256 MODERN TRAINING. 



end of every cast and watch for a signal by which to direct 

 his course, and if in doubt may stop again for a repetition 

 of it after going a few yards; he comes in frequently, when 

 working in cover, to receive orders; he works or remains at 

 heel with equal unconcern; he has no purpose beyond his 

 handler's directions; his acts are all mere habits; his dash, 

 spirit and enterprise, from ceaseless dictation, are completely 

 destroyed, leaving an animated wreck of what might have 

 been the embodiment of energy and spirit. 



It is advisable to check this fault in its inception as with 

 all others. When a dog is observed to habitually stand at 

 the end of his beat waiting for a signal to direct him, or 

 when he hesitates in reading, or other parts of his work, to 

 receive orders, ignore him entirely; in fact, it is correct to 

 affect that he is not observed at all. In this manner he is 

 thrown on his own judgment. By not receiving commands 

 he will cease to look for them in time. If the discipline has 

 been so thorough and lasting that it has become second na- 

 ture, he will be an overtrained dog through life. 



Nearly all works on training enunciate that, when a dog 

 looks to his handler fora signal, it should be given, thereby 

 firmly fixing the handler's control. Such is one of the most 

 pernicious and incorrect of teachings, if not given with 

 proper qualifications. A dog should work entirely on his 

 own judgment until he hears the note on the whistle, which 

 is the signal for attention, or until he receives a command, 

 oral or by signal. If a trainer has the ability to train a 

 dog to wait at a certain juncture for an order, he certainly 

 has the ability to enforce obedience to commands. Expert 

 trainers consider overtraining a serious injury to a dog's 

 field value, and nowhere does its inferiority show so by con- 

 trast as in competition, the dog which looks to his handler 

 for assistance not being in the race with one which works 

 independently. 



