[Illustration:
THE POINTER.
]
This dog is highly esteemed for its use in the pursuit of game. It is
remarkable for the quickness with which it receives instruction. It may
be said to be almost self-taught; whilst the old English dog requires
the greatest care and attention in breaking and training to the sport.
The Spanish Pointer, however, is not so durable and hardy, nor so able
to undergo the fatigues of an extensive sport. It is chiefly employed in
finding partridges, and pheasants, either for the gun or the net. It is
said that an English nobleman, Robert Dudley, Duke of Northumberland, in
the days of King Edward VI. was the first who broke a setting-dog to the
net. We are often astonished at the senses of the higher quadrupeds,
such as the dog and the horse, by which man employs them for his use.
The senses most called into action in the dog are those of smell and
hearing. Accordingly the fox-hound can tell the scent of the fox he is
pursuing from one that may cross his path; the spaniel or terrier will
track his master by his scent through a crowded city; the watch-dog
barks when no one else hears a foot fall. This is partly natural and
partly attained by exercise and attention.
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