BREAKING AND HANDLING. 179 



grounds, handling, etc., and still not show the slightest indi- 

 cation that he descended from a race which pointed instinct- 

 ively, and with the discouraging prospect that he would not 

 point even with further weeks of trouble and work ; never- 

 theless, the trainer should not be discouraged. In the human 

 race, instances of the late development of the mental pow- 

 ers are not uncommon. Many boys who are stupid at 

 school and simple at home show a superior intellect in ma- 

 ture years, far surpassing their more precocious companions. 

 There will come a day when the dog catches the scent just 

 right; when all the conditions are favorable, he will jump in- 

 stantly into a point, straighten up and strike an attitude as 

 if he had done the act for months. It will seem to be so 

 easily done and such a matter of course that it will be a 

 cause of wonderment why it was not done before. After a 

 point has been made once, there is no difficulty in getting 

 him to repeat it and establishing the act permanently in its 

 proper relations, if the handling is done properly. 



The failure to exhibit the pointing or hunting instinct, 

 which is a very rare occurrence, is commonly ascribed to the 

 entire absence of the race characteristic and often it is so 

 stated as a fact, plainly a hasty and unwarranted conclusion 

 as applied to all cases. Such may be the fact, and probably 

 is at times, although, from the evident complexities of the 

 subject, it is impossible to determine the cause accurately; 

 therefore the most positive statement in regard to it can be 

 but little more than conjecture. It is much more reason- 

 able to presume that the sense of smell is functionally imper- 

 fect, or never was present, and the dog is thereby rendered 

 incapable of pointing or pursuing by scent, from being 

 wholly unconscious of the presence of game. This view is 

 peculiarly plausible when it is considered that many congen- 

 ital infirmities of the senses are not uncommon. Dogs 

 are, in some instances, born deaf, or blind, or partially 



