BREAKING AND HANDLING. 317 



sdon learn to love the trail of a fox and will stay with the 

 old dogs without much trouble. They should never be 

 whipped much, and this especially should be avoided by the 

 owner or trainer; they should be permitted to have their 

 own way as much as possible. 



Experience after the kind of game you hunt will gradually 

 break them, and if they are whipped too much or broken too 

 quickly, they will not make fast hunters and good strike dogs. 



The best all-round dogs, which I have ever owned, were 

 dogs which were hard to break, and, in fact, were not 

 thoroughly broken till they were about three years old. My 

 long experience with high class English setters and fox- 

 hounds has taught me that it requires plenty of time and 

 patience, and that a dog should be allowed to have his own 

 way as much as possible, to make a first class dog out of 

 him and develop his natural capabilities to the utmost. Of 

 course, a puppy can be trained easier and quicker by start- 

 ing his training while he is very young, but the great trouble 

 is that the greater number trained after such a manner are 

 worthless brutes. 



Many hunters believe in running puppies and old dogs 

 after a drag a great deal, but I do not believe in allowing a 

 pack of hounds to run drags much, for I have seen good 

 packs completely ruined by such practice; so badly ruined 

 that they could not catch a good running red fox. They 

 always learn to run-over very badly, and form many bad 

 habits from this manner of hunting. If drags are run any 

 with young puppies, it should be in company with old dogs 

 which stick close to the track, and ones which cannot out- 

 run them. The drag should always be manipulated by 

 some one who is afoot, and should never be dragged in a 

 road or pathway. The man should drag it about in circles 

 as near after the course a fox runs as possible, through 

 thickets, and never in a straight course. 



