BREAKING AND HANDLING. 195 



perfectly and is obedient to all orders, yet, when compared 

 with a dog which knows how to hunt, he makes no showing 

 as a finder, there being an important distinction between 

 knowing how to quarter and obey orders, and how to find 

 birds. The owner of the obedient dog is loth to believe 

 that the self-educated dog is superior, and commonly as- 

 cribes the disparity of performance to pure luck; yet, if he 

 could have noted carefully without bias, he would have seen 

 that every act of the self-educated dog was performed with 

 rare judgment, and that he was guided in his efforts by a 

 full knowledge of the situation. Now, it is not to be under- 

 stood that a strictly self-educated dog is a properly trained 

 dog, nor that a dog which will obey all commands is such 

 the properly trained dog combines the excellences of both 

 by blending the two acquirements in his education. 



The fact that a dog learns by experience has been noted 

 by many sportsmen, but comparatively few realize its im- 

 portance in training. The expert trainers, however, we~e 

 not slow to perceive its advantages and utilize them. A 

 quartering dog is not in the competition with a dog which 

 ranges well on his own judgment. While the latter is rang- 

 ing from one likely place to another, after an intelligent 

 plan to work all such places without unnecessary waste of 

 time or effort, the former is uselessly hunting large areas, 

 after a formal manner, where both handler and dog know 

 there are no birds. 



The method of developing ranging at its best is the same 

 for all sections of country, although the manner of apply- 

 ing it in work to the gun will necessarily need modifying to 

 meet the requirements of different kinds of game. It con- 

 sists in the very simple and efficient way of giving the dog 

 free opportunity to learn it himself, then training him to the 

 necessary acts of obedience. The puppy, whether courage- 

 ous or timid, needs a preliminary experience in ranging and 



