THE COCKER SPANIEL. 351 



hole and corner that can possibly shelter a head of game. This is what the 

 Spaniel is required to do when he is grown up; and in order to inculcate this 

 habit in him, and to discourage him in what he is so prone to do namely, go 

 ahead you should begin by flinging small bits of meat or boiled liver into 

 small patches of turnips in a garden, or small patches of thick bushes, or any 

 kind of covert that will cause him to seek for it with his nose and not with his 

 eyes. By no means enter your young Spaniels to rabbits if you can avoid it ; 

 they take to them naturally when they get the chance, and there is no fear 

 of their not having the opportunity soon enough. Enter them to winged game, 

 by all means, and for this purpose get an old cock partridge, cut one wing, 

 and put him into a small patch of thick covert. 



Never take young Spaniels into large or thick coverts where they can 

 get away from under your eye. Confine your working ground to small bits 

 of covert, patches of turnips, bushes, bits of gorse, anything, in fact, where 

 you will be likely to have thorough control over them, and where they are in 

 reach of an attendant, whom you should always have with you to turn them 

 to your whistle. I have found it a first-rate plan to take them out on the 

 sides of rivers and ponds, where there are lots of moor- hens, and plenty of 

 sedge and rushes; let them hunt in the rushes till they are tired, and a morn- 

 ing's work of this kind will do them more good than anything I know of. 

 They soon become fond of the work; it teaches them to hunt close, and they 

 are perfectly under the control of yourself and assistant. 



Teach them early to drop to hand and shot, and spare no pains about it; 

 this is a part of a Spaniel's education which is generally neglected. I know 

 many men who, instead of making them drop to shot, make them come to 

 heel, using the words "come around," or "heel." It answers every purpose; 

 and as it brings every dog to you, and he has to work right away from you 

 again when he gets the signal, it has its advantages in keeping them under con- 

 trol; but on the whole I prefer the dropping to shot and wing instantly. It is 

 difficult to make a Spaniel drop to fur; and if you can keep him from chasing, 

 merely putting up hares and rabbits, but not following them after they are 

 started, rest satisfied that little more is necessary or desirable. 



I once saw an interesting thing of this kind. I was shooting with a gen- 

 tleman near Southampton, in one of his coverts, to a team of small Clumbers; 

 we were both standing in a ride, and saw a charming little bitch feathering 

 near us toward the ride. Just as she got to it, out popped a rabbit and scuttled 

 down the ride, followed out of the covert by the bitch; but as soon as she 

 cleared the wood and was in the ride, close on to the rabbit, which she 

 had not seen till then, down she dropped, entirely of her own accord. 

 She had not seen either of us, neither did we know that we were each observ- 

 ing this pretty bit of work until we compared notes a few minutes after, and 

 agreed that we had never seen anything better. It is rather difficult to 

 describe, but to me it was worth all the afternoon's shooting, and it made an 

 impression at the time which is as fresh as ever now. She was, I need 

 scarcely say, thoroughly broken. 



If it is desired to make young Spaniels take water, and they show any 

 disinclination to it, the best plan is to take them to a stream which you can 



