Absence of gun-shyness.
Steady pointing.
Freedom from chase.
Dropping to wing, gun, and hand.
A fair amount of ability to go, with a prospect of staying when in working condition.
A good nose.
Answering to whistle.
With these qualities good sport will be assured, although the most particular will require in addition good backing. It is the quality most often absent in good puppies, and luckily can most easily be dispensed with. There are hundreds of shooters over dogs who never saw good backing, as most people are satisfied when the dog behind takes up an attitude of steadiness, and they do not ask unpleasant questions as to its nature. In practice a double point is often as good as a back, and it is not difficult to understand how some people may get to prefer that the dog behind is on the spot. For one thing, he is then safe from doing undetected damage, and is ready to assist in roding out close-lying birds as soon as his companion needs help.
Between this and the most striking field trial backing there is a happy middle course, which used to be considered the most perfect, and is so now, but it would be unfair to expect it when strange dogs meet each other at field trials. It consists in a perfect sympathy with the pointing dog, so that the animal which has not got the scent feels it through the “thought reading” of his companion. One cannot suppose there is conscious imitation of movement, yet so perfect has occasionally been the imitation of the movements of the advance dog by the one behind, that, step for step, stop for stop, crouch for crouch, and drop for drop, the one has copied the every action of the other, as if the pointing dog’s nervous system was affecting the muscles of both inch by inch. Not only has this been so, but the hesitation of a lifted fore leg has been reflected by the image behind. This kind of thing generally arises from two dogs being constantly used together, being particularly equal, and also being frequently tired in their work, so as to make it habitual for one to be glad when the other has found game. At field trials, if the competing dog is not sorry to see a competitor’s point, his master probably is (it may mean £100), and the feelings of the man are apt to be reflected in the dog.
By “nursing” a team of dogs in the way mentioned above, it is wonderful how few will keep a pair of guns going day after day. If dogs are run to a standstill one day, they will want a day’s rest the next, and the fewer dogs a shooter can get through the grouse season with, the better and more experienced each canine servant becomes. Consequently, economy and excellence go hand in hand.