CHAPTER IV

=Retrievers=

(_a_) FLAT-COATED

There is good evidence to show that the Retriever is what may be termed a "made" breed, and that his present state of perfection is the outcome of careful selection during the last fifty years or thereabout, the latter thirty years of this time having been devoted by enthusiastic sportsmen to raise the standard of the Retriever to the highest standard of excellence, and no one did more in this respect than the lamented late President of the Kennel Club, S. E. Shirley, Esq., Ettington Park, Stratford-on-Avon.

Most of Mr Shirley's exhibits were an ornament to the show bench, and not only were they ornamental, but equally useful in the field, this gentleman being a keen sportsman and one of the most successful breeders and exhibitors of Flat-coats in the annals of this or any other time.

The Retriever is gradually coming more and more into favour, and will continue to do so when his usefulness becomes better known. It is a variety of dog that stands little chance of becoming spoiled by interbreeding, as in the case of so many Spaniels.

To the sportsman, the Retriever can claim advantages over the Pointer, Setter and Spaniel, but unless very thoroughly handled during his training, he is not of much service. A perfectly broken Retriever--more especially if rich in show-bench points--should readily bring sixty or seventy guineas at least, and cheap at that price.

_Coat._--Should be perfectly flat--not wavy as formerly--of an intense raven blackness,[1] glossy, and the hair of good length and dense, more especially over the tops of the shoulders and along the back, but the contour ought not to be interfered with.

White hair upon any part of the body, head, tail, or extremities, is not desirable, and should, in the author's opinion, tell against the animal. We are aware that the presence of a few white hairs upon the chest is not regarded as being of much importance. Still, there is no gainsaying that to be perfect in all points, the Retriever must not have such.

_Head._--Ought to possess the highest degree of intelligence. The occipital dome to be wide, of medium height, becoming much narrower as the nose is approached; the latter to be black.

_Ears._--Small, carried close to cheeks, and thin cartilage covered with soft hair, yet free from feather at the margins.

Many Retrievers are very faulty here, a touch of the Spaniel element sometimes being in evidence.

_Eyes._--To be of a deep hazel. Any tendency towards the so-called "snipy" nose is a defect.

_Chest._--Deep, but not wide, and well covered with soft, black hair.

_Neck._--Somewhat short, but thick.

_Back and Loin._--A long, strong back and loin, slightly depressed about midway, with a beautiful rise towards the hind-quarters. These latter should be well muscled and covered by the same flatness of coat.

_Limbs._--Shoulders, strong and oblique, and forearm big-boned and muscular; of medium length; pasterns short and strong; feet of proportionate size.

From the hinder face of the fore-limb there should be a sparing amount of feather, not of sufficiency to interfere with the dog when swimming.

When at rest the tail is carried down, but under excitement straight out, though slightly below the level of the back. Any tendency to curling of it, is very faulty.

Many capital working Retrievers carry their tails very badly, indicative of inferior breeding. What is equally important--no matter whether it be the Flat-, or Curly-coated variety--in a Retriever, is that of being good-tempered, obedient, persevering, quick to find, to remain at heel until given the word of command, and to have a very tender mouth.

If a dog is too headstrong, he will never make a good Retriever, running out directly a shot is fired. Must respond with alacrity to his master's word of command, in short, perfect obedience.

An "unstable" Retriever is not a useful dog; in fact, an annoyance. The chief faults of a Flat-coated Retriever are--too Setter-like in appearance, wavy coat, short coat, Spaniel-like ears, rusty tint, white hair, bad temper, disobedience, too long on the leg, too short on the leg, too much of the Newfoundland element, etc., etc.

(_b_) THE CURLY-COATED

Of the two varieties, the Curly-coated can, we think, lay claim to have been the first established. In almost every particular, save that of coat, the Curly Retriever corresponds to the description given under the heading of (_a_)--the Flat-coat. Weight about 80 lbs. Particular attention is paid by judges to the coat. The dog must be covered all over with small tight curls, the tail to be the same. Any tendency towards slackness of curl or an open coat necessarily handicaps the dog in the show ring. If black, should be free from any rusty tint, or from white. Face clean, neck long, and chest deep.

Liver Curly-coated specimens are nothing like so frequently met with as the black. Should be of an intense liver, free from white hairs and a nose of corresponding colour.

The Curly-coated Retriever Club has done much towards encouraging breeding typical specimens. Although very useful, we fancy that the Flat-coats are in more demand, probably because really A1 Curly-coats are not so readily obtainable at a moderate price, and an indifferent one, has not as good an appearance as an indifferent specimen of the Flat-coats.

At the recent Kennel Club Shows in London, etc., the proportion of Flat-coats to Curly was as three to one--the best evidence as to which is the most popular variety.

Labradors

At the Kennel Club Show there are classes for this variety of Retriever, and, in our opinion, the Labrador will, in course of time, become very popular amongst sportsmen, as they are excellent retrievers, when properly broken. They are wavy-coated dogs, either black, fawn, or yellow in colour, and, what is remarkable, these coloured dogs often appear in a litter belonging to a black sire and dam.

White specimens have been produced, and it seems likely enough that a race of white Retrievers will, in course of time, become established, though, from a sportsman's view, they will not be as serviceable as their black or darker-coloured brethren.

The author remembers several fawn-coloured Labradors on an estate in Scotland, and the gamekeeper spoke most highly of the breed for work, though, constitutionally, somewhat delicate.

CONSTITUTIONAL RULES OF THE RETRIEVER SOCIETY

1. That the object of the Society be to promote the breeding of pure Retrievers, and to develop and bring to perfection their natural qualities. In order to carry out these purposes, a working trial, if practicable, shall be annually held.

2. That the Society shall consist of a President, Vice-Presidents, a Committee, and an unlimited number of members.

3. That one-third of the Committee (exclusive of officers) shall be withdrawn by lot each year, at the Annual General Meeting for the first two years, and afterwards by rotation, and members shall be elected to fill their vacancies; the retiring members to be eligible for re-election. The President, Vice-Presidents, and Honorary Secretaries shall be _ex-officio_ members of the Committee, and shall be elected annually.

4. That the entire control and management of the Society shall be vested in the Committee (of which three shall form a quorum), who shall have power to make bye-laws, and decide upon all matters in dispute not provided for by the rules of the Society; and, further, that any member of the Committee, if unable to be present at a Committee Meeting, shall be permitted (upon application for same) to vote by proxy, duly signed, upon any resolution appearing upon the agenda paper, except as provided in Rule 8.

5. That each candidate for admission shall be proposed and seconded by members of the Society. The candidate's name, rank, residence, and profession or occupation, if any, shall be sent to the Secretary a fortnight before the election of candidates at the Committee Meeting; and that each member of the Committee be advised, at least seven days beforehand, of the proposed election of a new member of the Society.

6. That the election of members shall be vested solely in the Committee, and be made by ballot, two black balls to exclude.

7. That for the present no entrance fee shall be charged, and that the annual subscription shall be one guinea, payable 1st January in advance; and that any member whose payments shall continue in arrear for six months shall (due notice of such arrear having previously been given in writing by the Secretary) have his name struck off the list, and shall cease to be a member of the Society. Any member joining the Society after the 31st October in any year shall not be liable for an annual subscription for the current year. Life membership may be acquired upon payment in a lump sum of ten guineas.

8. Any member of the Society who shall be proved to the satisfaction of the Committee to have in any way misconducted himself in connection with Dogs, Dog Shows, or Trials, or to have acted in any way which would make it undesirable that he should continue to be a member, shall be requested to retire from the Society; and if a resolution to that effect shall be carried by three-fourths of the Committee (present and voting), duly summoned or warned to the consideration of the case, the member so requested to retire shall henceforth cease to be a member of the Society.

9. That subscriptions and donations, after payment of all liabilities, shall be applied in such a manner as the Committee shall determine, for prizes at Trials or Workers' Classes at Dog Shows, or otherwise; and all balance shall be invested for the use of the Society, in such manner as the Committee shall direct.

10. That Committee Meetings may be held at each Trial Meeting of the Society, or at such other times and places as the Committee may determine, notice thereof having been duly sent to each member of the Committee.

11. That the Annual General Meeting of the Society be held in May or June, in London, and that a Special General Meeting may be called at any time, at such place as may be agreed to by the Committee, on the requisition of six members.

12. At every meeting the President, or one of the Vice-Presidents, shall be chairman, or failing these, a member of the Committee, such chairman to have a casting vote at all meetings. And, further, the minutes of the preceding meeting shall be read, approved, confirmed, and signed by the Chairman at the commencement of the next subsequent meeting.

13. Any member may withdraw from the Society on giving notice in writing to the Secretary, provided always that such member shall be liable for his subscription to the Society for the current year in which he gives such notice.

14. That the Secretary shall enter the name and address of each member of the Society in a book kept for that purpose.

A. E. SANSOM, _Secretary_, 12 and 13 Henrietta Street, Covent Garden.

RULES ADOPTED AT THE RETRIEVER SOCIETY

(_Subject to Alteration_)

1. Before the Trials a number will be drawn by lot for each competing dog, and the dogs will be tried by batches accordingly during the first round. The handler of the dog must shoot with ammunition supplied by the Committee, and he will not be allowed to carry in his hand anything besides his gun. After all the competing dogs have been tried, the Judges will call up, at their own discretion, any dogs they require further, and try them again. No dog can win a prize which has not been subjected to both tests of "walking up" and "driving."

2. All aged dogs will be expected to retrieve fur as well as feather, if ordered to do so, but no handler must send his dog after any game until bidden by a Judge to do so. The Judges have power to order any handler to set his dog to retrieve game not shot by him personally.

3. The principal points considered by the Judges are sagacity, steadiness, nose, dash, perseverance, obedience, and retrieving. This last should be done quickly, with a tender and dry mouth, and right up to the hand.

4. Any dog not present to be tried in its turn, the Committee reserve the right of disqualifying at the expiration of fifteen minutes.

5. The Judges are empowered to turn out of the Stake the dog of any person who does not obey them or who wilfully interferes with another competitor or his dog, and to withhold a prize when, in their opinion, no merit is shown; and to exclude from competition bitches on heat, or any animals they may consider unfit to compete. The entry fees of all such dogs will be forfeited.

6. Certificates of merit will be awarded with a view to the establishment of Workers' Classes at the Dog Shows, and as a guide to purchasers of dogs which, though not in the list of prize-winners, give promise in their work of being valuable Sporting Dogs.

7. An objection to a dog may be lodged with the Secretary at any time within seven days of a meeting, upon the objector depositing with the Secretary the sum of £2, which shall be forfeited if the Committee deem such objection frivolous. All objections must be made in writing.

8. The Committee have the power, if they think fit, to refuse any entries for the Society's Trials, without assigning any reason for their action.

9. In the event of the weather being considered by the Committee unsuitable for holding the Trials, it shall be in their power to postpone the Meeting from day to day until the Saturday following the first day of the Trials, on which day the Stakes not already decided shall be abandoned and their entry fees returned.

10. The Committee reserve to themselves the right to abandon the Meeting at any time, on returning their entry monies to the competitors, and if, from unforeseen circumstances, they deem it advisable to alter the date of the meeting, after the closing of the entries, this may be done by sending formal notice to all competitors that they may recover their entry fees by exercising the option of cancelling their entries within four days from the date of such notice. All entries, however, about which no such application is made within those four days, will stand good for the Meeting at its altered date.

11. If an advertised Judge be prevented from filling his engagement for either the whole or part of the Meeting, the Committee shall appoint any other person to judge, or shall make any other arrangements that to them seem desirable.

12. Upon any case arising not provided for in the above Rules, the Members of the Committee present shall decide, and their decision shall be final.