BREAKING AND HANDLING. l8l 



much as possible; for when he sees a few birds fall, smells 

 the blood and learns that the gun will kill, he may become, 

 in a great measure, unmanageable and abandon all attempts 

 at pointing. All his previous training, for the time being, 

 may be entirely ignored. The determination to catch the 

 birds or gain possession may be stronger than any fear of 

 his master. Sometimes it requires a great deal of tact to 

 get him by this period without developing other faults, such 

 as running away, blinking, gunshyness, etc. If he is not 

 wholly confirmed in pointing before birds are killed to his 

 points, he may become so thoroughly unsteady that it will 

 require weeks to adjust him so that he will again point with 

 any degree of certainty, and the same method will then have 

 to be pursued that should have been adopted at first, namely, 

 let him point a number of times until he has some steadi- 

 ness, only killing occasionally at such times as he can be 

 kept under restraint, this part requiring the exercise of 

 judgment; if he is earnestly intent on a bird being killed, 

 shoot and miss. It is not at all essential that many birds 

 be killed over a dog of such disposition in his early training; 

 on the contrary, it may be injurious, since he may run riot, 

 looking for a dead bird when the gun is fired, thereby caus- 

 ing complication and trouble. This is the maneuver shown 

 by the average dog; but there may be timid and indolent 

 dogs that can only be stimulated by shooting birds over them 

 at every opportunity, and even permitting them to break shot 

 betimes. Very little assistance can be given a dog to teach 

 him to point aside from giving him ample opportunity, and 

 if he will not show interest in birds, no assistance can be 

 given. If he will road to a flush, he may be corrected just 

 enough to make him wary of flushing, yet not enough to 

 prevent him from reading; still there must be some indica- 

 tions of natural pointing, otherwise the dog is not worth the 

 trouble of training. However, as explained elsewhere, it in 



