Some parts of the story are told from the dog's viewpoint, and those were my favorite sections to read.Excerpt. Really a lot of this story is about character, especially that of the dogs, how the men saw something promising in Mike but waited for him to mature instead of forcing him into obedience when he was young and wild. In the end, Mike participates in another trial against an English setter (the rich man wanting to give them another chance) and proves himself- his knowledge gained in the forest and his independent thinking show up the other dog with its more rigid training. The whole experience has a profound experience on the young dog, who starts paying more attention to humans, realizing they can work together for mutual benefit. (Danny never finds out what the dog was barking at). At one point a cougar stalks them, hoping to catch and kill the dog, but Mike keeps it at bay. A storm comes up and they have to survive overnight in unexpected snowfall when Danny is injured by a falling tree branch. The climax of the story comes when Danny takes Mike along on a day trip to check a new area for game animals. Eventually he comes across Danny's trail and finds the men at the distant cabin. He hangs around for several days and then starts roaming the woods, pointing game birds by instinct but unable to catch any. The puppy Mike escapes the kennels and goes to the original cabin, but nobody's there.
They quit on the spot and move to a cabin further up the mountain with only one dog, Red. They believe the dogs should work for a man out of love and loyalty, not fear of punishment. But when they show their training methods to Danny and Ross, another of the young Irish setters is beaten with a leash and father and son are furious. The new men don't see him as worth working with, so he's left alone. Runs around causing trouble, only listens to commands when he wants to. He's the runt, and appears to have the least promise, being headstrong and reckless. The focus of the story is actually Mike, one of the Irish setter puppies. The English setter wins, so then Danny and Ross move the Irish setters down to the kennels agreeing to work with the new man and learn his methods.
They put one of the Irish setters and an English setter in a impromptu field trial. But there are new men at the kennels, who have brought English setters, claiming these as superior dogs.
They want to prove to their employer what great dogs Irish setters are. Ross and Danny have a cherished Irish setter dog named Red who, as far as I could figure out, was mated with the rich man's dog Sheilah so now Ross and Danny are raising the puppies at their cabin. Nearby lives a rich man with a large estate who keeps bird dogs for show and competitions. They make their living hunting and trapping for fur, also occasionally guiding visitors to fishing spots. It's about a father and son team, Ross and Danny, who live in a mountain cabin somewhere in New York.
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