BREAKING AND HANDLING. 223 



atory training is necessary to have some control over him; 

 to turn him at the ends of his casts, to send him in the 

 direction desired. It is absolutely essential that the dog be 

 worked across and up wind. The wind acts as a guide to 

 the dog, and quartering, contrary to the common belief, can 

 only be practiced when the handler walks up wind. Under 

 such circumstances, the dog can take his casts to and fro 

 with the nicest precision. Any attempt to enforce the 

 method when the handler is walking down wind is merely 

 sacrificing the hunting for the sake of a useless formality. 

 At the end of his casts the dog is disposed to turn up wind, 

 hence when the handler is walking down wind the dog is 

 repeatedly turning in the wrong direction, thus entirely dis- 

 arranging his quartering. If the handler directs his course 

 across wind the matter is still worse, as the dog must then 

 range directly up and down wind to preserve the formality. 



Theoretically, quartering is when a dog takes his casts at 

 right angles to the course of his handler, each cast being 

 parallel to all other casts, if the handler pursues a straight 

 course. The distance between the parallels is supposed to 

 be about the length which a dog can command with his 

 nose; hence it is apparent that the parallels cannot be an 

 arbitrary distance apart at all times when the scent is good 

 they may be wider; when it is poor, they should be narrower; 

 and they differ with different dogs. 



The method of teaching it is very simple, to wit: The 

 handler walks up wind invariably; he casts the dog off to 

 the right or left, giving the proper signal with his hand. 

 When the dog reaches the end of his cast, a signal of the 

 whistle is given to turn him; when his attention is caught, 

 if he does not turn properly, give a signal of the hand to 

 turn him in the right direction across wind. By also walk- 

 ing in that direction while giving the signal, it will assist to 

 start him aright; when he takes his cast correctly, resume 



