Dog in the Dark Quotes

“As I told the Sergeant, I never sold my pups to non-shooting homes. It would have been like selling a favourite daughter into a harem. A dog is happiest doing what it is bred for, and very few breeds were intended to be pets.”
― Gerald Hammond, Dog in the Dark

“For a moment his voice stilled the hubbub in the room. Dogs can arouse grander passions then love. ‘A retriever’s s’posed to retrieve what’s shot yes? ‘Sall right for you. Spaniels only have to rampage around the bushes, scaring out anything that’s stupid enough to pay attention to them. They can’t retrieve worth a damn anyway.”
― Gerald Hammond, Dog in the Dark

“There’s no such word as “finish” in the vocabulary of a working kennel,’ I said. ‘By then, it’ll be feeding time. It’s always feeding time or cleaning-out time or walking time.’

‘Or singing them to sleep time?’

‘Now you’re getting it.’ I said.”
― Gerald Hammond, Dog in the Dark

“Joe said. ‘He could certainly do the training if you could look after the rest. It’s my experience that you can teach a puppy the rudiments of retrieving without getting out of your armchair.’

‘Training a spaniel to quest without chasing takes a little more application,’ Mrs Kitts said severely. ‘You’re a lazy devil, Joe. I think that that’s why you stick to Labradors.’

Joe laughed and nearly choked on his food. ‘Anybody who chooses to work with spaniels,’ he said, wiping his eyes, ‘would make love standing up in a hammock, just to make life difficult.”
― Gerald Hammond, Dog in the Dark

“Joe showed me his neat kennels and his complement of Labradors, and I met Mr and Mrs Fettle, the elderly couple who looked after the daily management. Joe seemed to have plenty of time to spare. ‘But,’ he said with a sideways glance, ‘you can fully train a Labrador while a spaniel’s still scratching itself.’ He was waiting for me to point out that the Labrador, being a retriever and therefore expected to do no more than wait beside his master until there was quarry to be fetched, had little to learn beyond what a puppy did naturally, while a spaniel had to hunt without chasing, distinguish wounded game from that which was sitting tight and resist the constant temptation to chase. There was even a vestige of truth in what he said. Because of their eagerness and sheer joie de vivre, spaniels can be hard work.”
― Gerald Hammond, Dog in the Dark

“All right, I thought you specialized in Labradors.’
‘You spaniel men think that when God had created the springer and its near relatives he should have knocked off for a dirty weekend.”
― Gerald Hammond, Dog in the Dark