, but, if not, 
 when you see him catch hold of the dead bird, say, 
 "Dead!" and point toward the wounded one, say- 
 ing, "Go fetch." Insist upon his retrieving it first, 
 as the wounded one will probably give him some 
 trouble to catch, thereby giving him a zest for the 
 pursuit that he will afterward remember, and make 
 for the bird likely to give him the greatest amount 
 of fun when next an opportunity occurs. 
 
CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 " HEEL." — " HIE ON." 
 
 WHILE the retrieving lessons were in progress, 
 you could have begun teaching your spaniel 
 to "heel" and to ' hie on." 
 
 When out walking with your pupil and he is run- 
 ning on ahead, call, "Come here and heel!" and 
 when he approaches in obedience to your order 
 "Come here," push him behind you, saying, "Heel, 
 heel," accompanying the order with a low, backward 
 motion of the left hand. 
 
 Make him stay behind you for some little time, 
 and if he attempts to break away or lag behind, 
 bring him to heel again, tapping him smartly with 
 your cane in punishment, saying, at the same time, 
 "Heel, heel." 
 
 Then, w^hen he is running steadily at heel, say. 
 
74 TJic Spaniel and Its Trainin»;. 
 
 suddenly, " Hie on !" waving the right hand forward 
 and running a few steps to start him. 
 
 Another good plan, one that can be commenced 
 even earlier is, when the puppy runs forward to get 
 at his food, to hold him back from it, saying, while 
 doing so, " Heel, heel." After holding him so for a 
 few seconds loose your hold and say " Hie on I" 
 
 However it may be done, the lesson of heeling 
 must be taught most thoroughly, for it is of the 
 greatest importance that he should be obedient in 
 this particular. 
 
 A spaniel can also be taught to heel by means of 
 a check-cord and choke-collar in much the same 
 manner as his range is restricted, as explained later on. 
 
Cocker Spaniel Dog Chami-ton "Doc," 
 The property of Mr. A. C, Wilmerding. 
 
CHAPTER IX. 
 
 DROPPING TO HAND, COMMAND, SHOT AND WING. 
 
 WHILE dropping to hand, command, shot or 
 whig are refinements in spaniel training, 
 and but Httle taught in this country for the reason 
 that it takes rather too much time for the benefit 
 to be derived from it, still a spaniel cannot be con- 
 sidered thoroughly educated unless possessed of this 
 accomplishment. 
 
 In the days of muzzle-loaders, dropping to shot 
 was a necessity; for if spaniels continued questing 
 after the gun had been discharged, there was every 
 chance of their springing game before it had been 
 reloaded, and thus birds were lost that otherwise 
 would certainly have been brought to bag. With 
 the breech-loader, however, no time worth mention- 
 ing is taken up in reloading, so if the shot has been 
 unsuccessful, there is little danger of a bird's being 
 
Dropping to Hand, Command, Shot, Wing. 77 
 
 flushed before you have had time to reload. Then, 
 too, few of us are so fortunate as to have the shoot- 
 ing of coverts where game birds are flushed, one 
 after another, with httle intermission. 
 
 Of course there is this to be said in favor of drop- 
 ping spaniels, that it tends to keep them in check 
 and prevents their running riot to a great extent, 
 and with a team of spirited spaniels this is quite a 
 consideration. 
 
 It is not well to teach dropping to hand, etc., 
 until the puppy is of an age to understand it well, 
 say. eight months to one year old, or at almost any 
 age up to two or three years. Therefore, there need 
 be no especial hurry about beginning the lessons. 
 
 Take your pupil to the room in which the lessons 
 are usually given, and while he is standing beside 
 you, say, sharply, "Drop," forcing him flat upon the 
 ground where he stands. Force him to remain there 
 by keeping your foot upon him, saying the while, 
 "Drop, drop." After a few moments remove your 
 foot and say, "Hie on," or "Up," to hmi, waving 
 your right hand forward at the same time, and make 
 him rise. 
 
 When giving the verbal command you will simul- 
 taneously have held the right arm erect above the 
 shoulder, and on giving the order to "hie on," you 
 
7 8 The Spaniel and Its Training::;. 
 
 will have lowered the arm at once. I say the right, 
 because it can best be spared, for you can hold the 
 gun to better advantage with the left hand. In time 
 he will learn to associate the verbal command with 
 the signal and so drop to it alone. 
 
 When he will unfailingly drop to hand, take some 
 fire-arm, a muzzle-loading horse-pistol is the most 
 convenient, and after charging it* with but a few 
 grains of powder, discharge it, at the same time or- 
 dering him, both by voice and signal, to "drop." 
 Continue this until he has begun to draw the con-- 
 nection between the pistol shot and the other orders 
 of which he already understands the meaning. 
 
 Dropping to wing may be taught by giving the 
 command to drop when the bird rises. This to be 
 continued until the spaniel understands the connec- 
 tion and has drawn the conclusion that naturally 
 follows. 
 
 In the reading this appears to be a most tedious 
 business, but it is not really half so bad as it seems. 
 I myself have taught a three-year-old spaniel to drop 
 to hand in two short lessons; but then, of course, 
 there are spaniels and spaniels, and all are not alike. 
 
 A spaniel that is to be used for duck retrieving 
 should not be allowed to drop to shot, nor indeed, 
 be trained in this accomplishment. For instance, 
 
Dropping to Hand, Command, Shot, IPlng, 79 
 
 you have wounded a duck, which falls some distance 
 off into the water. How is the dog to see where it 
 has fallen if he is crouching in the long grass or on 
 the floor of the hide ? A good duck dog will himself 
 watch every movement of a bird and know just 
 where to go, no matter how far away it may fall. 
 He will keep a constant lookout for birds, and when 
 he sees them coming, will apprise you of the fact; 
 thus, if you are indolently inclined, saving you the 
 trouble of watching. Immediately at the shot, he 
 will run out of the grass, should it be possible, to 
 note its effect, and if there is no spot available he 
 will stand on his hind-legs, jump, or in some way 
 get a peep at the bird. 
 
 A spaniel that you intend using both for upland 
 and marsh shooting should not be taught to drop to 
 shot, though it will be found useful to have him drop 
 to voice and sign. 
 
CHAPTER X. 
 
 GUNSHYNESS. 
 
 MUCH has been written and said on the subject 
 of gunshyness, some maintaining that a dog 
 cannot be cured of it, while others deem the opposite 
 to be the case. For my own part, I consider that in 
 the majority of cases gunshyness is curable, though 
 in many it is certainly not. I remember once shoot- 
 ing over a six-months-old cocker bitch that promised 
 splendidly, and showed not the least sign of gun- 
 shyness, much the reverse, mdeed. Yet the next 
 season at the first shot she ran off and hid herself, 
 and it took men and dogs half an hour to find and 
 recapture her. Strange to say, I was never able to 
 cure her, and the shyness has run through to the 
 third generation of her descendants. So one must 
 not count too much on the behavior of a puppy. 
 The methods for overcoming the fault are man}- 
 
Gunshyness. 8i 
 
 and various. If a puppy has been accustomed to 
 startling noises from the outset, 1 think the chances 
 of his turning out gunshy are infinitesimal. The 
 manner of doing this has already been described. 
 
 An excellent plan is to take the shy one to a rifle 
 range or trap-shooting ground when matches are in 
 progress. When he sees that there is nothing to 
 hurt him and has become accustomed to the mces- 
 sant reports of firearms, he is very likely to get over 
 his little failing. 
 
 Another way that often succeeds is to let him go 
 without food until he becomes more than ordinarily 
 hungry, then, when you give him his food, and he 
 rushes at the dish to appease his hunger, fire caps in 
 a toy pistol over him. Should he run away in fear, 
 remove the pan and let him starve an hour or two 
 longer, when you may try him again. Keep on at 
 this until he will eat his food regardless of the report. 
 
 By no means permit his eating the food until he 
 will let you fire over him as he devours it, and as he 
 begins to gain confidence bring the old horse-pistol 
 into use and keep augmenting the amount of powder 
 in its load until he does not mind a report equal to 
 that of an ordinary shot gun. 
 
 Yet another way is to couple the shy spaniel to 
 an old, steady and strong:; dog. Then, turning the 
 
82 The Spaniel and Its Training. 
 
 two loose on land where there are no bushes in which 
 they may get entangled, fire repeatedly over their 
 heads. The confidence of the "old 'un," and the 
 pleasure he shows in the business may overcome the 
 gunshy dog's fear. It will be best to commence by 
 firing a cap, then as he gets accustomed to the sound, 
 increase the charge of powder. 
 
 When breaking a spaniel of gunshyness one must 
 be even more patient and painstaking than in the 
 other lessons. Then, too, you must proceed cau- 
 tiously, and be not impatient if for days there is no 
 appreciable progress. Only by incessant application 
 can gunshyness be overcome; and you may be on 
 the very threshold of success when seemingly no ad- 
 vance has been made. Therefore, one must per- 
 severe and erase the word despair from his vocab- 
 ulary. 
 
Cocker Spaniel Dog Champion "Brant, 
 The property of Mr. C. M. Nelles. 
 
CHAPTER XL 
 
 RANGING. 
 
 WHILE some spaniels seem to take to their 
 range at once, others again are very hard 
 to keep within bounds and, needless to say, the I'ltter 
 description must be brought to their senses as soon 
 as it is possible. 
 
 A spaniel's range must of necessity be much less 
 in extent than the setter's or the pointer's, for he 
 flushes the game, consequently, if the dog runs be- 
 yond gun-shot, many birds are lost. Needless to 
 say, therefore, he must be trained to range well 
 within gun-shot. 
 
 No matter how hot the scent may be, he must not 
 press forward too far ahead of the gun, and in 
 time a good spaniel will learn to watch his master, 
 and know exactly the distance he should keep ahead. 
 Much in this depends upon the intelligence of the 
 
dog, and it is well nigh time wasted to spend it in 
 training a timid fool. A high-couraged and at first 
 disobedient animal, that causes you much trouble at 
 the outset, will probably make a good dog in the end. 
 
 Do not mistake the dififidence a puppy may feel on 
 his first entry at covert shooting for timidity. He 
 may be the boldest of dogs when he is used to any- 
 thing, but at first sight the thorny covert and dark- 
 some woods that he has never seen before may over- 
 awe him, until familiarity has had time to breed 
 contempt. 
 
 It is scarcely safe to form an opinion of a spaniel's 
 hunting capabilities by merely having seen him about 
 the house or at his master's heels in the street, for 
 many animals that seem to be perfect "slouches" 
 under such circumstances, when taken afield may 
 prove regular demons in their anxiety to inquire 
 into everything and rout out every crevice and corner 
 they may come upon. Whereas, a heedless, harum- 
 scarum spaniel in the street may not have the least 
 atom of hunting sense in the field. 
 
 A thoroughly good working spaniel is a dog not 
 often seen. One may be good at retrieving, but not 
 of much use at questing; another may mangle his 
 birds; another funk water; but a dog that is good 
 at an}^ work is indeed a rare one. 
 
86 TIic Spaniel atid Its Training. 
 
 He must be a strong dog and moderately fast of 
 foot, with a fair allowance of leg to carry him over 
 any ground; be intelligent, obedient, but full of 
 courage, dash and determination, with a dense coat 
 to protect him from injury, plenty of bone and 
 good, compact feet. We already know what he 
 should do in the way of retrieving and so forth, but 
 his range and "bird-sense" have not yet been de- 
 fined. To begin with, he must not go further than 
 thirty nor less than five yards away from you, must 
 constantly watch you for directions and to see that 
 he is in his place, also at the slightest sign from you 
 to any direction, should quest in the quarter indi- 
 cated. When trailing he must not go too fast, must 
 spring the game at the proper distance, and no 
 matter how great his excitement, should stop when 
 the order " Steady " is given, and at the proper instant 
 should know how to give the silent plunge that will 
 send the "runner" scurrying into the air. And, 
 though few dogs will do it, he should 7vork to t/iegim, 
 that is, flank the birds and flush them between him- 
 self and the sportsman. If you get hold of such a 
 spaniel as this, my advice is stick to him; he is worth 
 more than money to the lover of a good dog. 
 
 Some sportsmen prefer a dog that gives tongue 
 when on scent, though for my part it sets my teeth 
 
RangiJig. 87 
 
 on edge and drives me nearly crazy. Then how can 
 one expect birds to wait to be shot when they hear 
 a yapping brute rampaging about? They are not 
 utterly senseless, and know enough to be aware that 
 the presence of a dog bodes danger to them; there- 
 fore, as the men and dogs enter one side of the covrt 
 they quietly "vamoose" at the other. Silent dogs 
 and silent men few woodland birds fear, for how 
 know they that it is not a deer walking by, or in less 
 uncivilized parts a cow ? 
 
 Should your spaniel be fairly amenable to discip- 
 line when first taken afield, and you find that there 
 is little more the trouble than that he is inclined to 
 range too far ahead, a weighted collar will probably 
 be sufficient to re.'^train him. This is easily made by 
 quilting several pounds of shot, regulating the weight 
 by the size of the dog, into a canvas strap to be 
 fastened around his neck. It will be well to give 
 him a good run before hieing him into covert at the 
 first, to work off his superfluous steam. 
 
 Rest him every now and then when he appears 
 tired, for a weary spaniel will not work carefully and 
 indeed will "slur" as much as he can to save him- 
 self. A dog that has been permitted to hang about 
 the house since the previous season, doing nothing 
 but eat and sleep, cannot be expected, without prep- 
 
88 The Spaniel and Its Training. 
 
 aration, to undergo a hard day's work in covert or 
 marsh without tiring, therefore give your spaniels 
 enough exercise to harden them up a bit and rid 
 them of "kimber" before the season opens. 
 
 There is no doubt that much time and trouble can 
 be saved by working your pupil in company with an 
 old, steady spaniel, for he will watch the old one and 
 imitate his movements and tactics until in a short 
 time he gains confidence enough to branch out for 
 himself. But as many of my readers do not possess 
 a ''pattern " dog, I must needs show them how to do 
 without one in training their puppy. For my own 
 part I now merely teach my young dogs to obey the 
 whistle and come to heel; the rest they pick up by 
 running with the old dogs. When first taken out 
 they do nothing but follow their mentors in every 
 turn without an idea of hunting themselves, but be- 
 fore long they quest as eagerly as possible. How- 
 ever, dogs that are worked alone without compan- 
 ions will make far better workers than those trained 
 in a team, for they have no others to do ]:)art of 
 their work, but must do every bit of questing and 
 retrieving themselves. Then, too, they get to know 
 their master better, and from association become 
 far more intelligent than they otherwise would be. 
 Stdl, if you are able to get the use of a steady, well 
 
Ranging. 89 
 
 trained dog to hunt your puppy with, by all means 
 do so; but if there is any doubt about his steadiness, 
 do without him, for if he ranges too far and chases 
 once or twice, you will have all the more trouble in 
 getting the puppy to steady down. 
 
 At first you should carefully avoid going near 
 places where there are known to be hares, for it is 
 almost too crucial a test to give a young and un- 
 trained spaniel the opportunity of chasing a hare at 
 the outset. Nor should you upon any account shoot 
 a cotton-tail over him until he has steadied down, 
 and still more should you avoid firing at squirrels, 
 blackbirds, larks and other ''trash" over him, for he 
 will very naturally infer from your killing such 
 creatures that he is to quest for and spring them. 
 
 Most spaniels after having undergone a course of 
 house training come to their range very easily, and 
 it is best, therefore, to gauge their dispositions first 
 by taking them to a nice, open covert, where you 
 can see every movement of the dogs and they cannot 
 steal a march on you without being called back. 
 Hie the pup in and instinct will probably teach him 
 what to do. 
 
 If he does not quest about, but runs aimlessly 
 around, leave him to himself for a bit to get accus- 
 tomed to the strange surroundings. Should he still 
 
90 The Spaniel and Its Training. 
 
 appear stupid, "drop" him, and then throw bits of 
 boiled liver into different quarters of the covert and 
 hie him on again. When he has found the first piece, 
 direct him by motioning the hand where to go to 
 find the next, and so on till all are found. Let him 
 eat the meat at the first, to make him quest eagerly. 
 Keep this up until he will range from side to side 
 at command, and in time from force of habit he will 
 range of his own accord. 
 
 Should he range too far away, hide yourself care- 
 fully and remain in concealment until he finds you 
 without any assistance. At losing sight of you he 
 will think he is lost, and the strangeness of the sur- 
 roundings will be likely to frighten him so thoroughly 
 that he will be wary of ranging too far again. It is 
 best for a short time at first to allow him to range at 
 will, to key him up to hunting pitch. 
 
 If he is at all inclined to be weak-spirited, beware 
 of checking him more than you can help, as over- 
 much badgering might make him a "baulker." 
 
 Do not allow your pupil to slash through a covert. 
 Make him ////;//. Some dogs, from their superior 
 noses, appear to be slighting their work, when as a 
 matter of fact they can find birds at their faster gait 
 as well as or better than the more painstaking ani- 
 mals. Still be cautious about making your dog too 
 
92 The Spaniel and Its Training. 
 
 careful, for what can be more temper-trying than a 
 "potterer." Even a careless dog is to be preferred. 
 
 You must learn to read by the actions of your 
 spaniel whether he is merely questing without a 
 scent, or has struck a cold trail; also when the birds 
 are near and he is about to make his plunge. Noth- 
 ing can be easier to do when you know your dog. 
 
 When your pupil ranges too fast and far, call him 
 to you and chide him, saying, "Bad dog; keep close, 
 close now, close." Should he persist, call him in 
 again and thrash him, saying while doing so, "Close, 
 will you, close I" 
 
 It is well, when he is drawing on a bird, to say at 
 first, "Steady, steady," as it will steady him and 
 prevent his losing command over himself when the 
 bird flushes. You can have accustomed him to this 
 command during the retrieving lessons, when he was 
 drawing near the place where the ball was concealed. 
 
 An obstinate case of wide ranging can best be 
 overcome by your making use of a choke-collar and 
 check-cord. The former may be of any pattern, and 
 for the latter my fancy turns toward a strong cord 
 of close texture, such as a "cod line." At any rate, 
 it should be stiff, so that it will not be liable to get 
 entangled in the undergrowth. 
 
 Attach the cord to the collar, allowing about thirty 
 
Ranging. 93 
 
 yards to trail, and turn your pupil into some field 
 where the scrub is thin and widely scattered. Let 
 me advise your ''whipping" the end of the cord 
 instead of knotting it, as the knot might catch in 
 the bushes. When he has run about twenty yards 
 call sharply, "Close, close." If he pays no attention 
 to the warning, repeat it, and if he still fails to re- 
 spond, step on the end of the check-cord. When it 
 brings him to a stop, perhaps casting him choking 
 to the ground, hurry up and repeat the word several 
 times before you unloosen the collar. It is safe to 
 say that a few days of this discipline, with the 
 weighted collar in addition, will train him to keep 
 close. Only as a last resort, and after having tried 
 all other ways of getting him under control and 
 failed, would I resort to the choke-collar, as it is apt 
 to break the spirit of a spaniel. 
 
 He, without fail, will evince a desire to chase the 
 birds he flushes; but at the first spring call sharply, 
 "Ware chase, ware chase," and if he pursues his 
 course, chastise him severely, and while doing so 
 repeat the order over and over again, "Ware chase, 
 will you; ware chase." If these milder measures fail, 
 the check-cord must be resorted to and used in pre- 
 cisely the same way as just described. 
 
 Most spaniels dearly love to chase a hare; but all 
 
94 The Spaniel and Its Training. 
 
 tendency toward this pursuit must be nipped in the 
 bud, else you will never have comfort with your dog. 
 To begin with, never permit his chasing cats, for 
 from cats to rabbits is but a slight remove. If he 
 springs a hare and starts on a chase after her, at 
 once call sharply, ''Ware fur; ware fur," and call 
 him in and rate him soundly, or, if he persists, thrash 
 him severely. He must be broken of hare hunting 
 at all hazards, and it may be necessary to use the 
 choke-collar again. 
 
 Enter your spaniel for water shooting on "flap- 
 pers" in the early season, as it is a most fascinating 
 pursuit for both dogs and men, and the warm water 
 and plenitude of game will give the pup a taste of 
 the sport which he will be anxious to repeat. 
 
 Some men hold that shooting your dog with light 
 shot fired at a distance sufficient only to stmg him 
 and from behind, is the best way to cure a dog of 
 wide ranging. I must say I don't think the plan a 
 likely one to succeed, and outside of the inhumanity 
 of the thing, I should think the most likely result 
 would be to make the dog gunshy. Then suppose 
 he were to turn his head just as the trigger was 
 pulled ! He would be minus an eye to a certainty. 
 By all means shoot birds and animals if you will, 
 but reserve your ammunition for them, and do not 
 "draw a bead" on your spaniel. 
 
CHAPTER XII. 
 
 MISCELLANEOUS HINTS. 
 
 MANY spaniels are inveterate manglers of game 
 in retrieving, and it is well to put a stop 
 to the practice if possible. There is on the market 
 a patent arrangement for its prevention; but as it is 
 necessary to adjust it on the bird for the contrivance 
 to work, the dog has had time to get his work in 
 on the bird before you can get hold of it. 1 think 
 a good plan is to fasten a dozen needles of the 
 proper length in the center of the long-suffering 
 stocking, their points turned in all directions. Make 
 him fetch this for a few weeks every day, and after 
 he has found what the result of pinching it will be, 
 he is likely to be more tender-mouthed in future. 
 
 Some spaniels are perfect demons at fowl-killing, 
 and aie most difficult to break of the habit. A 
 friend of mine, who is an army officer, when sta- 
 
g6 The Spaniel and Its Training. 
 
 tioned at Bermuda, had alternately to take one of 
 the four roads available in going his rounds, as Jack, 
 his spaniel, killed so many fowls each day that he 
 was obliged to give the road traveled the day be- 
 fore a wide berth until the trouble blew over. Un- 
 doubtedly the best way out of this trouble is preven- 
 tion. Bring him up in sight of fowls, and if a rabbit 
 or two is added, why you are not likely to be 
 troubled by his coursing "fur." 
 
 When he has killed a hen, take it by the legs and 
 beat him over the head with it until you are tired, 
 then tie the body securely about his neck, leaving 
 it so that it will bang up against his forelegs at every 
 step. It is odds that after lugging the carrion about 
 for a day or two, he will acquire a distaste for fowl, 
 especially if you chide and laugh at him every time 
 you see him. 
 
 Egg stealing, also, is a common failing with many 
 spaniels. The taste is generally acquired by their 
 being allowed to lick out empty egg-shells and eat- 
 ing tainted eggs thrown out for them. An effectual 
 way of curing this is to fill an ^g^ with cayenne 
 pepper and place it in his way. Yet another is to 
 heat an egg till it is quite hot and hold it in the 
 dog's mouth until he is well burned. 
 
 Many young dogs and puppies have an annoying 
 
Miscellaneous Hints. 97 
 
 habit of jumping upon you. This, when their paws 
 are muddy, is unpleasant, to put it mildly. En- 
 deavor to curb your impulse, which will be to cuff 
 them over the head, for it will do no good. A high- 
 spirited puppy thinks there is no better fun than 
 dodging your blows, and jumps upon you all the 
 more. Instead, take a paw in either hand, and 
 speaking kindly all the while, step firmly on his hind- 
 feet. He will soon begin to think that there isn't 
 so much fun in jumping after all, and desist. 
 
 It is well to accustom your puppy to the lead from 
 the first, also to being chained up. Of course a 
 growing pup should not be kept on chain, but he 
 should be accustomed to it, in case you wish to se- 
 cure him in the 'baggage-car, exhibit him at a bench 
 show, or restrain him for a short time. 
 
 Do not allow your spaniel to "scavenge" about 
 the street. He can pick up nothing but filth there, 
 and the street is where poison is generally picked up. 
 Punish him without delay when he picks up any- 
 thing, and if he swallows it before you can reach 
 'him, beat the dog severely. 
 
 Having described as minutely as patience will ad- 
 mit the preliminary training of a young spaniel, we 
 will now put him to the test on game in the field, and 
 therefore cannot do better than pass a day together 
 
98 The Spaniel and Its Training. 
 
 in a country that affords fairly good "mixed" shoot- 
 ing — ruffed grouse, woodcock, snipe and an occa- 
 sional duck. You may be. with me only in spirit, 
 however, for as I have said all along, there must be 
 no one to distract the dog's attention from the busi- 
 ness in hand. 
 
Cocker Spaniel Doci Champion "Mike, 
 The property of Mr. C. M. Nelles. 
 
CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 A DAY AFIELD. 
 
 AS the day dawns which ushers in the open 
 season for grouse, duck and 'cock, accom- 
 panied by my spaniel I board an outbound train. 
 
 My companion is a well-growm puppy of one of 
 the larger varieties, who, having gone through the 
 course of preliminary instruction as described already, 
 is now about to be initiated in the mysteries of 
 woodland and water shooting. His nose during the 
 course of instruction has proved to be above the 
 ordinary in keenness of scent, and altogether he is 
 a strong, muscular youngster, standing on common- 
 sense legs, /. c, neither too short nor too long. Jack, 
 as a rule, is fairly well under control; still from the 
 outset an inclination to unruliness has exhibited it- 
 self in him, and it is, consequently, necessary to 
 
A Day Afield. loi 
 
 resort to severe measures on occasions to keep him 
 under control. 
 
 Besides some sandwiches and a flask my game-bag 
 contains a stout whip, choke-collar, sundry bits of 
 boiled liver and thirty yards of "cod-line." 
 
 Arrived at the little *'way" station my puppy and 
 I disembark, and after tliscussing with the station- 
 agent the weather, past and present, the success or 
 failure of the crops, and last, but not least, the game 
 prospects, we climb the snake-fence and hie into the 
 woods. 
 
 It is early, very early, when we enter the timber, 
 so there is a whole long, glorious September day be- 
 fore us, and in the course of it, with any sort of luck, 
 I will be able to get Jack into some sort of shape. 
 Shooting will be held secondary to training in every 
 instance, for there will be plenty of time for sport 
 when the pupil's education shall have been com- 
 pleted. 
 
 The dog is now hied on, and for a few minutes 
 allowed to range at will, even though he runs be- 
 yond gunshot. This serves to set an edge upon his 
 appetite for work, to key him up, as it were. But 
 soon, while he is not in sight, I hide myself in an 
 out-of-the-way nook and lie there motionless. 
 
 In a little Jack is seen running about with a be- 
 
I02 TIw spaniel and lis Training. 
 
 wildered air. Soon bewilderment alters to fear, and 
 he searches for his master with frantic energy. 
 Upon no account — well, on second thought, a wasp's 
 nest niig/if — would I by word of mouth or sign dis- 
 close ni}' whereabouts. The pup must search me 
 out himself. Through fear of losing me again, or 
 rather being lost himself, he will be wary of ranging 
 too far in future. At length, to his delight. Jack 
 finds my hiding-place, and almost devours me with 
 manifestations of his delight. Besides patting him, 
 I give the pup a piece of liver and then hie on again. 
 
 When he recommences ranging over-far, I call, 
 "Close, Jack, close!" He looks at me in astonish- 
 ment, not knowing what the new word means, and I 
 call out again, "Come here, Jack, and keep close!' 
 When he comes in I say, "Close, boy, close, close !" 
 He runs off again, when I call out again the same 
 command, dropping him if he fails to obey. If he 
 persists or misbehaves again, Master Jack gets a 
 thrashing, and while belaboring him, I continue say- 
 ing, "Close, will you, close!" 
 
 But my pupil is not an obedient dog and these 
 milder measures are of no avail; therefore the choke- 
 collar must be resorted to and is consequently ad- 
 justed. 
 
 Immediately he runs riot, and the white cord trails 
 
A Day Afield. 103 
 
 hither and thither on the ground. "Close, Jack," I 
 call, but the dog pays no heed to my command. As 
 the cord trails past I set my foot upon it and, as I 
 see it tautening, call again. This he hears just be- 
 fore being thrown half strangling on the ground. 
 Two or three such demonstrations and Jack will 
 have learned to know what the meaning of "close " is. 
 
 This accomplished, we turn to woods that are a 
 sure find for ruffed grouse. Soon the spaniel strikes 
 a scent and becomes nearly crazy over the delight- 
 ful perfume. To calm him I call out, "Close, Jack, 
 and steady!" The first he now understands, and 
 therefore infers from the two words being coupled, 
 that "steady" means something to the same effect. 
 
 He is inclined to be heedless and over eager, and 
 pressing on quickly flushes a single grouse; but this 
 being his first bird the fault is not a heinous one. 
 I fire and drop the bird. It would not do to miss 
 this shot as the dog would certainly be disappointed. 
 I indicate the place where the bird has fallen, say- 
 ing, "Hie and seek dead." The pup does not com- 
 prehend me, so the order is repeated with, "Go 
 fetch it," added. This he understands, and at once 
 quests in the direction indicated. 
 
 So»n he finds the bird; but never having seen 
 such a thing before, perchance stands over it in 
 
I04 The Spaniel and Its Training. 
 
 wonderment, not venturing even to touch the strange 
 thing with his nose. Accordingly I go to him, and 
 pointing to the grouse, say, "Fetch it," and return 
 to where I stood when the shot was fired. Still he 
 will not obey; therefore, I take up the bird, put it in 
 his mouth and make him walk back beside me, car- 
 rying the bird. Then I say, "Dead I" and make 
 him give up. 
 
 After praising and rewarding him with a i)iece of 
 meat, I carry the grouse again to where it fell, and 
 replacing it on the ground, return to my first posi- 
 tion with the puppy. I then say, "Go fetch dead, 
 Jack !" pointing where the bird lies and make him 
 fetch it to me. Should he still refuse, I do as before. 
 
 Of course, it may take days, even months, to ac- 
 complish even the little I have described, but many 
 dogs can be made to show good sport even on their 
 first day afield. 
 
 The first grouse bagged, the dog is sent on again, 
 being directed to work from side to side by the 
 motioning of the hand which he already under- 
 stands. When necessary I attract his attention by a 
 low, soft whistle. 
 
 Soon the dog feathers again, but the recollection 
 of the delights which followed his former discovery 
 prove too much for his obedience and he loses his 
 
A Day Afield. 105 
 
 head completely. This must be checked, so calling 
 him to me I adjust the collar and cord and hie him 
 on again. 
 
 As he draws on the covey prudence is scattered to 
 the four winds of heaven, and with a wild rush he 
 flushes and then chases a low flying bird. " Steady," 
 I call, "steady, Jack;" but he pays no heed to me. 
 The cord dances by in the wake of the flying dog 
 and with another call of "Ware chase. Jack," I step 
 on the end. The pup is running fast, and when the 
 end of his tether is reached, over he is jerked on to 
 his back. While undoing the collar I repeat over 
 and over again the order, " Ware chase." 
 
 A few such tumbles and the odds are in favor of 
 Master Jack's understanding what " ware chase " 
 means. 
 
 Luncheon disposed of, I decide to introduce the 
 puppy to the woodcock, and as there is a covert 
 near by that promises well I wend my way thither. 
 
 Walking in the space between the main woods and 
 the covert, I order the dog in, and soon striking 
 some old scent, he does not require much urging to 
 make him quest about. Shortly a 'cock is sprung 
 before him, but bearing in mind what ensued upon 
 his chase after grouse, he does not break away. 
 The 'cock flies over the clearing; I shoot and kill, 
 
io6 TJie Spaniel and Its Training. 
 
 and the bird is nicely retrieved by my little beauty. 
 If he refuses to take it up, the partridge lesson must 
 be re-enacted. 
 
 So strong and enticing to the spaniel does the 
 scent of the woodcock seem that it is a spiritless one 
 indeed that does not quickly pick up the bird. 
 
 An hour or two spent in covert and I think it best 
 to vary the programme with a Httle duck and snipe 
 shooting. So to the marsh we go. 
 
 Arrived there I take up position about thirty yards 
 from the water's edge, while Jack quarters between 
 me and the water as instinct and my signals direct 
 him. Soon a mud hen is flushed, which sorely tries 
 the puppy's patience as it skims with trailed legs 
 over the tops of the reeds, but a stern, "Steady!" 
 recalls him to his senses. 
 
 At length a snipe is flushed, and zig-zags out over 
 the water. I fire. A miss ! Bang ! The left bar- 
 rel does its work, and down topples the bird. 
 
 " Go fetch dead, Jack !" I say, but Jack will none 
 of it. He never fetched a bird from the water and 
 doesn't mean to if he knows himself, so there is 
 nothing for it but to try the effect of example where 
 precept has failed. I wade through mud and water, 
 forcing Jack to follow me. 
 
 Soon it deepens and the dog is obliged to swim 
 
A Day Afield. 107 
 
 beside me. When the snipe is reached I show it to 
 him and make him take it to the land. Then I 
 throw it out again to where it lay, and obUge him to 
 bring it to bag. Neither time nor trouble do I stint 
 in teaching him this lesson well. 
 
 Jack has been trained to drop to hand and voice, 
 though not as yet to shot, and soon the lesson proves 
 its use. I descry a flock of ducks heading in my 
 direction, and drawing the dog's attention by a low 
 whistle, signal him to "drop." I then crouch down 
 myself among some tall reeds. 
 
 On the birds come, and -holding well ahead of the 
 leader I fire and drop one to the first discharge, three 
 to the second barrel. They fall in the open water, 
 three of them, the other amid the reeds. This one 
 I send the spaniel after first, and being now quite 
 a proficient at retrieving he soon effects its capture 
 and then secures the remainder. 
 
 The shades of night are deepening now, so with 
 a heavy bag and increased respect for one another, 
 Jack and I trudge stationward, hoping, both of us, 
 I know, that it will not be the last autumn day by 
 many that we shall pass afield together. 
 
CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 SPANIELS IN AMERICA. 
 
 IT had been my intention to weave the infor- 
 mation gathered by me from different sources 
 into a connected chapter; but I have since deemed 
 it best to reproduce the letters as written by Messrs. 
 Willey, Wihnerding and Dr. Niven, whose names 
 need no introduction to the kennel world at large, 
 followed by my own remarks on Clumber and Sussex 
 spaniels as applied to America. 
 
 Mr. J. P. Willey, of Salmon P'alls, N. H., writes as 
 follows: 
 
 "You kaow what spaniels we had before the 
 Spaniel Club was organized, and what spaniels we 
 had then. You remember how a half-bred water 
 spaniel was once placed first at New York, and what 
 a kick McDougall raised. Then came the club and 
 standard, and the McKoon fight came off about this 
 time. 
 
spaniels in America. 109 
 
 " Old Benedict was then in his prime, and had 
 the owners of the light, weedy bitches bred to 
 him and got some bone and coats they might have 
 been improving what they had. You know what 
 Fellows, Niven, Watson and Kirk had, and how none 
 of them kept their stock, but sold as they got their 
 price. Thus all their stock was lost as far as per- 
 fecting the type and size of the spaniel went. 
 
 " Pitcher and Cummings were then breeding here 
 in New Hampshire. The former had the best of the 
 Bestor stock, and Cummings, too, had a few dogs 
 of the same strain. By the way, McKoon and his 
 friends had this blood also. There was quite a 
 rivalry between Cummings and Pitcher. The first 
 named imported Brush 1 1., by champion Brush out 
 of old champion Rhea, also Blackie II., by Easten's 
 Beau out of Blackie. They were a good pair of 
 blacks, the bitch much the better ; in fact, she was a 
 grand cocker bitch in type, weighing about 25 lbs. 
 Brush II. was a large dog of full 45 lbs. 
 
 " After these came over, Pitcher imported the sire 
 and dam of Blackie II., Beau and Blackie. Both 
 were large size, Blackie much the better of the two, 
 rather on the cocker order. Beau was a large, 
 crooked-legged spaniel with a nice coat. From 
 these Pitcher raised only a few litters; in fact, I 
 
no The Spaniel and Its Training. 
 
 think he only raised two pups from Blackie. One 
 of them is Darkie, which I bought of him and after- 
 ward sold to Daly. Then when he left Salmon 
 Falls I bought her back and let Mr. Allen have her. 
 The other was a liver dog, and whatever became of 
 him I don't know. 
 
 "I visited Cummings and Pitcher while they had 
 these dogs and they were at their best. About this 
 time there was such an outcry for small spaniels and 
 such a kick against mating to large dogs that Pitcher 
 tried to buy old Obo of Farrow, but the best he 
 could do was to get Chloe II. and have her bred to 
 him, which he did. From that bitch come Obo II., 
 Black Silk and a bitch called Black Gem that was 
 shown at New York, won the Produce Stake there, 
 then returned home only to die of distemper. She 
 was a grand little bitch; in fact, the whole litter was 
 good. Chloe was a descendant of P. Bullock's ken- 
 nel and from his old champion Nellie, the dam of 
 many winners. Some think all the credit for the 
 production of Obo II. is due to his sire; but I really 
 think much of his quality he owes to_ the dam and 
 her side of the house. Chloe II. was a nice, small 
 bitch, a winner in England and, as I have said, from a 
 vinning strain; far more so, indeed, than C^bo was 
 from; yet few have ever thought of giving Chloe II. 
 
spaniels in America. 1 1 1 
 
 the credit that is only her due. It is a fact that the 
 strain of Cummings' Brush II. and Blackieand Beau 
 and Blackie, which goes back to her also, have given 
 the best results in breeding of any cockers imported. 
 
 " Niven imported Black Bess; she was by old 
 Brush out of old champion Rhea. He also im- 
 ported Lass o' Breda; but what good have they ever 
 done for cocker breeders ? Bene Silk is the only 
 good one from Niven's lot I have seen. There has 
 been too much selling and not enough mating and 
 selecting and remating, which is the only way to es- 
 tablish a type. 
 
 " Pitcher also had at his kennel when I was there, 
 Feather, quite a winner in the liver and white class. 
 I think she was quite the best of her color I have 
 ever seen. She left quite a lot of her stock through 
 the country, and some of her strain I often see at 
 the Boston shows. Cherry Boy, winner of second, 
 New York, and first, Boston, this year (1890), is 
 from that same strain on one side and Obo on the 
 other. Then there was Winslow's Success, a 50 lbs. 
 dog with bad front legs, who never left any stock 
 that has become prominent. Success was shown at 
 Boston and won there. 
 
 "Obo, Jr., was imported by Leavitt of Boston, 
 who was a partner of Fellows' once. He was shown 
 
112 The Spaniel and Its Training. 
 
 a bit when first brought out, but never amounted to 
 anything as a show dog. He has been a good stock 
 dog though, getting Black Pete and others. 
 
 " As for me, I have always owned a spaniel of 
 some sort since I can remember. I recollect poor 
 old bob-tailed Major, and how every one that met 
 me used to ask who drove my dog's tail in. He was 
 really my favorite, and I shed many a tear when he 
 died of old age. He was with me always, since my 
 earliest recollections, and needless to say I shall 
 never forget him. Only think of your first dog and 
 pet ! Let us own ever so many and ever so good, 
 the old one's memory still remains." 
 
 It is but justice to Mr. Willey to mention that the 
 foregoing letter was written when he was in the 
 midst of the confusion incidental on the removal of 
 his place of business to a new site. After promising 
 me the matter I needed he wrote begging to be ex- 
 cused, stating that under the circumstances he could 
 not do the subject justice; but after considerable 
 persuasion he most kindly consented to devote an 
 hour to my benefit. I believed myself that *' half 
 the loaf " in this instance would be better than "no 
 bread," and feel certain my readers will appreciate 
 Mr. Willey's letter. 
 
 Dr. Niven tells me in a recent letter that " When 
 
spaniels in America. 113 
 
 I took up spaniels in 1879 there were very few worth 
 speaking about in the country. Brownie, owned in 
 Toronto, was the best in the country. I gave her a 
 prize at Detroit show, in 1879, I think it was. Be- 
 fore that time Mr. Bestor of Hartford, Conn., had 
 imported some liver and whites, with very rough 
 coats, called Romeo, Juliet, and Snip. I think 
 McKoon got all Bestor's kennel at that time and had 
 things all his own way until I imported Black Bess 
 in 1880. At the same time Watson got out Beatrice 
 and I forget who imported Blackie. These were the 
 first modern cockers in America as far as I know." 
 
 " My first recollection of the black spaniels," says 
 Mr. Wilmerding, " is of the importation of Benedict 
 from Jacob's kennels at Newton Abbot, in 1880, by 
 James Watson (who with Geo. D. Macdougall con- 
 stituted the Lachine Kennel Club), and Beatrice, a 
 nice little black on the small field spaniel order 
 also Dash (afterward Moore's Dash, but not 
 registered as such, simply DasJi) by A. H. Moore 
 of Philadelphia. This dog was afterward owned 
 by the Hornell Spaniel Club, and later by Mr. Albert 
 E- Foster and myself. Benedict went to H. W. 
 Huntington of greyhound fame, and later to my 
 friend, Mr. Foster of New York city. The dog 
 was killed by a train on the D. L. & W. about three 
 
114 The Spaniel and Its Training. 
 
 years ago. He was rather too indiscriminately bred 
 to small cocker bitches for the good of the breed, 
 the rage for blacks seeming to possess people 
 beyond all reason. As a sire he did fairly well, but 
 would have done better had he been bred as a rule 
 to larger bitches, although at the time of his advent 
 into this country the types of the different breeds 
 were not very marked, the leggy, shelly style seem- 
 ing to predominate. 
 
 "There is no doubt, however, that he did much to 
 improve our stock over here, adding strength, sub- 
 stance, etc. He was of about 38 lbs. weight, long, 
 low, with a good fiat coat and field spaniel head 
 and type throughout. He could win to-day. Dash 
 (Moore's), Bob Jr. (Luckwell's) and others of lesser 
 note, came into the field at different times endeavor- 
 ing to wrest the laurels from the old dog; but it was 
 to no purpose, as he scored with ease over them all, 
 and kept piling up prizes as though he were always 
 alone in his class. 
 
 '• Of late years several importations have attracted 
 much attention, the most noticeable being those of 
 Mr. Oldham. His stock came, if not all, nearly all, 
 from the Newton Abbot kennels in England. His 
 Newton Abbot Jubilee, Newton Abbot Darkie, Glen- 
 cairn and several others created considerable com- 
 
spaniels in America. 115 
 
 motion among spaniel men and were more or less 
 sought after by the owners of large bitches for their 
 services. 
 
 " A fairly good liver was brought out in 1886 by 
 myself in Newton Abbot. He was by Ch. Black 
 Prince out of Ch. Newton Abbot Lady. x\s a sire he 
 had no chance to make his mark, as he was killed on 
 the railway when about 2 years old, but during his 
 short career he ran up a score of eleven prizes, 
 winding up with a first at New York. 
 
 " Another good liver (on the Sussex order) was 
 Newton Abbot Skipper (imported by Oldham), now 
 the property of W. T. Payne of New York. 
 
 ." I came near forgetting one of the best brood 
 bitches of the lot, Ch. Newton Abbot Lady, im- 
 ported about 1883 by G. AV. Leavitt, Jr. of Boston, 
 and sold by him to A. Laidlaw and by him to me 
 She was the dam among others (and she was a 
 prolific breeder, breeding as she did three times a 
 year) of Newton Abbot, Miss Bend Or, Ch. Miss 
 Newton Obo, Lassie, etc., etc. 
 
 " I see your letter asks for a list of the older 
 breeders. James Watson, Dr. J. S. Niven, J. F. 
 Kirk, J. P. Willey, G. W. Leavitt, Jr., J. Otis Fellows, 
 M. P. McKoon, Geo. D. Macdougall and I suppose 
 myself. I can think of no others at present, but 
 
ii6 TJie Spaniel and Its Training. 
 
 these are among the oldest, dating back around 
 1880 and beyond." 
 
 To the best of my knowledge the first Clumber 
 spaniels imported to America were those brought 
 to Halifax, Nova Scotia, by Lieutenant Venables, of 
 H. M.'s 97th Regiment when stationed there in 1844. 
 His dogs were purchased in the first instance by him 
 from Marwood Yeatman, Esq., the Stock House, 
 Dorset, England, a very old and well established 
 strain. Not long afterward a Mr. McCathie, of 
 Windsor, N. S., imported some Clumbers, and after 
 this quite a number were brought into the Lower 
 Provinces of Canada by officers of the numerous 
 garrisons. Montreal too had its quota, and fully 
 twenty-five years ago Sir Joseph Hickson, General 
 Manager of the Grand Trunk Railway, had a nice 
 little kennel of them in Montreal. His strain has 
 died out, however, and about four years ago I 
 recollect sending one to him to take the place of his 
 old favorites. 
 
 Mr. Jonathan Thorne of Pennsylvania had several 
 Clumbers away back in the seventies, the best one 
 being Trimbush, a dog who did quite a lot of win- 
 ning for him in the old dog days, and indeed a son 
 of his. Duffer, "walked over" for first prize at New 
 York in '88. Jesse Sherwood, who at one time lived 
 
Spatnels in America. 117 
 
 in Ohio, did some winning at the early Western 
 shows with three well bred ones that he imported. 
 Dulce, the best of them, afterward drifted into the 
 hands of Chief Stewart of the Hamilton (Can.) 
 police force, in whose possession he died. A little 
 later a gentleman in Baltimore, Md., whose name I 
 cannot recall, got out some Clumbers, one or two 
 from Clumber House itself. 
 
 In 'ZTf, I think it was, Mr. James Watson of Phila- 
 delphia, picked up off a lately arrived ship a dog, 
 afterward called Bateman, that was shown a good 
 deal and won several prizes, although far from being 
 a good specimen. He was said to have come from 
 Lord Bateman's kennels in England, and soon was 
 sold to Mr. Marmaduke Richardson of New York 
 city. This gentleman in '84 purchased a pair of six 
 months old puppies in Otta'wa, Canada, who as 
 Newcastle and Tyne left the Clumber classes to his 
 mercy until the writer brought out Johnny and 
 Drake in '87. 
 
 About eight years ago Dr. F. C. Plunkett of 
 Lowell, Mass., while shooting on the west coast of 
 Ireland, picked up a dog and a bitch, who under the 
 names of Jockey and Romp did considerable win- 
 ning and left a heritage of curly coats to their 
 descendants. 
 
1 1 8 The Spaniel and Its Ti ainiui^. 
 
 In '79, an English sportsman brought over to Nova 
 Scotia with him a Clumber bitch called Judy, whom 
 on the eve of his departure he sold to Mr. Thomas 
 J. Egan of Halifax. He won several good prizes 
 with her and reared a number of litters by different 
 dogs, the best known of her offspring being John 
 Halifax Gentleman, and Jill. At about the same 
 time Mr. Lindsay Russell, ex-Surveyor Genejal of 
 Canada, purchased from Dr. Hines a thoroughly 
 broken dog called Ben, who strained back directly 
 to Clumber House. This dog was taken to Ottawa, 
 and in '83 for the first time was bred to Captain 
 Vieth's bitch Joan. Joan was out of a pair of dogs 
 imported by Captain Todd of H. M. 87th Regi- 
 ment, direct from the Duke of Newcastle's kennels 
 at Clumber, and through having produced champions 
 Johnny and Newcastle, Drake, Tyne, etc., is en- 
 titled to the distinction of being called the best 
 brood bitch America has yet produced. She was 
 bred by the late Dr. Moren, of Halifax, N. S., to 
 whose wife her parents were presented by Captain 
 Todd, when leaving Canada, her sire and dam. 
 Flash and Flirt, ending their days in the possession 
 of Murray Dodd, Esq., M. P. for Sydney, N. S., or to 
 be strictly accurate, the latter was my property at her 
 death, having been given me by Mr. Dodd. 
 
Spaniels ill America. ttq 
 
 Up till '87 no importations of note were made, 
 but in that year Mr. H. B. D. Bruce, of Ottawa, 
 Can., got over Lucy II., a very nice bitch, who came 
 from the strains of Lords Manvers and Bateman. 
 But it was not until last year — '89 — that prominent 
 English Vi^inners were brought over to America. 
 Mr. T. C. Bate, of Ottawa, set the ball rolling by 
 purchasing champion Boss III., the winner of a 
 large number of prizes on the other side, and later 
 on was induced by the writer to give him for a 
 mate Bromine, generally acknowledged to l)e one 
 of the best Clumbers ever bred. Shortly afterward 
 the writer added the celebrated English winner 
 Snow to his kennel, and at about the same time Mr. 
 A. L. Weston, of Denver, Colo., imported from the 
 Duke of \\'estminster's kennels Lass o' Beauty, win- 
 ner of first Birmingham, '87, owned by that gentle- 
 man and the writer together. 
 
 l"he first Sussex spaniels to mv knowledge im- 
 ported were President and Lady and licaii, now the 
 property of Mr. J. F. Kirk, of Toronto, C'an., who 
 purchased them from the importer, Mr. E. H. Morris. 
 
 'ITie writer got a good one a couple of years ago, 
 but something miscarried and she never materialized. 
 Last year Mr. Bructte, of Jefferson. "Wis., got out a 
 pair of working Sussex from the Etchell kennel in 
 
i2o The Spaniel and Its Trainings;. 
 
 Scotland, but they were never shown and have not 
 been heard of since leavhig that gentleman's kennel. 
 It would never do to leave this subject without 
 noting several dogs Messrs. Wilmerding and Willey 
 have in their hurried notes omitted to mention, such 
 as that grand dog Baron. He is by Ch. Roysterer out 
 of Yum-Yum II., and was imported by Mr. (}. W. 
 Folsom, of Washington, D. C. Also Bridford 
 Negress, a full sister of Ch. Newton Abbot Lady, 
 who was imported by E. H. Morris, and the " New- 
 ton Abbots" of Oldham and Willey, Darkie, Lord 
 and Laddie. In cockers, champion Hornell Silk, a 
 brother of Obo II., will always be remembered for 
 his success in the stud. Miss Obo II., an Obo bitch 
 out of Fern, bred by James Farrow and imported by 
 Mr. Willey, has run up a long score to her credit. 
 Mr. P. G. Keyes, a new addition to the ranks of 
 spaniel lovers, did yeoman's service by his purchase 
 last year of Bob Obo, a good winner in England, 
 and sire of champion Jenny Obo, who was bred by 
 Farrow. Bob is a son of the grand old champion 
 Obo. Still more recently Mr. Keyes purchased from 
 the same gentleman Rideau Floss, a very nice little 
 bitch. He also brought over last year a pair of liver 
 cockers, General Mite and Nellina, who won a few 
 prizes at West of England shows. 
 
The Spaniel ami Its Training;. i 2 1 
 
 I have endeavored to confine n^yself to mentioning 
 importations of portent to American spanieldom, as 
 neither space nor time will permit of my making- 
 mention of prominent home bred dogs. 
 
 CHAMPION SPANIELS OK RECORD. 
 
 Bene Silk (4308). Ilornell Ruby 
 
 Black Pete (4910). Hornell Silk. 
 
 Black Prince (12,524). Johnny (5896). 
 
 Brant (5856). Little Red Rover (5869). 
 
 Compton Bandit (5859). Marion. 
 
 Compton Brahmin (5863). Miss Obo II. (4916). 
 
 T)oc(85ii). Newcastle (5897). 
 
 Ilornell Dandy. Newton Abbot Darkie (S527). 
 
 Hornell Dinah. Obo H. (4911). 
 
 Hornell Jock. Shina (491 S). 
 
CHAPTER XV. 
 
 Standards of English and American 
 Spaniel Clubs. 
 
 Adopted bv the American Spaniel Club. 
 
 THE IRISH WATER SPANIEL. 
 
 The Head (value lo) is by no means long, with very little 
 brow, but moderately wide. It is covered with curls, rather 
 longer and more open than those of the body, nearly to the 
 eyes, but not so as to be wigged like the poodle. 
 
 The Face and Eves (value lo) are very peculiar. I'ace 
 very long and quite bare of curl; the hair being short and 
 smooth though not glossy; nose broad, and nostrils well devel- 
 oped; teeth strong and level; eyes small and set almost Hush, 
 without eyebrows. 
 
 The Topknot (value lo) is a characteri :tic of the true breed, 
 and is estimated accordingly. It should fa" between and over 
 the eyes in a peaked form. 
 
 The Ears (value lo) are long, the leather extending, when 
 drawn forward, a little beyond the nose, and the curls with 
 which they are clothed two or three inches beyond. The whole 
 of the ears are thickly covered with curls, which gradually 
 lengthen toward the tips. 
 
 Chest and Shoulders (value 7^). — There is nothing re- 
 markable about these points, which must, nevertheless; be of 
 sufficient dimensions and muscularity. The chest is small com- 
 pared with most breeds of similar substance. 
 
Standa!-ds. 
 
 123 
 
 The Back and Quarters (value -jyi) also have no pecu- 
 liarity, but the stifles are almost always straight, giving an ap- 
 pearance of legginess. 
 
 Lecs and Feet (value 10). — The legs should be straight, 
 and the feet large but strong, the toes are somewhat open, and 
 covered with short crisp curls. In all dogs of this breed the 
 legs are thickly clothed with short curls, slightly pendent be- 
 hind and at the sides, and some have them all round, hanging 
 in ringlets for some time before the annual shedding. No 
 feather like that of the setter should be shown. The front of 
 the hindlegs below the hocks is always bare. 
 
 The Tail (value 10) is very thick at the root, where it is 
 clothed with very short hair. Beyond the root, however, the 
 hair is perfectly short, so as to look as if the tail had been 
 clipped, which it sometimes fraudulently is at shows, but the 
 natural bareness of the tail is a true characteristic of the breeed. 
 
 The Coat (value 10) is composed of short curls of hair, not 
 woolly, which betrays the poodle cross. A soft, flossy coat is 
 objected to as indicative of an admixture with some of the land 
 spaniels. 
 
 The Color (value 10) must be a deep pure liver without 
 white; but, as in other breeds, a white toe will occasionally 
 appear with the best bred litter. 
 
 The Symmetry (value 5) — of this dog is not very great. 
 
 SCALE OF POINTS. 
 
 Head 10 
 
 Face and Eyes 10 
 
 Topknot 10 
 
 Ears 10 
 
 Chest and Shoulders 7^ 
 
 Back and Quarters 7^ 
 
 Legs and Feet 10 
 
 Tail ID 
 
 Coat 10 
 
 Color 10 
 
 Symmetry 5 
 
 Total 100 
 
124 The Spaniel and Its Trainhii^. 
 
 THE CLUMBER SPANIEL. 
 
 Gknekai. Aitearance AM) Size. — General appearance, a 
 long, low, heavy-looking dog, of a very thoughtful expression 
 betokening great intelligence. Should have the appearance of 
 great power. Sedate in all movements, but not clumsy. Weight 
 of dogs averaging between 55 and ()5lbs. ; bitches from 35 to 
 5olbs. 
 
 Head. — Head large and massive in all its dimensions; round 
 above eyes, flat on the top, with a furrow running from between 
 the eyes up the center. A marked stop and large occipital pro- 
 tuberance. Jaw long, broad and deep. Lips of upper jaw 
 overhung. Muzzle not square, but at the same time powerful 
 looking. Nostrils large, open and flesh-colored, sometimes 
 cherry-colored. 
 
 Eyes. — Eyes large, soft, deep-set and showing haw. Hazel 
 in color, not too pale, with dignified and intelligent expression. 
 
 Ears. — Ears long and broad at the top, turned over on the 
 front edge; vine-shaped; close to the head; set on low and 
 feathered only on the front edge, and there but slightly. Hair 
 short and silky, without slightest approach to wave or curl. 
 
 Neck and .Shoulders. — Neck long, thick and powerful, free 
 from dewlap, with a large rufT. .Shou'ders immensely strong 
 and muscular, giving a heavy appearance in front. 
 
 Body and Quarters. — Body very long and low, well ribbed 
 up and long in the coupling. Chest of great depth and volume. 
 Loin powerful and not too much arched. Back, long, broad 
 and straight, free from droop or bow. Length an important 
 characteristic; the nearer the dog is in length to being two and 
 one-half times his height at shoulder the better.. (Quarters 
 shapely and very muscular, neither drooping nor stilty. 
 
 Legs and Feet. — Forelegs short, straight, and immensely 
 heavy in bone. Well in at elbow. Hindlegs heavy in bone, 
 but not as heavy as forelegs. No feather below hocks, but 
 
Standards. 
 
 125 
 
 thick hair on back of leg just fbove foot. Feet large, compact, 
 and plentifully filled with hair between toes. 
 
 Coat and Feather. — Coat silky and straight, not too long, 
 extremely dense; feather long and abundant. 
 
 Color and Markings. — Color, lemon and white and orange 
 and white. Fewer markings on body the better. Perfection of 
 marking, solid lemon or orange ears, evenly marked head and 
 eyes, muzzle and legs ticked. 
 
 Stern. — Stern set on a level and carried low, 
 
 scale of points. 
 
 General Appearance and Size 10 
 
 Head 15 
 
 Eyes 5 
 
 Ears 10 
 
 Neck and Shoulders 15 
 
 Body and Quarters 20 
 
 Legs and Feet 10 
 
 Coat and Feather 10 
 
 Color and Markings 5 
 
 Total 100 
 
 THE SUSSEX SPANIEL. 
 
 The Skull (value 15) should be long and also wide, with a 
 deep indentation in the middle, and a full stop, projecting well 
 over the eyes; occiput full, but not pointed; the whole giving 
 an appearance of heaviness without dullness. 
 
 The Eyes (value 5) are full, soft, and languishing, but not 
 watering so as to stain the coat. 
 
 The Nose (value 10) should be long (3 in. to 3^ in.) and 
 broad, the end liver-colored, with large open nostrils. 
 
 The Ears (value 5) are moderately long and lobe-shaped 
 — that is to say, narrow at the junction with the head, wider 
 
126 The Spaniel and Its Training. 
 
 in the middle and rounded below, not pointed. They should 
 be well clothed with soft wavy and silky hair, but not heavily 
 loaded with it. 
 
 The Neck (value 5) is rather short, strong and slightly 
 arched, but not carrying the head much above the level of 
 the back. There is no throatiness in the skin, but well-marked 
 frill in the coat. 
 
 Shoulders axd Chest (value lo). — The chest is round, 
 especially behind the shoulders, and moderately deep, giving 
 a good girth. It narrows at the shoulders, which are conse- 
 quently oblique, though strong, with full points, long arms, and 
 elbows well let down, and these last should not be turned out 
 or in. 
 
 Back and Back Ribs (value 10). — The back or loin is 
 long, and should be very muscular both in width and depth. 
 For this latter development, the back ribs must be very deep. 
 The whole body is characterized as low, long, and strong. 
 
 Legs and Feet (value 10). — Owing to the width of chest, 
 the forelegs of the Sussex spaniel are often bowed; but it is 
 a defect notwithstanding, though not a serious one. The 
 arms and thighs must be bony as well as muscular; knees 
 and hocks large, wide, and strong; pasterns very short and 
 bony; feet round, and toes well arched and clothed thickly 
 with hair. The forelegs should be well feathered all down, 
 and the hind ones also, above the hocks, but should not have 
 much hair below this point. 
 
 The Tail (value 10) is generally cropped, and should be 
 thickly clothed with hair, but not with long feather. The 
 true spaniel's low carriage of the tail at work is well marked 
 in this breed. 
 
 The Color (value 10) of the Sussex is a well-marked but 
 not exactly rich golden liver, on which there is often a washed- 
 out look that detracts from its richness. The color is often met 
 with in other breeds, however, and is no certain sign of purity 
 in the Sussex spaniel. 
 
Standards. 127 
 
 The Coat (value 5) is wavy without any curl; abundant, 
 silky and soft. 
 
 The Symmetry (value 5) of the Sussex spaniel is not very 
 marked; but he should not be devoid of this quality. 
 
 SC.VLK (IK I'OINTS. 
 
 Skull 15 
 
 Eyes 5 
 
 Nose 10 
 
 Ears 5 
 
 Neck 5 
 
 Shoulders and Chest 10 
 
 Back and Back Ribs 10 
 
 Legs and Feet 10 
 
 Tail 10 
 
 Color 10 
 
 Coat 5 
 
 Symmetry 5 
 
 Total 100 
 
 THE MODERN SPRINGER OR FIELD SPANIEL. 
 
 General Appearance. — Considerably larger, heavier and 
 stronger in build than the cocker ; the modern springer 
 is more active and animated than the Clumber, and has little 
 of the sober sedateness characteristic of the latter. He should 
 exhibit courage and determination in his carriage and action, 
 as well as liveliness of temperament, though not in this respect 
 to the same restless degree generally possessed by the 
 cocker. His conformation should be long and low, more so 
 than the cocker. 
 
 Intelligence, obedience, and good nature should be strongly 
 evident. The colors most preferred are solid black or liver, but 
 
128 The Spaniel and lis Training. 
 
 liver and white, blacl; and white, blaclc and tan, orange, and 
 orange and white are all legitimate spaniel colors. 
 
 Head (value 15) long and not too wide, elegant and shapely, 
 and carried gracefully; skull showing clearly cut brows, but 
 without a very pronounced stop; occiput distinct and rising 
 considerably above the set-on of the ears; muzzle long with 
 well developed nose, not too thick immediatly in front of the 
 eye and maintaining nearly the same breadth to the point; 'uf- 
 ficient flew to give a certain squareness to the muzzle and avoid 
 snipiness or wedginess of face; teeth sound and regular; eyes 
 intelligent in expression and dark, not showing the haw, nor so 
 large as to be prominent or goggle-eyed. 
 
 Ears (value 10) should be long and hung low on the skull, 
 lobe-shaped and covered with straight or slightly wavy silky 
 feather. 
 
 Neck (value 5) long, graceful, and free from throatiness, 
 tapering toward the head, not too thick but strongly set into 
 shoulders and brisket. 
 
 Shoulders and Arms (value 10). — The shoulder-blades 
 should lie obliquely and with sufficient looseness of attach- 
 ment to give freedom to the forearms, which should be well let 
 down. 
 
 Legs and Feet (value 15). — The forelegs should be straight, 
 very strong and short; hindlegs should be well bent at the stifle- 
 joint, with plenty of muscular power. Feet should be of good 
 size with thick, well developed pads, not flat or spreading. 
 
 Body and Quarters (value 20) long with well sprung ribs, 
 strong, slightly arching loins, well coupled to the quarters, 
 which may droop slightly toward the stern. 
 
 Coat and Feather (value 15). — The coat should be as 
 straight and flat as possible, silky in texture, of sufficient dense- 
 ness to afford good protection to the skin in thorny coverts, and 
 moderately long. The feather should be long and ample, 
 straight or very slightly wavy, heavily fringing the ears, back of 
 forelegs, between the toes, and on back quarters. 
 
Standards. 129 
 
 Tail (value 10) should be strong and carried not higher than 
 the level of the back. 
 
 SCALE OF POINTS. 
 
 Head 15 
 
 Ears 10 
 
 Neck 5 
 
 Shoulders and Arms 10 
 
 Legs and Feet 15 
 
 Body and Quarters 20 
 
 Coat and Feather 15 
 
 Tail 10 
 
 Total 100 
 
 THE COCKER SPANIEL. 
 
 A cocker spaniel must not weigh more than 28 lbs. nor less 
 than 18 lbs. 
 
 General Appearance, Symmetry, etc. (value 10). — A 
 cocker spaniel should be eminently a well-built, graceful and 
 active dog, and should show strength without heaviness or clum- 
 siness. Any of the spaniel colors are allowable, but beauty of 
 color and marking must be taken into consideration. 
 
 Head (value 15) should be of fair length, muzzle cut off 
 square, tapering gradually from the eye, but not snipy. Skull 
 rising in a graceful curve from the stop, and with the same out- 
 line at the occiput, the curve line being flatter but still curving 
 at the middle of the skull. The head should be narrowest at the 
 eyes and broadest at the set-on of ears, and viewed from the 
 front, the outline between the ears should be a nearly perfect 
 segment of a circle. The stop is marked and a groove runs up 
 the skull, gradually becoming less apparent, till lost about half 
 way to the occiput. This prevents the domed King Charles' 
 skull, and there should not be the heaviness of the large field 
 spaniel, but a light, graceful, well-balanced head. Jaws level, 
 neither undershot nor pig-jawed, teeth strong and regular. 
 
 Eyes (value 5) round and moderately full. They should cor- 
 respond in color with the coat. 
 
130 The Spaniel and Its Training. 
 
 Ears (value 10) lobular, set on low, leather fine and not ex- 
 tending beyond the nose, well clothed with long, silky hair, 
 which must be straight or wavy — no positive curls or ringlets. 
 
 Neck and Shoulders (value 10). — Neck should be suffi- 
 ciently long to allow the nose to reach the ground easily; mus- 
 cular, and running into well-shaped, sloping shoulders. 
 
 Body (value 15). — Ribs should be well sprung; chest of fair 
 width and depth; body well ribbed back, short in the coupling, 
 flank free from any tucked-up appearance, loin strong. 
 
 Length (value 5), from tip of nose to root of tail, should be 
 about twice the height at shoulder, rather more than less. 
 
 Legs AND Feet (value 15). — The forelegs should be short, 
 strong in bone and muscle; straight, neither bent in nor out at 
 elbow; pasterns straight, short and strong; elbows well let 
 down; the hindlegs should be strong, with well-bent stifles; 
 hocks straight, looked at from behind, and near the ground. 
 Feet should be of good size, round, turning neither in nor out, 
 toes not too spreading; the soles should be furnished with hard, 
 horny pads, and there should be plenty of hair between the toes. 
 
 Coat (value 10) should be abundant, soft and silky, straight 
 or wavy, but without curl; chest, legs and tail well feathered. 
 There should be no topknot or curly hair on top of head. 
 
 Tail (value 5) usually docked, carried nearly level with the 
 back. At work it is carried lower, with a quick, nervous 
 action which is characteristic of the breed. 
 
 scale of points. 
 
 General Appearance .10 
 
 Head 15 
 
 Eyes 5 
 
 Ears 10 
 
 Neck and Shoulders 10 
 
 Body 15 , 
 
 Length 5 ' 
 
 Legs and Feet 15 ! 
 
 Coat 10 \ 
 
 Tail 5 
 
 Total 100 
 
V Standards. 131 
 
 Standards Adopted by the English 
 Spaniel Club. 
 
 the english water spaniel. 
 
 POSITIVE POINTS. 
 
 Head and Jaw and Eyes. ...20 Feet 5 
 
 Ears 5 Stern 10 
 
 Neck 5 Coat 15 
 
 Body 10 General Appearance 10 
 
 Forelegs 10 
 
 Hindlegs 10 Total Positive Points. . . . 100 
 
 Negative Points. — Feather on stern, 10; topknot, 10 — 
 total negative points, 20. 
 
 descriptive particulars. 
 
 Head. — Long, somewhat straight and rather narrow; muz- 
 zle rather long, and, if anything, rather pointed. 
 
 Eyes. — Small for the size of the dog. 
 
 Ears. — Set in forward, and thickly clothed with hair inside 
 and out. 
 
 Neck. — Straight. 
 
 Body (including size and symmetry). — Ribs round, the back 
 ones not very deep. 
 
 Nose. — Large. 
 
 Shoulders and Chest. — Shoulders low and chest rather 
 narrow, but deep. 
 
 Back and Loin. — Strong, but not clumsy. 
 
 Hindquarters. — Long and straight; rather rising toward 
 the stern then drooping, which, combined with the low shoulder, 
 gives him the appearance of standing higher behind than in 
 front. 
 
 Stern. — Docked from 7 in to 10 in. according to the size of 
 the dog, carried a little above the level of the back, but by no 
 means high. 
 
 Feet and Legs. — Feet well spread, large and strong; well 
 
132 The Spaniel and Its Training. 
 
 clothed with hair, especially between the pads. Legs long and 
 strong; the stifles well bent. 
 
 Coat. — Covered either with crisp curls or with ringlets; no 
 topknot, but the close curl should cease on the top of the 
 head, leaving the face perfectly smooth and lean looking. 
 
 Color. — Black and white, liver and white, or self-colored 
 black or liver. The pied for choice. 
 
 General Appearance. — Sober looking, with rather a slouch- 
 '•ig gait and a general independence of manner, which is 
 thrown aside at the sight of a gun. 
 
 THE IRISH WATER SPANIEL. 
 
 POSITIVE POINTS. NEGATIVE POINTS. 
 
 Head and Jaw 10 Light Yellow, or Gooseberry 
 
 Eyes 5 Eyes 10 
 
 Topknot 5 Cording, or Tags of Dead or 
 
 Ears TO Matted Hair 12 
 
 Neck 71^ Moustache or Poodle Hair 
 
 Body • 7^ on Cheek 5 
 
 Forelegs 5 Lank, Open, or Woolly Coat 7 
 
 Hindlegs 5 A Natural Sandy, Light Coat 8 
 
 Feet 5 Furnishing of Tail more than 
 
 Stern 10 half-way down to Sting. . . 7 
 
 Coat 15 Setter-feathering on Legs. . . 10 
 
 General Appearance 15 White Patch on Chest 6 
 
 Total Positive Points. . 100 Total Negative Points. . . .65 
 
 Disqualifications. — Total absence of topknot. A fully- 
 feathered tail. Any white patch on any part of dog, except a 
 small one on chest or toe. 
 
 DESCRIPTIVE particulars. 
 
 Head. — Capacious skull, rather raised in dome and fairly 
 wide, showing large brain capacity. The dome appears higher 
 than it really is, from its being surmounted by the crest or top- 
 
Standards. 133 
 
 knot, which should grow down to a point between the eyes, leav- 
 ing the temple smooth. 
 
 Eyes. — Dark brown and highly intelligent, or rich amber — 
 the former preferred. 
 
 Nose. — Dark liver-colored, rather large, and well developed. 
 
 Ears. — Set on rather low. In a full-sized specimen, the 
 leather should be not less than 18 in., and with feather about 
 24 in. The feather on the ear should be long, abundant and 
 wavy. 
 
 Neck. — Should be "pointer-like," /. e., muscular, slightly 
 arched, and not too long. It should be strongly set on the 
 shoulders. 
 
 Body (including size and symmetry). — Height at shoulder 
 from 20 to 23 in., according to se.x and strain; body, fair-sized, 
 round, barrel-shaped, well ribbed up. 
 
 Shoulders and Chest. — Chest deep, and not too narrow. 
 Shoulders strong, rather sloping, and well covered with hard 
 muscle. 
 
 Back and Loin. — Back strong, loins trifle arched and power- 
 ful, so as to fit them for the heavy work of beating through 
 sedgy, muddy sides of rivers. 
 
 Hindquarters. — Round and muscular, and slightly drooping 
 toward the set-on of the stern. 
 
 Stern. — A "whip tail," thick at base and tapering to a 
 "sting." The hair on it should be short, straight, and close 
 lying, except for a few inches from its root, where it gradually 
 merges into the body coa't in some short curls. 
 
 Feet and Legs. — ^^Forelegs straight, well-boned. They 
 should be well furnished with wavy hair all round and down to 
 the feet, which should be large and round., Hindlegs stifle 
 long; hock set low; they should be well furnished, except from 
 the hock down the front. 
 
 Coat. — Neither woolly nor lank, but should consist of short 
 crisp curls right up to the stern. Topknot should fall well over 
 the eyes. It and furnishing of ears should be abundant and 
 wavy. 
 
134 The Spaniel and Its Training. 
 
 Color. — Dark rich liver or puce (to be judged by its original 
 color). A sandy light coat is a defect. Total absence of white 
 desirable, any, except a little on chest or a toe, should disqualify. 
 
 General Appearance. — That of a strong, compact, dashing- 
 looking dog, with a quaint and very intelligent aspect. They 
 should not be leggy, as power and endurance are required of 
 them in their work. Noisy and joyous when out for a spree, 
 but mute on game. 
 
 THE CLUMBER SPANIEL. 
 
 POSITIVE POINTS. 
 
 Head and Jaw 25 Feet 5 
 
 Eyes 5 Stern o 
 
 Ears 5 Coat and Feather 10 
 
 Neck 5 General Appearance 15 
 
 Body 20 
 
 Forelegs 5 Total Positive Points. . .100 
 
 Hindlegs 5 
 
 Negative Points. — Light nose, 10; curled ears, ro; curled 
 coat, 20 — total negative points, 40. 
 
 descriptive particulars. 
 
 Head. — Large, square and massive, flat on top, ending in 
 a peak at occiput, round above eyes, with a deep stop; muzzle 
 heavy and freckled, lips of upper jaw slightly overhung; skin 
 under eyes dropping and showing haw. 
 
 Eyes. — Dark brown, slightly sunk and showing haw. 
 
 Ears. — Large and well covered with straight hair and hang- 
 ing slightly forward, the feather not to extend below the 
 leather. 
 
 Neck. — Very thick and powerful, and well feathered un- 
 derneath. 
 
 Body (including size and symmetry). — Very long and 
 heavy, and near the ground. Weight of dogs, 55 lbs. to 65 lbs.; 
 bitches, 45 lbs. to 55 lbs. 
 
Standards. 135 
 
 Nose. — Square and flesh-colored. 
 
 Shoulders and Chest. — Wide and deep — shoulders strong 
 and muscular. 
 
 Back and Loin. — Back straight, broad and long; loin pow- 
 erful and well let down. 
 
 Hindquarters. — Very powerful, with thighs placed well at 
 back of body. 
 
 Stern. — Set very low (while retaining the more important 
 point of a straight back), well feathered and carried about 
 level with the backbone. 
 
 Feet and Legs. — Feet large and round, well covered with 
 hair; legs short, thick and strong; hocks low. 
 
 Coat. — Long, plentiful, soft and straight. 
 
 Color. — Plain white with lemon markings; orange permis- 
 sible, but not so desirable; slight head markings, with white 
 body preferred. 
 
 General Appearance. — Should be that of a very long, low, 
 heavy, massive dog, with a thoughful expression. 
 
 THE SU.SSEX SPANIEL. 
 
 POSITIVE POINTS. negative POINTS. 
 
 Head and Jaw 15 Light Eyes 5 
 
 Eyes 5 Narrow Head 10 
 
 Ears 5 Weak Muzzle 10 
 
 Neck 5 Curled Ears or High Set on. 5 
 
 Body 15 Curled Coat 15 
 
 Forelegs 10 Carriage of Stern 5 
 
 Hindlegs 10 Topknot 10 
 
 Feet 5 White on Chest 10 
 
 Stern 5 Color (too Light or too Dark) 10 
 
 Coat and Feather 10 Legginess or Light of Bone. 5 
 
 General Appearance 15 Shortness of Body or Flat- 
 
 sided 5 
 
 Total Positive Points. . . . 100 General Appearance, Sour or 
 
 Crouching 10 
 
 Total Negative Points. ..100 
 
136 The Spaniel and Its Training. 
 
 DESCRIPTIVE PARTICULARS. 
 
 Head. — Should be moderately long and massive, with depth 
 in proportion, to obviate a flat appearance; skull broad and 
 forehead prominent. 
 
 Eyes. — Hazel color, fairly large and languishing, not show- 
 ing the haw overmuch. 
 
 Ears. — Thick, fairly large and lobe-shaped; set moderately 
 low, but relatively not so low as in black or other varieties of 
 spaniels; carried close to the head, and furnished with wavy hair. 
 
 Neck. — Muscular and slightly arched. 
 
 Body (including size and symmetry). — Long, with well-sprung 
 ribs, and a fair depth behind the shoulders. 
 
 Nose. — Liver color; muzzle large and square, with lips 
 somewhat pendulous and nostrils well developed. 
 
 Shoulders and Chest. — The shoulders should be oblique, 
 and the chest deep and wide. 
 
 Back and Loin. — Back level and long, and loin broad. 
 
 Hindquarters. — Strong, thighs muscular and hocks low 
 down. 
 
 Stern. — Docked from sin. to Sin., set low, and not carried 
 above the level of the back. 
 
 Feet and Legs. — Legs short and strong, with immense bone 
 and a slight bend in the forearm. Feet large and round, and 
 moderately well feathered, with short hair between the toes. 
 
 Coat. — Bodycoat abundant, flat or slightly waved, with no 
 tendency to curl, moderately well feathered on legs and stern, 
 but clean below the hocks. 
 
 Color. — Dark golden liver, not a light ginger or snuff color, 
 but rather of a rich bronze tinge, not puce; the color will vary 
 and go darker when the dog is kept out of Sussex, especially in 
 those parts where the climate and soil differ materially from 
 that of Sussex. 
 
 General Appearance. — Rather massive and muscular, but 
 with free movements and nice tail action, denoting a tractable 
 and cheerful disposition — weight from 3 5 lbs. to 45 lbs. 
 
Standards. 137 
 
 THE BLACK FIELD SPANIEL. 
 
 POSITIVE POINTS. NEGATIVE POINTS. 
 
 Head and Jaw 15 Light Eyes 10 
 
 Eyes 5 Light Nose (fatal) 25 
 
 Ears 5 Curled Ears 10 
 
 Neck 5 Curled Coat 10 
 
 Body 10 Carriage of Stern 10 
 
 Forelegs 10 Topknot (fatal) 25 
 
 Hindlegs 10 White on Chest 10 
 
 Feet TO 
 
 Stern 10 Total Negative Points. ..100 
 
 Coat and Feather 10 
 
 General Appearance 10 
 
 Total Positive Points. . . . 100 
 
 DESCRIPTIVE PARTICULARS. 
 
 Head. — Should be quite characteristic of this grand sport- 
 ing dog, as is that of the bloodhound or bulldog, its very stamp 
 and countenance should at once convey the conviction of high 
 breeding, character and nobility. Skull well developed, with a 
 distinctly elevated occipital tuberosity, which, above all, gives 
 the character alluded to; not too wide across muzzle, long and 
 lean, never snipy nor squarely cut, and in profile curving 
 gradually from nose to throat; lean beneath eyes, a thickness 
 here gives coarseness to the whole head. The great length of 
 muzzle gives surface for the free development of the olfactory 
 nerve, and thus secures the highest possible scenting powers. 
 
 Eves. — Not too full, but not small, receding or overhung; 
 color, hazel or brown; grave in expression, and bespeaking un- 
 usual docility and instinct. 
 
 Ears. — Set low down as possible, which greatly adds to the 
 refinement and beauty of the whole head; moderately long and 
 wide, and sufficiently clad with nice setter-like feather. If the 
 ear be well set on, it need not be very long in feather, which is a 
 practical disadvantage. 
 
 Neck. — Very strong and muscular, so as to enable the dog to 
 
13^ The Sfafiiel and Its Training. 
 
 retrieve his game without undue fatigue; not too short, how- 
 ever. 
 
 Body (including size and symmetry). — Long and very low, 
 well ribbed up to a good strong loin, straight or slightly arched, 
 never slack; weight from 30 lbs. to 40 lbs. 
 
 Nose. — Well developed, and with good open nostrils, thor- 
 oughly well developed, and always black in color. 
 
 Shoulders and Chest. — Former sloping and free — latter 
 deep and well developed; but not too round and wide. 
 
 Back and Loin. — Very strong and muscular, and slightly 
 arched; long in proportion to the height of the dog. 
 
 Hindquarters. — Very powerful and muscular, wide and 
 fully developed. 
 
 Stern. — Well set on and carried low, if possible below the 
 level of the back, in a perfectly straight line, or with a slight 
 downward inclination; never elevated above the back, and in 
 action always kept low; nicely fringed, with wavy feather of 
 silky texture. 
 
 Feet and Legs. — Feet not too small and well protected 
 between the toes with soft feather; good strong pads. Legs 
 straight and immensely boned, strong and short, and nicely 
 feathered, with a flat or waved setter-like feather — feathering 
 below hocks objectionable. 
 
 Coat. — Flat or slightly waved, and never curled — sufficiently 
 dense to resist the weather, and not too short — silky in texture, 
 glossy and refined in nature, with neither duffleness on the one 
 hand, nor curl or wireness on the other; on chest, under belly, 
 and behind the legs there should be abundant feather, but never 
 too much, and that of the right sort, namely setter-like. The 
 tail and hindquarters should be similarly adorned. 
 
 Color. — Jet black throughout, glossy and true. A little 
 white on chest, though a drawback, not a disqualification. 
 
 General Appearance. — That of a sporting dog, capable 
 of learning and doing anything possible for his inches and con- 
 formation. A grand combination of beauty and utility. 
 
Standards. 139 
 
 ANY OTHER VARIETY OF FIELD SPANIEL. 
 
 Positive Points — Similar to those given in black variety. 
 
 Negative Points. — Subject to color. Similar to those given 
 in black variety. 
 
 descriptive particulars. 
 
 Head. — Similar to that of the black spaniel, save in color. 
 
 Eyes. — The color in all cases to match the coat and mark- 
 ings, viz.: Black and tans, hazel or brown; liver and tans, 
 rather lighter than in black and tans, but of good rich tone; 
 livers, light hazel color; black, tan and white roans, etc., 
 somewhat similar to black and tans; liver and tan roans, etc., 
 somewht similar to liver and tans. 
 
 Ears. — Similar to those of the black spaniel, except in color. 
 
 Neck. — Similar to that of the black spaniel. 
 
 Body (including size and symmetry). — Similar to that of 
 the black spaniel. 
 
 Nose. — Variable, according to color of coat and markings: 
 Black and tans, black; liver and tans, dark liver color; livers, 
 liver; black and tan and white roans, black; liver and tan 
 roans, liver. 
 
 Shoulders and Chest. — Similar to those of the black 
 spaniel. 
 
 Back and Loin. — Similar to those of the black spaniel. 
 
 Hindquarters. — Similar to those of the black spaniel. 
 
 Stern. — Similar to that of the black spaniel. 
 
 Feet and Legs. — Similar to those of the black spaniel. 
 
 Coat. — Similar in quality, substance and texture and in 
 all other respects, except color; responding to that given for 
 black spaniels. 
 
 Colors. — Various, such as black and tan, liver and tan, 
 liver; black, tan and white roans; liver, tan and white 
 roans, etc. 
 
 General Appearance. — Similar in all respects, except in 
 regard to color and markings; identical with the general 
 description given before for black spaniels. 
 
I40 The Spaniel and Its Training. 
 
 THE NORFOLK SPANIEL. 
 
 POSITIVE POINTS. 
 
 Head, Jaw and Eyes 20 Feet 5 
 
 Ears 10 Stern 5 
 
 Neck 10 Coat and Feather 10 
 
 Body 10 General Appearance 10 
 
 Forelegs 10 
 
 Hindlegs 10 Total Positive Points. . . . 100 
 
 Negative Points. — Carriage of stern, 5; topknot, 5; total 
 negative points, 10. 
 
 DESCRIPTIVE PARTICULARS. 
 
 Head. — .Skull long and rather narrow; a stop; the muzzle 
 long and broad at the end. 
 
 Eyes. — Rather small, bright and intelligent. 
 
 Ears. — Long, low set and lobular. 
 
 Neck. — Long, strong, slightly arched. 
 
 Body (including size and symmetry). — Fairly heavy body; 
 legs rather longer than in other field spaniels, but not so long 
 as in Irish. Medium size. 
 
 Nose. — Large and soft. 
 
 Shoulders a.nd Chest. — Shoulders long and sloping; chest 
 deep and fairly broad. 
 
 Back and Loin. — Back flat and strong; loin rather long, 
 flat and strong. 
 
 Hindquarters. — Long; hocks well let down; stifles moder- 
 ately bent, and not twisted inward nor outward. 
 
 Stern. — Docked; low carried, i. c, not above the level of 
 the back. 
 
 Feet and Legs. — Strong boned legs, inclining to short- 
 ness; feet large and rather flat. 
 
 Coat. — Hard, not woolly; not curly, but may be broken. 
 
 Color. — Liver and white, and black and white. 
 
 General Appearance. — An active, useful, medium sized 
 dog. 
 
Standards. 141 
 
 THE BLACK COCKER SPANIEL. 
 
 POSITIVE POINTS. NEGATIVE POINTS, 
 
 Head and Jaw 10 Light Eyes (undesirable but 
 
 Eyes 5 not fatal) 10 
 
 Ears 5 Light Nose (fatal) 15 
 
 Neck 5 Curled Ears (very undesira- 
 
 Body 15 ble) 15 
 
 Forelegs 10 Curled Coat (curly, woolly or 
 
 Hindlegs 10 wiry) 20 
 
 Feet 10 Carriage of Stern (crooked or 
 
 Stern 10 twisted) 20 
 
 Coat and Feather 10 Topknot (fatal) 20 
 
 General Appearance 10 
 
 Total Negative Point. . . . 100 
 
 Total Positive Points. . . .100 
 
 DESCRIPTIVE PARTICULARS. 
 
 Head. — Not so heavy in proportion and not so high in occi- 
 put as in the modern field spaniel, with a nicely developed 
 muzzle or jaw; lean, but not snipy, and yet not so square as in 
 the Clumber or Sussex varieties, but always exhibiting a suffi- 
 ciently wide and well-developed nose. Forehead perfectly 
 smooth, rising without a too decided stop from muzzle into a 
 comparatively wide and rounded well-developed skull, with 
 plenty of room for brain power. 
 
 Eyes. — Full, but not prominent, hazel or brown colored, with 
 a general expression of intelligence and gentleness, though de- 
 cidedly wide awake, bright and merry, never goggled nor weak, 
 as in the King Charles and Blenheim kinds. 
 
 Ears. — Only moderately long, and rather broader than in the 
 large field spaniels, for when too long they are practically a 
 hindrance in dense coverts; and also set rather higher than in 
 the before-mentioned variety, nicely protected with a sufficiency 
 of wavy feather (never curled); indeed this merry and most use- 
 ful old-world sporting dog should carry only a truly sporting 
 ear. 
 
 Neck. — Strong and muscular, and neatly set on to fine slop- 
 ing shoulders. 
 
142 The Spaniel and Its Training. 
 
 Body (including size and symmetry). — Not quite so long and 
 low as in the other breeds of spaniels, more compact and firmly 
 knit together, giving the impression of a concentration of power 
 and untiring activity; the total weight should not exceed 25 lbs. 
 
 Nose. — Sufficiently wide and well developed to insure the 
 exquisite scenting powers of this breed. Color black. 
 
 Shoulders and Chest. — The former sloping and fine, chest 
 deep and well developed, but not too wide and round to inter- 
 fere with the free action of the forelegs. 
 
 Back and Loin. — Immensely strong and compact in propor- 
 tion to the size and weight of the dog; slightly drooping toward 
 the tail. 
 
 Hindquarters. — Wide, well rounded and very muscular so 
 as to insure untiring action and propelling power under the 
 most trying circumstances of a long day, bad weather, rough 
 ground and dense covert. 
 
 Stern. — That most characteristic stamp of blue blood in all 
 the spaniel family may, in the lighter and more active cocker, 
 although set low down, be allowed a slightly higher carriage 
 than in the other breeds, but never cocked up over, but rather 
 in a line with the back, though the lower its carriage and action 
 the better, and when at work its action should be incessant in 
 this, the brightest and merriest of the whole spaniel family. 
 
 Feet and Legs. — The legs must be well boned, feathered 
 and straight, for the tremendous exertions expected from this 
 grand little sporting dog, and should be sufficiently short for 
 concentrated power, but not too short as to interfere with its 
 full activity. Feet firm, round and cat-like, not too large, 
 spreading and loose-jointed. This distinct breed of spaniel 
 does not follow exactly on the lines of the larger field spaniel, 
 either in lengthiness, lowness, or otherwise, but be shorter in 
 back, and rather higher on the legs. 
 
 Coat. — Flat or waved, and silky in texture, never wiry, 
 woolly, nor curly, with sufficient feather of the right sort — viz., 
 waved or setter-like, but not too profuse, and never curly. 
 
Standards, 143 
 
 Color. ^et black; a white shirt frill should never disqualify; 
 but white feet should not be allowed in any specimen of self- 
 color. 
 
 General Appearance. — Confirmatory of all indicated above 
 —viz., a concentration of pure blood and type, sagacity, do- 
 cility, good temper, affection and activity. 
 
 ANY OTHER VARIETY OF COCKER SPANIEL 
 
 Positive Points. — Same as in the black variety. 
 Negative Points. — Subject to color. Similar to those of 
 the black variety. 
 
 DESCRIPTIVE PARTICULARS. 
 
 Head. — Similar to that of the black cocker. 
 
 Eyes. — Dependent on color and markings. 
 
 Ears. — Similar to those of the black cocker. 
 
 Neck. — Similar to that of the black cocker. 
 
 Body (including size and symmetry). — Similar to that of the 
 black cocker. 
 
 Nose. — The color will be dependent on color of coat and 
 markings, in all other respects similar to the black cocker. 
 
 Shoulders and Chest. — Similar to those of the black 
 cocker. 
 
 Back and Loin. — Similar to those of the black cocker. 
 
 Hindquarters. — Similar in all respects to that described in 
 the black cocker. 
 
 Stern. — Identical with that of the black cocker. 
 
 Feet and Legs. — Similar to those of the black cocker. 
 
 Coat. — Similar in every way to the coat of the black variety, 
 except in color or markings. 
 
 Color. — Black and tan, liver and tan, black, tan and white, 
 liver, tan and white, lemon and white, roans, and in fact nearly 
 any combination or blending of colors. 
 
 General Appearance. — In all respects agreeing with the 
 description given for the black variety of this breed. 
 
A dvertisemenfs. 
 
 Spaniels at the Stud. 
 
 CHAMPION NEWCASTLE (5897). Clumber spaniel. 
 Ben ex Joan. Winner of over forty prizes. Fee $20. 
 
 CHAMPION BLACK PRINCE (12,524). Solid black 
 field spaniel. Weight 361bs. Champion Benedict ex Mad- 
 cap. Winner of twenty-three prizes. Fee $15. 
 
 CHAMPION DOC (8511). Solid black cocker spaniel. 
 Weight 22lbs. Young Obo ex Rose Obo. Winner of over 
 thirty prizes. Fee $20. 
 
 Apply to A. CLINTON WILMERDING, 
 
 163 Broadway, New York. 
 
 Mount Royal Kennels. 
 
 ENGLISH SETTERS. GORDON SETTERS. 
 IRISH SETTERS. POINTERS. 
 COCKER SPANIELS. 
 
 Address P. O. Box 215, Cote St. Antonie, 
 Montreal, Canada. 
 
 Yllonoc Kennels of English HJasliffs. 
 
 AT THE STUD. 
 
 WYOMING COUNT (9708). Sears' Monarch ex Salva. 
 
 Whelped Nov. 16, 1887. Stud fee $20. Winner of five 
 
 prize cards at three shows, including two silver cups at 
 
 Ottawa. A most successful sire. 
 
 Finely marked puppies for sale at reasonable prices for such 
 
 high class stock. 
 
 Address F. W. CONNOLLY, 
 
 Fields Corner, Dorchester, Mass. 
 
A dvertisements. 
 
 THE AMERICAN 
 
 BOOK OF THE DOG 
 
 The Origin, Development, Special Charac- 
 teristics, Utility, Breeding, Training, 
 Diseases and Kennel Management 
 OF all Breeds of Dogs. 
 
 Bernard Waters, Max Wenzel, B. F. Seitner, Harry Malcolm, Charles K. 
 Westbrook, Col. Roger D. Williams, Dr. Q. Van Hummell, Dr. M. G. 
 Ellzey, Lawrence Timpson, William Loeffler, J. L. Winchell, Wm. 
 Wade, H. F. Schellhass, P. T. Madison, Wm. A. Bruette, F. H. F. 
 Mercer, A. Clinton Wilmerding, J. Otis Fellows, Geo. W. Kierstead, 
 August Belmont, Jr., W. H. Russell, Dr. J. S. Niven, Frank F. Dole, 
 P. H. Coombs, J H. Naylor, Dr. H T. Foote, Miss A. H. Whitney, 
 Henry Jarrett, J. E. Dogherty, Prof. J. H. H. Maenner, F. E. Lamb, 
 L. F. Wnitman, John E. Thayer, T. J. Woodcock, W. R. Furness, G. 
 W. Fisher, E. F. Burns, Mrs. Elroy Foote, Miss Marion E. Bannister, 
 E. R. Spalding and Dr. J. Frank Perry ("Ashmont"). 
 
 Edited by G. O. SHIELDS ("Coquina"), 
 
 Author of "Cruisings in the Cascades,'' "Rustlings in the Rockies," "Hunt- 
 ing in the Great West," "The Battle of the Big Hole," "The Big 
 Game of North America," "Camping and Camp Outfits," etc. 
 
 This book should be in the library of every Dog Fancier, and 
 will be sent, post-paid, on receipt or price, by the Editor, 
 
 G. O. SHIELDS, 165 Adams St., Chicago. 
 
k WEEKLY JOURNAL 
 
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 in short an inexhaustible store of •ntertaining, wholesome and 
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