THE NIGHT HUNTING DOG--HIS ANCESTRY.
Dogs of almost any breed, from the nondescript mongrel to the bred
and developed hound may be taught to hunt in the woods at night.
However, their success is, in a general way, in proportion to their
adaptability for the work and the plentifulness of game. For
instance, take a country raised dog of hound parentage, and he is as
apt to make as good a night dog as a pedigreed, handsome hound which
has grown up in the city, without opportunity to verify by experience
his instinctive notion of things. Everything else being equal, the
well bred hound should prove by far the better raw material for a
good night hunter.
The ideal coon dogs of most experienced night hunters are the half
bred fox hounds. Thus is enlisted the training of centuries to match
the wits of the 'coon which was born wily, and develops stratagem
from experience and necessity, affording as exciting and pretty a
contest (dog vs. coon) as sport provides.
The more one knows of the hound he follows, the greater will be his
enjoyment and success. He will avoid blaming the dog with his own
mistakes, and wisely refrain from trying to exact from the dog what
by physique and breeding he was not intended by nature to do.
How the modern fox hound descended from the blood hound and the coon
hound from the fox hound is an interesting study of more or less
importance in striking an estimate of the coon dog's prowess and
abilities. It is not such a far cry from the exciting man hunt of
other days to the coon hunt of the present.
What we call the native American fox-hounds are descended from dogs
brought over from England, Ireland and France. The settlers at
Jamestown imported the hounds that spread out over the southern
frontier, originating the superb packs to be found throughout the
South to-day.
The imported dog has never proven a good performer in the chase,
owing to very widely different conditions encountered. His value has
been in cross breeding to give bone and substance to native breeds.
Says one authority: By selection and a different character of work,
we have produced a lighter, faster hound than the ancestral type. Our
hounds are required to go and search for a fox. That quality has
become instinctive in them and it is an extremely necessary natural
quality.
What we have really done in this country with the fox-hound is, we
have created a new type. Our native hounds which are without any near
English or Irish hound crosses are not only faster than their
ancestors, but they get about in rough country, quicker and with
greater ease. The American bred dog, long accustomed to hunting, may
be readily developed to night hunting.
There are some strains of native hounds that train easier than
others. Hounds that have come down through an ancestry which have
long been in large packs have certain fixed notions or instincts
about hunting that are more difficult to change than are hounds which
have grown up singly or in couples.
Whatever manner of hound the trainer may undertake to develop it is
well for him to consider the dog's ancestry and the way in which they
have been hunted. He will find if his hound is well bred that the
ancestral influence will tend to assert itself. Knowing what is in
his hound, the trainer will know better how to handle him to bring
him up to the highest possible degree of efficiency.
There were many different breeds of the hound family existing in
England, when the fox hound, the great grandfather of the typical
night hunter under consideration, began to assume a fixed type and
receive recognition.
"A popular error" writes another authority, "into which many writers
have fallen is to associate the fox hound with any one or two breeds
of hounds for his common ancestry, for the fact is that both the
English and American fox hound is a composite animal, descended from
many different varieties of hounds which have existed in the past."
There are a number of breeds of hounds in France to-day that cannot
be intelligently traced to any peculiar origin and there have been a
greater variety of hounds in the past, which have found the way into
the kingdom by different roads.
It will never be known exactly what hunting qualities the hounds of
our crude forefathers possessed or with what melody of tongue,
accuracy of scent, or fleetness of foot they pursued game, which
consisted, with now and then an exception, of the stag, wild boar and
wolf, until the gradual advance of civilization drove the larger
animals from denuded forest and left the cunning fox as the logical
object of especial attention to huntsmen, who have spared neither
time nor expense to accomplish his death legitimately for nearly two
centuries.
Summing up we are impressed with the fact that the perfect fox or
coon hound is a superb physical being of most versatile and capable
properties, subject to our beck and call, if we learn the language of
the chase, before we attempt to tell him what is wanted.
Let us go to the next important topic. Training the Night Hunter,
with due respect and humility. Success in training a fine performer
is a credit to a man; failure is a discredit. Heed well the advice of
experienced men, and profit by their mistakes.
[Illustration: A Lover of Good Dogs.]