Dogs, 123 



keep your temper, if only for the reason that 

 if you don't, the trusting creature, true gentle- 

 man that he is, will take all the blame to 

 himself, instead of calling you the unreason- 

 able fool you are ! 



Firstly, then, as to the wind. It may be 

 stated as a general rule that the stronger 

 and colder it blows the less scent it carries, 

 so that your dogs are best left snugly at 

 home in a winter gale. Indeed a strong 

 wind of any temperature is apt to puzzle 

 the best noses. Nothing makes a dog more 

 uncertain and distrustful of himself than 

 being continually checked by scent reaching 

 him in gusts from a hiding bird. It will be 

 noticed that under such conditions even the 

 most accomplished dogs will often be guilty 

 either of a false point or of an unmiti- 

 gated flush, in either case to their extreme 

 confusion. Nor, naturally, is the reverse 

 of this, a dead calm, very conducive to 

 good work from dogs, though when the air 

 is laden with moisture some dogs, pointers 

 especially, will occasionally mark the seat 



H 



