BREAKING AND HANDLING. 307 



used with admirable success, even in the thickest cover. 

 Many shooters prefer to hunt a dog, in such cover, with a 

 bell attached to the collar, thus by its warning tinkle always 

 giving notice of the whereabouts of the dog; and as the 

 dogs are trained to work close in, when the bell is silent 

 the hunter knows the dog is pointing; he then goes to the 

 dog and flushes, or approaches as near as he can and orders 

 the dog to flush. Setters or pointers which are hunted 

 much in this manner become wonderfully cunning in aid- 

 ing the gun, and hold their point, or flush the bird to order 

 with rare judgment, but, to maintain a uniform grade of 

 excellence, they must be always handled correctly, always 

 encouraged for good work, and reprimanded for inattention 

 or willful errors. This, by the way, to show that the setter 

 is a powerful rival in the spaniel s own special work, while 

 the spaniel, in the setter's sphere as a finding dog, is a weak 

 competitor. 



The method of working spaniels is radically different 

 from that employed in working setters or pointers. Spaniels 

 do not point, they road their birds to 'a flush. Their 

 range should never exceed the distance at which the gun 

 can kill, for it is self-evident that if a bird is flushed out of 

 shot, the opportunity to kill is lost. From their narrow 

 range, they beat out the ground very closely and few birds 

 in their beat escape them, particularly when the shooter 

 has a well trained team of them. It will thus be seen that 

 as compared with training the setter and pointer through 

 all the refinements of ranging far and near, pointing and 

 backing, etc., the training of spaniels is a simple affair. 



It is no small matter, however, to establish just the right 

 beat, to and fro within range of the gun, neither going out 

 too far nor working too close. They are checked and re- 

 strained to this range until it becomes habitual, and they 

 will work without any supervision. In roading, they should 



