WILDFOWL DOGS—HOW TO BREAK THEM 71 
faculty—‘‘nose’’—can only be successfully taught this work 
by practice, and to have a dog thoroughly reliable on these 
and other points he must be two years old. Here I would 
remind my readers that retrievers in their first season should 
always be kept on a leash or a trash cord when at heel, espe- 
cially if they are inclined to be headstrong. A leash often 
prevents a dog ‘‘breaking,” which is a habit harder to knock 
out than encourage. The other extreme, however, is some- 
times found in the shape of a cowardly animal, which is 
useless for wildfowling. 
FINAL REMARKS 
All puppies start or show signs of shyness when they first 
hear a gun go off. Strong-nerved dogs do so less than others. 
A few are slightly nervous, but soon become accustomed to 
the shots. From my experience about one in fifty retrievers 
(I do not here refer to non-working show-bred pups) is gun- 
shy. These animals never make useful dogs. Their shyness 
is a nervous disease, and if well rooted it cannot be cured ; so 
it would be wise to have them killed as soon as this defect is 
noted. It is a bad plan to sell or give away dogs of this 
kind, or to foster them, since they may then live to propagate 
their infirmities in worthless puppies. 
Wildtowling demands a greater variety of work from a dog 
than any other class of shooting ; hence the importance of 
having a good animal. To those who are unable to break 
their own dogs I would suggest that before purchasing a 
broken dog the buyer should ascertain how and with what 
sounds the dog is worked, or, better still, see the dog at work, 
and thereby see and hear for himself. The dog, if a good 
one, may acquire the working instructions of a new master in 
time, but if by chance a totally different manner from that 
used in its training is employed by a dog’s new master, we 
cannot wonder at the animal’s inability to work well. The 
