MODERN TRAINING. 



CHAPTER XIII. 



I3ACKING. 



Backing, backsetting or backstanding, synonymous terms, 

 is the act of stopping and standing performed by one dog 

 when he sees another dog point, the attitude assumed by 

 the backing dog being generally much the same as that which 

 he assumes when pointing; yet in most instances the back 

 is less rigid than the point. Many individuals,, however, 

 which point well, back in a spiritless manner; and there are 

 occasional ones which will not back at all; others, which can- 

 not point well, back in a satisfactory manner. 



Backing, the writer believes, and has long maintained, is 

 a purely intelligent act, one in no wise instinctive. This 

 opinion differs from that of some excellent sportsmen who 

 hold that the act is instinctive inasmuch as it resembles point- 

 ing, and puppies will back at a very early age; in fact, they 

 hold that the puppy may back the very first time he sees a 

 dog on a point, when taken afield. This is an extremely 

 superficial view of the case, and also too great an assump- 

 tion of what constitutes an instinct, as will be shown here- 

 inafter; remarking, however, that it is doubtful whether the 

 act of pointing itself is purely instinctive. The writer has 

 never seen an intelligent dog which backed without any ex- 

 perience previous to his first back, although he has seen a 

 few which backed in the first time they were taken afield; 

 but such had invariably run at large with other puppies and 

 had learned to back them, while hunting birds, without any 



