164 MODERN TRAINING. 



A bird or two should be shot under favorable conditions for 

 him to see them, so that he may learn the purpose of the 

 gun, which if he has no fears, will be done readily in one or 

 two lessons, and thereafter he will always be keenly inter- 

 ested in its use. A pistol is better to begin with for many 

 reasons; it is easier to carry; it can be concealed from the 

 dog; the reports are light; and if the dog sees the pistol 

 and becomes afraid of it by perceiving that it is instrumental 

 in the frightful noises, there are not then the same objec- 

 tionable results as when the gun is used, namely, he learns 

 very quickly that bringing the gun to the shoulder is an act 

 which precedes the discharge, and naturally, from the an- 

 ticipation of the report, he flinches from this mere motion 

 as much as from the report itself; in fact, this act may cause 

 him to bolt. It has the further disadvantage that after he 

 has outgrown his fears of the report, the act of raising 

 the gun to the shoulder, being associated with past fears 

 may excite his fears for weeks; thus the preparations to fire 

 the gun may cause more lasting fears than the report itself. 

 In the beginning of field work, the trainer can be of no 

 assistance in training the puppy aside from taking him to 

 such favorable places as afford opportunities to exercise his 

 hunting instincts. All the awkwardness and ignorance he dis- 

 plays, qualities always displayed by an inexperienced puppy, 

 are gradually overcome by experience. It is impossible for 

 the puppy to understand the application of methods before 

 he has had sufficient experience in working on birds; prior 

 to this, methods are simply so many incomprehensible ob- 

 structions. In the greater number of instances the amateur 

 conducts his training on the theory and practice that the 

 puppy must be controlled and taught even from a very ten- 

 der age, such being, in times gone by, the approved method; 

 as a consequence, the puppy is whipped, balked and perpet- 

 ually restrained, the things he must not do, but wishes to 



