Now look at some more recent pictures, and finally at one of today's champions. No matter how little you know of dogs, you cannot fail to notice how the breed has changed in those few years. Curls are now a thing of the past. The present standard calls for the coat to be either straight or slightly wavy. Ears are now limited to nose-length, while the legs are considerably long er.

  The spaniel was first pictured somewhere around the fourteenth century, and since then has passed through several striking changes. It might almost be thought that his evolution is traveling in a cycle, for the dogs pictured at that time are more like the present standard than are those of the early years of this century. Clinton Wil-merding seems to be the one most responsible for our present type of spaniel, for it was he who kicked over the traces and began breeding with the idea of getting back to a dog approximating the old Spanish paintings. At first the judges took no notice of his dogs, but as time went on people began to taken a fancy to them, and finally the larger dog, with more massive jaws, became the recognized type.

  Just where the cocker originated is not known. Some say in Spain—hence the name spaniel—and offer as proof the early Spanish paintings of this dog. However, the name cocker comes from the fact that in the early days he was used almost exclusively for hunting woodcock, and at that time it was necessary that he be tough and low-set for flushing the birds out of the thick briars. In measurements, the cocker of those days compared more nearly with the present pekinese. The low-set body was not necessary in America, however, and to retain his usefulness as a hunting dog in our wide-open spaces, he needed longer legs for covering greater distances.

  The setter is another bird dog whose origin is veiled in mystery. Some say that he is a cross between a spaniel and a bloodhound. One of his attributes is a great scenting ability, which enables him to mark down birds for his master. Before shotguns were used, the setter was trained to crouch or "set" when he had found a bird, so that the hunter might throw a net over both dog and bird.

  The origin of the Newfoundland has been traced back to the year 1506. At that time some Basque fishermen visited the island of Newfoundland and left there some white Pyrenean sheep dogs which founded the strain of the black Newfoundland by cross breeding with the black Labrador retriever. Even as long after that time as the early nineteenth century, the dogs on the island were mostly white. They gradually evolved into a black breed though there is the odd instance of a white Newfoundland even today.

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