The Gun and Coursing Dogs of the World
If there be one study in connection with dogs more interesting than another, it must be that which has reference to the gun dogs and the coursing dogs of the world. Since time immemorial, dogs have been used by man for certain purposes and those which he has bred, maintained and improved for his services, have kept time with the ever-changing methods whereby the human is able to obtain and have for himself the beasts of the field and the birds of the air. The first men who went after game hunted it for food; and they very soon found out the most suitable dogs for their purposes and they bred and produced dogs for different kinds of work. It is fair to write that no domestic animals are better represented throughout the world than are thoroughbred dogs of one kind or another. The pure-breeds are to be found in countries that are foreign to their varieties, and what is more, they are highly and justly prized by their owners and even the very community in which the imported dog has its new being. For let it be known, there are less distinctions than owning a superior dog, and as these dogs are capable of reproducing themselves, and both the males and females are prolific breeders, there is almost at once, or within one year, established in the kennel of the new land the high-blooded and moreover most useful dogs of other nations. And that is the reason that wherever we may go we shall probably find the particularly good gun dogs of Great Britain. These consist of the pointer, the English, Irish and Gordon setters, the retrievers and the Labrador or Lesser Newfoundland dogs, and the various spaniels, which have all been practically made perfect in the British Isles and distributed to the four corners of the earth. Dogs have been produced that will hunt as well in one country as another; but one can generally find that dogs—gun dogs and coursing dogs—are mostly chosen with an eye to the environment in which they will have to hunt.
A Fine Group of Gun Dogs.
The Hunter and His Dog
Both the pointer and the spaniel originally came from Spain, so it is said. But the original Spanish pointer was too heavy and slow in his pace for the English gunner, so he was crossed with the lighter foxhound, and it is even said with the greyhound, so that he should be more active and able to cover his ground better. Furthermore, the heavy-headed Spanish pointer had the kind of head and lips that proclaim a hunting dog that is inclined to keep his nose to the ground, rather than carry it highly and thus better obtain the body scent of birds and other game in the distance. The setter was originally the large spaniel, and was taught to “set” or sit down when he had come upon birds, so that the game could be encompassed by the fall-net, or the hawk or falcon might have the better opportunity to fly at her quarry. When the small pellets of lead were invented and the shotgun first used then the setters of the netters and falconers became gun dogs, and as such we will find pointers, setters, retrievers and spaniels of English origin in every country where the sportsman may be found. Gun and coursing dogs are not only imported into America as workers but as show dogs, and in the great majority of cases these dogs are thoroughly broken or trained as well as being good to look upon. Then these gun dogs may compete at the various field trials now run off all over Europe, the United States and Canada, or even South Africa, or at the coursing meetings in every country of the world. The coursing dog is found most useful in Canada, especially in the prairie provinces, where coyotes are destructive and a curse to the sheepman and even the horse breeder, for a pack of prairie wolves will attack and kill a foal. As a part and parcel of the farm, the ranch, the station and estancia the gun dog and the coursing dogs are invaluable. Pointers, setters, spaniels and retrievers are useful under all circumstances, and they perform the same work in all climates and under the various and dissimilar conditions. In some countries pointers are preferred to setters; but, on inquiry, it will generally be found that the alleged fitness of one variety of dog over the other, is merely a matter of taste or “fancy.” A man who owns setters prefers setters; the individual who possesses pointers has a preference for pointers. ’Tis his fancy—his hobby, and that gentle leaning towards one breed often means the fellow’s antipathy to another breed.
In a land or country that has been indifferently cultivated or is wild, there are several kinds of burrs that inconveniently fall at the very time when the hunting or shooting season begins. Some say that the pointer, because of his short coat, will not be so troubled with these prickles as will the long-coated setter, which is feathered on the legs and picks up the burrs wherever he may go. On the other hand, the setter admirer avows that the feathered and better protected foot of the setter saves him from being lamed so often as the clean and unprotected footed pointer. So it will be seen that these preferences are mostly imaginary and may be traced to fancy.
On the Continent of Europe we find many kinds of most useful dogs; but both the pointers and setters are only modifications of the old hunting dogs that came from Spain. There are rough-haired and smooth-coated pointers in Germany, and they are very handsome animals with excellent formation and with hunting qualities of the highest order. The griffons of France, Holland and Belgium are particularly good dogs; rough and ready in appearance, with excellent brains and great scenting powers. In him we will recognize a lot of hound blood which may have come from the otterhound or the hounds of Vendée. But they are just the sort of dogs that a man wants for rough-shooting in the woods or swamps. The griffon is an active dog, does not throw his tongue when immediately close to game or in sight of it, as does the hound. The griffon makes a good woodcock, “partridge” and duck dog; and as such he has been found of the greatest use in America. The griffon is a good dog in the water as well as on land, and in this way he proves himself a thoroughly serviceable all-round sporting dog. The wolf-hounds of Russia are most useful dogs, and as their name foretells, they are used as wolf-coursing dogs. Three are slipped to the wolf after he has been driven from cover by foxhounds or beaters. When they come up with their game they bump into the quarry and at the right moment lay hold of the beast by the neck and hold him until the hunter arrives and either dispatches the game with a pistol or knife, or placing a stick in the wolf’s jaws, twists a rope around the muzzle and neck, and thus preventing him from accomplishing any harm, captures the creature alive and practically uninjured. The Russian wolf-hound is the best killer of any of the coursing dogs. Like a bulldog, he holds on to what he seizes; his jaws are very powerful, and it is because of this tenacity that the Russian wolf-hound, or borzoi, as he is frequently called, is used for crossing purposes on the English greyhound and the Scottish deerhound or on the progeny of these two breeds, for the purpose of producing what is known as the “long dog” of the Canadian prairies, where he is used principally for coursing and killing the coyote. The Russian wolf-hound has also been successfully crossed on to the deerhound in Australia, either for straight out kangaroo dogs or dingo killers. The Russian wolf-hound goes to the throat of his enemy, and such a dog is required for the prompt killing of dingoes. The long and strong limbs of the kangaroo are means of defense, both as propelling powers in his long and swift bounds or jumps and for fighting when it comes to the more serious defense as against dingoes or the domesticated dogs, hence the kangaroo dog is taught to attack from behind.
The slugi or greyhounds of Arabia, Persia and Egypt may be noticed. In these we will find small examples of the Russian wolf-hound, but they have down or setterlike ears as opposed to the half-cocked or fully pricked ears of the Northern dogs. The dogs of the near East have generally long feet and these are feathered, as are their ears, legs and tails. They are used to course antelopes and hares, and one of the most ancient of sports is to not only course the antelope with these slugi, but at the same time fly hawks at the fleeing buck, which has the advantage over the dogs in sandy places and over stony or rocky ground. The big and somewhat picturesque greyhounds of Afghanistan are large dogs much after the form of the near Eastern dogs; they are used for the same purposes, and because of their surroundings in high altitudes, they grow large and woolly coats to aid them against the vicissitudes of the cold climate. In India, indeed, all over Asia, the different gun dogs generally associated with the British Isles are used and they cannot very well be done without on the small feathered game which is plentiful. In Japan and China the pheasant shooting is very good, and Americans who have gone over to shoot in those countries have taken their dogs from this country with them and have found them to accomplish all that was required of them.
If we leave Asia and continue our wanderings and huntings to the South, and reach Africa, we will find plenty of work for our hunting hounds, our coursing dogs and gun dogs. The slugi or greyhounds were the most valued dogs of the Pharoahs. In the ancient monuments the dogs’ places are at the sides of some great personage. It would appear that the tastes of the Egyptians of old were exactly those of the ancient Britons, for there is an old Welsh saying which states that “a gentleman is known by his horse, his hawk and his greyhound.” The slugi in its native or home state is now principally to be found in its purity among the Bedouin Arabs. They place the greatest value on these dogs, and they are as difficult to obtain from the wandering Arabs as are their thoroughbred horses. Furthermore, there is an Arab saying that the most valued of all things among the highest of these nomads and hunters are “his horse, his slugi and his wife’s earrings.” The Arabian greyhounds are primarily valuable for coursing antelope in sandy countries and where the sun is felt with all his power. They also thrive in temperate climates.
Incident in a Waterloo Coursing Meeting
Our old friends the pointers and setters are used in Northern Africa, as they are in the South and the East, the West and Central of that enormous and game-holding country. American foxhounds have been found most useful running on the trail of the lion; furthermore, they have the good sense to keep away from the great cat when it comes to close quarters. These hounds will soon tree a cheetah and the rifles or the arrows of the natives will accomplish the rest. In Africa, generally, there is much bird life, as that term applies to partridges, snipe, quail, etc. In that country there are several small and dangerous snakes; but it has been found that the dogs’ sagacity has been such that they, of their own initiation, immediately become alive to the dangerous natures of these reptiles and that they will return to the shooter when they get near a snake, either in the grass or on a branch overhead. Greyhounds are used in Africa for coursing the smaller bucks and hares, and such dogs, fleet of foot and able to run down an antelope, may be bartered “up-country” for produce of great value, the natives, especially the chiefs of powerful tribes—practically nations—having been known to give mining and other concessions where first class dogs have been given as presents.
There is a great deal of variety in the Australian shooting and the bush life of that lovely country is entrancing for the lover of nature and the observer of mammals and birds. Pointers and setters are used in just the same way as they are anywhere else. Quail are plentiful and the varieties of numbers of wild fowl are beautiful and often countless. As for hares, in some places they are almost as common as the rabbits; and hares are three times more prolific in that balmy country than they are in climes north of the equator in Europe and America. Coursing is a great sport there and is a means of much speculating or wagering among Australians and New Zealanders. New Zealand in many climatic instances and country surroundings is very much like England, and game has been imported and the different societies and clubs have done much to acclimatize, breed and protect game. Here is a country where springer spaniels could be more in evidence and worked with advantage. A good trade should spring up between New Zealand and California for gun dogs and greyhounds. The passage is one of less than three weeks, and the freight inconsiderate. All over South America gun dogs and greyhounds are required. There is some shooting in New Guinea, but the bush is very dense and the natives not always agreeable to the visitation of the man with a gun. Some very nice dogs are to be found in the Hawaiian Islands, notably at ever-glorious and salubrious Honolulu, the Paradise of the Pacific. And within a few days’ hail is the Golden Gate and the ever-bountiful lands that slope down to the North Pacific and the longed-for port by the voyagers from the far East and the farther South. Here, of course, we will find gun dogs in great variety, and many greyhounds. Some years ago several of the best running dogs in England were imported by sportsmen in California. And that stock is in the Golden State now. Gun dogs are not only esteemed as gun dogs or for their work, but also for their good looks. The English setter is bred in all his attractive loveliness and usefulness all the way up the Pacific Coast as far as British Columbia. And it is in the last mentioned province that some of the most beautiful of the blue-ticked, long and silver silk-like coated setting dogs have been bred. Taking the whole of the North American Continent we will find it one abiding place for gun dogs of the highest merit; and as it is well known, Americans and Canadians have always been circumspect and generous in their importations of gun dogs from Europe, and, consequently, have possessed themselves of specimens that are not only good to look upon, but easy to train and delightful to shoot over.