Remarks by Patrick Reginald Chalmers

“So, since we want to know, we must e’en sit down and find its answer each man for himself.”

Turning uncertainty into an invitation to think independently · Book, Gun-Dogs (1931), Pointer chapter

“But, if I’ve been laughing, it is with my subject I’ve laughed, and never at him.”

Distinguishing affectionate humour from ridicule · Book, Gun-Dogs (1931), Irish Setter chapter

Joy
Truth

“Fast as a racehorse, graceful as a fay, the white English Setter gallops gaily through a hundred years, and more, of English sport.”

Capturing speed and grace in a single image · Book, Gun-Dogs (1931), English Setter chapter

“And this is strange, for the Setter is, before all gun-dogs, a lovely dog and a most loving.”

Valuing the Setter for affection as much as beauty · Book, Gun-Dogs (1931), Gordon Setter chapter

“And the only sportsman out was, of course, the Spaniel.”

Reminding readers that the dog was the true participant in the old sport · Book, Gun-Dogs (1931), Springer Spaniel chapter

“I think it is just this combination of beauty and busyness that makes a Cocker such a jolly companion when he takes you out shooting.”

Explaining companionship as a union of beauty and lively purpose · Book, Gun-Dogs (1931), Cocker Spaniel chapter

“And, though his body is small, it has a heart that is big, and so the Cockers will continue to work the thick stuff for you till they wear as many prickles as a hedgehog and are as tired as a tree.”

Contrasting small stature with courage and willingness · Book, Gun-Dogs (1931), Cocker Spaniel chapter

“And yet it is delightful to have a gun-dog small enough to sit, all muddily, on your knee coming home in the car.”

Finding domestic tenderness in a working dog’s muddy return · Book, Gun-Dogs (1931), Cocker Spaniel chapter

“It is agin Nature, say I, for all noses to be equal.”

Rejecting the idea that natural gifts are evenly distributed · Book, Gun-Dogs (1931), Irish Water Spaniel chapter

Nature
Truth

“It is the sense of smell, and the joy of it, that sends him to the hunting and holds him to it and will not be denied.”

Explaining work as joy driven by the senses · Book, Gun-Dogs (1931), Irish Water Spaniel chapter

Joy
Nature

“I think that, maybe, he might surprise us in both emergencies, for he has that outstanding quality of which the great retrievers are made—he neither gives up nor gives in.”

Making perseverance the defining mark of greatness · Book, Gun-Dogs (1931), Irish Water Spaniel chapter

“But, somehow, I always suspect the man who tells me that a dog smells. I suspect him of not keeping the same dog in health, cleanliness and work.”

Arguing that neglect, not the animal, is often to blame · Book, Gun-Dogs (1931), Irish Water Spaniel chapter

Care
Truth

“Yet I have heard that he sullens if scolded—but, then, so do I. It shows a sensitive soul, folk say, and I agree with them.”

Linking sensitivity to dignity rather than weakness · Book, Gun-Dogs (1931), Irish Water Spaniel chapter

“But what’s in a name if you love your master better than your life, better than your very dinner, and stick to a line for him until the cows come home?”

Defining devotion through love, loyalty and perseverance · Book, Gun-Dogs (1931), Wavy-coated Retriever chapter

“Give him time and an active runner, a cock pheasant for choice, and he made magic again and again.”

Describing expert work as something close to enchantment · Book, Gun-Dogs (1931), Curly-coated Retriever chapter

Art
Nature

“No day was too long for him, no task too hard.”

Expressing admiration for inexhaustible courage and stamina · Book, Gun-Dogs (1931), Curly-coated Retriever chapter

“And for rough wear there never was nor will be a dog to beat him.”

Praising endurance and hardiness without qualification · Book, Gun-Dogs (1931), Curly-coated Retriever chapter

“But always he had a faith in, and a devotion to, his often tyrant (I’ve said that he was the usual keeper’s dog) that neither curses could wither nor custom (the habitual kick in the ribs) stale.”

Celebrating loyalty that survives harsh treatment · Book, Gun-Dogs (1931), Curly-coated Retriever chapter

“Now no soldier—soldiers being the born fanciers—can resist an attractive dog.”

Observing the almost universal appeal of a striking dog · Book, Gun-Dogs (1931), Golden Retriever chapter

“Now where Obscurity is, is also Curiosity. And Curiosity begets Rumour and Romance.”

Showing how uncertainty awakens imagination and storytelling · Book, Gun-Dogs (1931), Golden Retriever chapter

Art
Truth

“So, my son, in Labradors, as in life, ever prefer brilliance in performance to a humdrum steadiness, which, though highly respectable, is forever humdrum, humdrum.”

Extending a judgement about dogs into a philosophy of life · Book, Gun-Dogs (1931), Labrador Retriever chapter

“An extra twenty pounds spread over eight working years, or more, of love, companionship and pride in possession is no sum to consider at all.”

Valuing years of companionship above the purchase price · Book, Gun-Dogs (1931), Labrador Retriever chapter

“If you have met the young dog you fancy, and who fancies you, buy him.”

Treating mutual affection as the clearest reason to choose a companion · Book, Gun-Dogs (1931), Labrador Retriever chapter

“Exactly so, my son; so never you put mere steadiness and style before nose, stamina and keenness to hunt and find.”

Urging substance and instinct over polished appearances · Book, Gun-Dogs (1931), Labrador Retriever chapter

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