THE RETRIEVERS 351 



the pigeon on the other. At a given signal the bird is tossed over, 

 and flutters to the ground. Restrain your puppy for a few minutes, 

 then send him to retrieve. When this is invariably done to your 

 satisfaction, you can take out your gun, and fire a shot at the 

 celestial vault at the moment that the harmless, necessary pigeon 

 is precipitated into the atmosphere by your trusty varlet. And here 

 let it be stated that although a gun-shy Retriever of the best blood 

 is a great rarity, it sometimes happens that a puppy that has been 

 shouted at, and harried at his walk until his nerves are completely 

 unstrung, when he hears for the first time the unexpected 

 report of a gun within a few yards of his head, will turn tail and 

 make such tracks that you cannot see him for dust. This terror 

 may eternally haunt him, and render him useless for the purpose for 

 which he is required. To obviate such a calamity, it is an excellent 

 plan to announce the kennel dinner-hour by the discharge of a 

 blank cartridge, with the same signal for the bi-diurnal exercise time. 

 If this plan is adopted, it is any reasonable odds that your youngster 

 will stand fire when first he hears it in connection with his educa- 

 tion. In an incredibly short space of time he associates the sound 

 with sport and his congenial duties. Then the difficulty is, not to 

 prevent him from bolting, but to check his eagerness to run in 

 and secure the victim. At every shot that is fired he should be 

 made to drop, and if he will not do so voluntarily, he must be 

 pushed or thrown down gently. 



It may be urged that the use of a live pigeon as an object of 

 instruction is a piece of unnecessary cruelty ; but this need not be 

 so. In the first place, before any puppy is set this task, the 

 breaker must be convinced that he is absolutely tender-mouthed, 

 and if he makes any attempt to bite or otherwise injure the bird, 

 he must be set back, and made to carry hedgehog skins and 

 other inanimate objects that will work mechanical retaliation if he 

 gives his jaws and teeth too much play. Nor must he again tackle 

 a live bird until he can carry a hen's egg without breaking it. 



All this requires patience ; but the man who is not blessed with 

 patience must never expect to excel as a dog-breaker. 



Your puppy, being well grounded and approaching maturity, 

 can now be entered to game that is actually shot. The writer has 

 generally made a commencement with pigeons from a trap. When 

 you can walk up to the mark, and " down " a double-rise, whilst your 

 Retriever drops to your feet at the fall of the traps and rise, and 

 does not offer to stir until he receives the word of command, but 

 subsequently brings both birds tenderly to hand ; then he has only 

 that to learn which a naturally keen nose and practical experience 

 with a variety of game can give him. And here we must take leave 

 of him, for the rest is entirely a matter of detail, which can only be 

 dealt with by the study of the individuality of each dog, the fostering 



