Here follow the trial rules of the Sporting Spaniel Society, as far as they relate to the running of the dogs. From them it can be perceived by sportsmen how easy it is to win a prize, if they have an obedient, sensible, close-working Spaniel. The knowledge that no special training is required should induce many more owners to compete at these trials, or, at any rate, to give them hearty support.

1. - In Single Stakes for Spaniels, after the order of running has been decided by lot, each dog shall be, when practicable, worked in such order by its owner or his nominee. At the end of the first round the judges will call up, at their own discretion, any dogs they require further, and run them as they choose. The judges will, except in a case of undoubted lack of merit, try each Spaniel for at least fifteen minutes in the first round; but they can, if they think fit, carry on the trial of two dogs simultaneously, not requiring them to take notice of each other, nor ordering down together two dogs worked by the same person. All shooting will be done by guns appointed by the Committee.

2. - In Brace and Team Stakes the order of running in the first round shall be decided by lot, and the dogs composing a brace or team must belong to the same owner. No dog shall form part of more than one brace or team at the same meeting, and only one man at a time shall work any brace or team.

3. - In all Stakes the Spaniels shall be regularly shot over in the customary sporting manner, and may be worked up and down wind, and on feather and fur.

4. - In all Stakes the principal points to be considered by the judges are scenting power, keenness, perseverance, obedience, freedom from chase, style, method of beating, and hunting to the gun - whether in cover, hedgerow, or the open. In Single Stakes, besides, the Spaniels are expected to retrieve at command from land or water as required - tenderly, quickly, and right up to the hand; and any additional excellence, such as dropping to hand and shot, standing to their game and flushing it at command, etc., will be taken into account; while in Brace or Team Stakes they ought to drop to shot, and beat their ground harmoniously together. In all Stakes for Puppies under twelve months, the retrieving of fur shall be optional ; and in Non-retrieving Stakes, if a dog retrieves wounded or dead game, it shall be reckoned a serious fault against him.

The first trials were held at Sutton Scarsdale in January, 1899; and the work, for a beginning, was very good - a Cocker, some Clumbers, and a Sussex, besides other Springers, all distinguishing themselves. Since then progress every year has been evidenced in the breaking of the Spaniels; but, in spite of this, at the last meeting (1901) two breakers, novices at trials, appeared and carried off some of the best prizes.

These Spaniel articles are written from the point of view of a sportsman, because Spaniels were invented by such, and were originally kept for work with the net, with the falcon, with the cross-bow, and with the gun, and are still used by hundreds with the last-named weapon. We must, for the same reasons, resist the handing over of these, the most generally useful of the gundogs, to the non-sporting community for fancy-toy purposes. When practicable, the points of each variety are quoted from the descriptions of the Sporting Spaniel Society, which advocates that all Spaniels shall be considered by Rule of Gun. This Society declares in its Preface that it exists for the purpose of recalling attention to the working points of Spaniels, which have been neglected in favour of fancy points brought latterly into fashion by dog shows and "fancier" judges; that its members are resolved to breed Spaniels strictly on sporting lines, and to judge them by a similar standard; that in Spaniels the ornamental and the useful types were originally one and inseparable; that it is strenuously opposed to the modern exaggeration of certain points, alike on aesthetic and utilitarian grounds; and that, the ideal Spaniel, like the ideal of all other sporting dogs, being the one with no faults and no exaggerations with his beauties lying right in the centre of his possibilities - if any point be disproportionate, it is a defect, a blot on his symmetry.

It also pronounces that the foreign blood - whether of Hound, Dachshund, or Terrier - which has been introduced into many modern strains, is fatal to the true Spaniel quality in both work and appearance ; and that the first of these crosses may be detected by the dog's voice being too frequent and deep in tone, the second by his crooked legs, and the third by his hard mouth, while a wild and disobedient nature will result from any of the three.

It proceeds to postulate a low carriage of tail as a proof of pure Spaniel descent. This is indeed an essential characteristic, for in any gundog an erect tail is a sure sign of mongrelism. In fact, the term cocktailed was formerly considered so expressive that its use became general as a synonym for underbred in descriptions of horses - and even of men.

Fig. 64. - Mr. F. Winton Smith's Clumber Spaniel Champion Beechgrove Donally.

Here is the description of the Clumber Spaniel published by the Sporting Spaniel Society: -

The Clumber is the longest, lowest, and largest of the Spaniels. He was bred chiefly for battue-shooting, to work in a pack the forest-coverts of the Midlands, where the undergrowth is not thick. He is admirably adapted for work of this kind by the excellence of his nose, his slowness and docility. He is always mute.

Skull

Large, massive, and broad on top, with decided occiput, heavy brows, and deep stop.

Jaws

Of medium length, square, with flews well developed.

Eyes

Orange-brown, rather sunken, and showing the haw slightly.

Ears

Large and vine-leaf shaped, carried slightly forward, the hair on them straight.

Neck

Thick and powerful, well feathered underneath.

Shoulders

Strong, sloping, and muscular.

Fore Legs

Heavy boned and short, inclining inwards very slightly at the knee-joint, with plenty of feather.

Body

Long, strong, and barrel-like, with great ribs.

Loin

Straight, broad, and long, well let down in flank.

Hindquarters

Very powerful and muscular, the stifles rather straight.

Feet

Large, round, and hairy, the knuckle not very prominent.

Stern

Set low, well feathered, and carried about level with the back.

Coat

Abundant, thick, soft, and straight.

Colour

Creamy-white with lemon markings, orange markings not so typical generally marked on skull and freckled on muzzle, the nostrils flesh-coloured, and the body nearly white.

Fig. 65. - Mr. F. Winton Smith's Clumber Spaniel Champion Beechgrove Bee.

General Appearance

A long, low, massive dog, with a thoughtful expression. Weight of dogs from 551b. to 65Tb., of bitches from 45 lb. to 551b-

Fig. 64 illustrates Mr. F. Winton Smith's Clumber Champion Beechgrove Donally, a dog that has remained practically unbeaten in the show-ring: several of his offspring have performed creditably at the trials. Fig. 65 shows another of Mr. Winton Smith's famous Clumbers, Champion Beechgrove Bee, a bitch that has won the rare distinction of a title gained at trials alone; for she has never been exhibited.