294 THE AMERICAN BOOK OF THE DOG. 



In quail-shooting, a dog is trained to drop to shot, be- 

 cause other birds often remain within shooting distance 

 after the gun has been fired, and if the dog were allowed to 

 break shot he would likely flush many of them while your 

 gun was empty. But as all ducks and snipes take wing as 

 soon as. they hear the report of a gun, you run no such 

 chances in that class of shooting; hence, in order that you 

 may secure all your wounded birds, I advise you to teach 

 your Irish Water Spaniel to break shot. 



On the subject of training the Irish Water Spaniel, Mr. 

 Whitman says: 



Commence if the puppy is precocious at three months ,old. First throw 

 a ball or roll of cloth, or any soft substance, calling his attention to it as it 

 passes from }~our hand; if he does not bring it the first time, he may the second 

 or third. If he does not, let him go for that time; he is too young to force, 

 but will soon begin to understand what is wanted and perform more to your 

 wish. Try him twice a day, but not long at a time; teach him to come to you 

 when called; at first he may not come; put a cord round his neck, or, if he 

 wears a collar, attach cord to that. Now call him; if he does not come, pull 

 him to you, pet him, let him go, and call him again; if he refuse to come, 

 bring him to you again with the cord. By following this course he will soon 

 learn that you are his master, and will obey you. Now mak6 him charge or 

 lie down; say " Charge," "Drop," or any word you like, but invariably use the 

 same word and raise the hand. As at first he neither understands the mean- 

 ing of the word nor the uplifted hand, you should take his fore legs and pull 

 them from under him with one hand while you press down his hind quarters 

 with the other, using at the same time the word at which you desire he should 

 lie down. When he will remain in the position in which you have placed 

 him, looking toward you, raise the hand and repeat the word as often 51 s he 

 offers to move. In a short time he will do this seemingly well, but as this is a 

 very important lesson, continue it for days and weeks until he becomes so per- 

 fect that at your whistle or word of command he will look at you and drop 

 instantly at uplifted hand. Many dogs want to come to you before they drop, 

 but insist on their dropping where they first get the signal to do so. Easy 

 enough said, but how shall it be done? My way is to take the dog back to the 

 place where he was ordered to charge, walking backward from him, with 

 hand raised, returning him to the spot from which he started every time until 

 he remains us desired. 



Having taught him to do this well, take a well-trained dog out with him; 

 charge both, the older one in the rear of the puppy; walk away from them as 

 before; call the older one by name, when he will come, and undoubtedly the 

 puppy will come too, but he must be taken back until he is perfect in this. 

 The importance of this is, should you be hunting with some friend whose dog 

 is not well broken and runs in at the report of the gun, your dog if so trained 



