BREAKING AND HANDLING. 165 



do, ever recurring. It is not strange that this course pur- 

 sued assiduously spoils the dog by unconsciously teaching 

 him that he is not to hunt at all, instead of hunting in a 

 formal manner as the trainer desired. 



The puppy, which is naturally so subdued in manner that 

 he is capable of hunting steadily to the gun at a very early 

 age, has done nothing to excite hopes of superiority in his 

 future performances. The precocity of youth rarely fore- 

 shadows pre-eminence at maturity, the period when the real 

 struggle occurs. 



The most skilled and intelligent workers are those which 

 are strictly self-educated so far as finding birds is concerned, 

 this superiority being the result of self-hunting, either alone 

 or with other dogs; in fact, many expert trainers give their 

 puppies full freedom to hunt, particularly if they are at all 

 backward from timidity, slow development of hunting in- 

 stincts, gunshyness, etc., with the most beneficial results. It 

 is the only way in which a puppy can be developed to the 

 highest degree of his working capabilities; and it accords 

 with his natural instincts, and is quicker and more thorough; 

 it is the best. When permitted to go with another dog, he 

 is not hampered by any feelings of constraint which he feels 

 in the presence of his trainer. He learns to comprehend 

 the actions of his companion, learns the meaning of a point 

 and back, learns how to road quickly and accurately, and 

 how to mark the flight of birds and follow them; in short, 

 he devotes his whole undivided energies to his work. To 

 the novice, the wild pursuit appears ruinous, is against cher- 

 ished traditions, and he cannot refrain from interfering with 

 more or less turbulence and violence; yet, to develop a field 

 dog, this experience is what he must have whether he ac- 

 quires it quickly by freedom, or slowly and imperfectly 

 under the continual balking and meddling of his handler. 

 Many dogs are ruined for want of opportunity to develop. 



