Page 53 - Dog

A REAL CHARMER GETTING THE POINT
Although it is now a Pointers are trained to
show dog and pet, the “point” (pp. 16–17) at
cocker spaniel was hidden game with their
bred as a sporting noses. This makes them
dog and got its essential
name from its companions
ability to on bird
flush out shoots.
birds called
woodcocks.

A DAMP DAY FOR DUCK HUNTING
Duck shooting often ends up with both the hunter and his
dog getting very wet. Spaniels, which have been bred for
Muscular, strong-boned hundreds of years as water dogs, are the traditional
legs helped the cocker to be companions of the duck hunter. This painting (above) shows
an excellent bird dog a Chesapeake retriever, a curly-
coated retriever, and an
Irish water spaniel
(from left to right).

Dog made of Italian
glass decorates
lid of Austrian
box, c.1800

Tail is called
“feathered”
when it looks
like the feathers
of a bird

SETTING UP THE GAME
The English setter is one of the
oldest breeds of sporting dogs.
Originally, the setter was a spaniel that
GOOD SHOT
This 18th-century tile from France was trained to “set” the game – to go into
shows a hunter – wearing a shoulder bushes to scare, or spring, birds into the air
pouch for collecting the game – and so that they could be killed. In the
his dogs chasing the prey, which is Middle Ages birds were caught in
probably a rabbit or a hare. nets; later they were shot with
guns. This setter is holding a stick
in its mouth in the same way Special long lead allows
that it would hold a dead bird. sporting dogs to escape
their leash quickly

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