352 THE AMERICAN BOOK OF THE DOG. 



wade through. Walk through to the other side, and they will probably 

 follow you at once ; if they do not, walk straight away from the opposite side 

 and go out of sight; they will come after making a little fuss about it. If 

 you have not a suitable shallow stream, but are obliged to make use of a deep 

 river for your purpose, get an attendant, whom they do not know, to hold 

 your puppies while you go round by a bridge out of their sight, and come 

 down opposite to them, and follow the instructions I have given above. 

 Remember many young dogs have, at first, a great fear of getting out of their 

 depth all at once, but will freely dabble into a shallow stream; so that it is best 

 to lead them on by degrees. Once having got off their legs, and finding that it 

 is an easy matter to swim, there will be no further trouble. Always choose 

 warm weather for this teaching. There is, however, no better plan of teach- 

 ing them to take to the water than letting them hunt moor-hens. As to whether 

 Spaniels should be taught to retrieve or not will depend upon what your 

 requirements are, the number you use, and so on. 



If you own but one dog, by all means take all the trouble you can to per- 

 fect him in this business; and for this purpose you should choose your whelp 

 from a strain that retrieves naturally. 



If you work three or four Spaniels together, unless they are thoroughly 

 broken, they all want to retrieve, and it is often the cause of much trouble. 

 Nothing looks worse than to see several dogs all tugging at one bird, except, 

 perhaps, the bird itself afterward. If your dogs are sufficiently broken and 

 under command, and will drop to shot or come to heel, and you can direct 

 either one of them to find the wounded game while the others remain down or at 

 heel, you can let them take it in turn which shall- be allowed the pleasure and 

 honor of recovering the wounded; but how rarely one sees Spaniels so well 

 under command as this. In the case of a team of Spaniels, I think it better 

 that they should not be allowed to retrieve, and this duty is better confined to 

 a regular retriever. 



It is a good plan with young Spaniels to walk round a covert toward even- 

 ing, when pheasants are out at feed in the stubbles, having an attendant with 

 you to prevent them getting into covert, and walk in a zigzag way about the 

 stubbles; you can generally give them plenty of practice in this way, and enter 

 them well to the scent of winged game. If your puppies do not readily return 

 to your whistle, but show a disposition to go on, turn your back upon them and 

 go the other way, which will generally have the desired effect; and a rate or a 

 crack of the whip from your attendant will greatly aid it. If a puppy is too 

 fast, put up a fore leg in his collar, or tie a strap tightly round one hind leg 

 just above the hock; but neither of these must remain long without changing, 

 or you will produce swelling and inflammation. Apart from the pleasure and 

 satisfaction there is in shooting to dogs of your own breaking, there is this 

 advantage, that they learn to understand your ways, and to know thoroughly 

 your every look and motion, while you at the same time perfectly understand 

 them. 



In selecting young Spaniels to break, if you do not breed your own, be 

 most particular in getting them from a good working strain, of a sort that a 

 friend of mine designates as " savage for work." To work Spaniels in thick, 



