MODERN TRAINING. 243 



can hardly be called blinking in the proper sense of the 

 term. The dog, from impatience, great nervous energy, or 

 fear of his handler, will not hold his points sufficiently long 

 for his handler to come up and flush. He points well prob- 

 ably, but abandons his point and is off again with undimin- 

 ished vigor, hunting for another bevy. If not due to bad 

 handling, it denotes a faulty understanding in the dog. He 

 would be benefited by overtraining to a certain extent so that 

 he would defer more to his handler; also by working amongst 

 scattered birds with a checkcord on, and making him 

 remain until the birds were killed and retrieved. By making 

 him so work in a formal manner till it becomes a habit, it 

 may be cured, although when apparently cured, it may ap- 

 pear at times, therefore the dog having such fault is an 

 uncertain performer. 



Blinking is one of the worst, if not the worst fault in a field 

 dog. It generally is cured slowly and with difficulty. At 

 the first intimation of birds, the dog skulks or cowers, and 

 any efforts to draw attention to them, however kindly done, 

 excite more fears, aggravate the evil and accomplish nothing. 

 In many cases where the dog is a confirmed blinker, he 

 may be hunted all day, and apparently find no birds. Such 

 is not the case, really. He is constantly on the alert and 

 at the slightest indication of scent he cunningly avoids 

 them. Only by some trifling momentary change in the de- 

 meanor of the dog can it be detected that he is blinking. 

 He may change his course slightly, or sneak a few yards; 

 or skulk and go faster or slower than ordinary; or he may 

 stop, hesitate a second, then turn and take a different direc- 

 tion. Each dog has some act in this connection peculiar 

 to himself that the handler must learn by close observation. 

 When a dog is known to be shy of birds and runs all day 

 without apparently finding, he should be watched very 

 closely. Unless the novice watches with the most ceaseless 



