BREAKING AND HANDLING. 185 



result from his working powers being inferior to his zeal, 

 trust to frequent opportunities to correct it; if the dog is 

 timid, encouragement is the chief reliance; if headstrong, 

 the whip and kindness combined; if the dog is cunning, he 

 is necessarily intelligent; the trainer can anticipate his 

 schemes and checkmate him. He will learn to deceive a 

 kind master in a dozen ways to accomplish his purpose; 

 when he commits an error, he will affect a look of apparent 

 innocence. A good whipping usually serves to sharpen his 

 faculties. The dog which has a poor nose, or is mentally 

 weak, should be dealt with leniently; he is blameless for his 

 natural imperfections. In all cases the punishment is sim- 

 ply an auxiliary if properly used. The trainer, with all the 

 punishment that may be necessary, can treat the dog kindly 

 and make him understand that the punishment is entirely 

 associated with certain objectionable acts, and aside from 

 them there is nothing to fear. 



If the puppy ranges well, it is better to hunt him alone, 

 thus cultivating a spirit of self-reliance and making the 

 pleasure of finding and pointing dependent on his own 

 efforts; moreover, his efforts are not interrupted by any 

 faults of another dog, for it frequently happens that the 

 good work of one puppy is spoiled by the bad work of 

 another, and the correction of one may disconcert the other. 

 Two partially trained dogs generally show great ingenuity 

 in working birds in their own manner, but it is not the man- 

 ner that the shooter approves. One untrained dog is all 

 that the amateur should attempt to control at one time. 

 However, if it is desirable to give the puppy a great deal of 

 experience in a limited time, as, for instance, when he is 

 being fitted for field trials, an old dog which is steady, in- 

 telligent, and free from any acts of jealousy may be worked 

 with him to special advantage. Wide, fast ranging is very 

 fatiguing to a young dog, particularly if the weather is 



