National Geographic : 1937 Jan
FIELD DOGS IN ACTION the predominating color, with markings of liver, black, liver and tan, tan, or roan. Males should weigh about 45 pounds and should not exceed 50 pounds; females about 42 pounds, and not over 47. (These figures are those approved by the English Springer Spaniel Field Trial Association of America.) Americans like their springers about 18/2 inches at the shoulder, while the English do not object to a 20-inch standard and a weight of 50 pounds. Clumber Spaniel Sometimes known as "the aristocrat of the spaniel family," this dog takes its name from Clumber Park, a country seat of the Dukes of Newcastle, near Worksop, Eng land (Plate VI). Originally the Clumber was a French spaniel brought to a high state of hunt ing perfection by the Duc de Noailles, in France, but about the middle of the 18th century he presented several of his dogs to the then Duke of Newcastle. Easily trained and possessed of keen scenting powers, they were and are silent or mute hunters-they spring or push out their game without giving tongue. Thus, whatever game may be ahead of the shoot ing party is not unduly disturbed until the arrival of the dogs and guns. In due course the strain from Clumber became sparsely distributed about the Brit ish countrysides. But generally the Clum ber was looked upon as one of the ap purtenances of the larger kennels and pheasant-shooting estates owned by per sons of the highest rank, including the reigning monarch and his nobles; hence its aristocratic reputation. Even today the Clumber Spaniel is regarded as a sort of royal dog and one to be worked in a team rather than singly. A team of ten or more Clumbers work ing abreast, like an advancing line of sol diers, is a sight to behold. They are steady and not too fast for the following guns. Every head of individual game-feather or fur-is found; and all the dogs are broken to drop to wing or shot. The nearest Clumber to the fallen game re trieves it and thereupon the field moves on. The method is complete, almost military. For at least three reigns, Clumber Span iels have been popular at Sandringham, the English country seat of the Kings of England. The Sandringham Clumbers have been the pride of Edward VII, George V, and the present monarch. It was Queen Alexandra, as Princess of Wales, who made them known to the gen eral public by sending them to the leading shows all over the country. The earliest of the Clumbers to arrive on the American Continent belonged to officers attached to British regiments in the Maritime Provinces. Today there are few of the breed in the Dominion. The Clumber is usually a long-bodied dog with shorter and stronger legs than those of the springer. He is heavy and for his size unusually full of movement, with the swaying hindquarters and merry tail carriage of the good-tempered dog. The color is plain white with lemon colored markings about the head, this shade being preferred to orange. The head mark ings are slight and the muzzle is freckled with lemon tickings. A male may weigh as much as 65 pounds and a female 55 pounds. Flat-coated Retriever This is another of the valuable retriever breeds developed from the water dogs brought to Britain from Newfoundland (Plate VII). In the making of the Flat-coated Re triever, setter blood was crossed with the imported stock, while in the development of the Labrador (Plate IV) a pointer cross was used instead. The two breeds are used by sportsmen for almost identical purposes, but the Labrador is far more numerous and popular. In fact, the flat-coated kind is seldom seen in America at present. One of the chief supporters of the breed in this country was the late Mr. George Jay Gould. In England the Flat- or Wavy-coated Re trievers, as they were then known, were first presented for public view at the show held at Birmingham in 1860. They were much larger and coarser than those exhibited a few years later. The Flat-coated Retriever flourished as a show dog in the late eighties and early nineties and a subsequent decline in its pop ularity has been attributed by some to the introduction of Russian Wolfhound blood by certain breeders. This was done in an effort to produce a longer jaw better fitted for carrying a hare or pheasant, but the re sult was a long, narrow, coffinlike head. In recent years this effect has been elimi nated and these handsome, intelligent, and affectionate dogs have regained some of their old-time favor in England.