468 DOGS USED FOR SPORT. 



GUN-SHYNESS. 



It is sorely discouraging to the sportsman, after purchasing a 

 setter or pointer puppy, apparently well bred and of good points, 

 and successfully bringing him through the many ills the young 

 dog is heir to, to find the pupil gun-shy, when that portion of his 

 education where the gun is used, is reached. No definite cause 

 can be assigned for this weakness, and we are fain to believe it to 

 be inherent, or due to heredity. To enter upon a full discussion 

 of this subject and the various causes assigned, would demand a 

 volume. 



Another not improbable cause is breeding from either broken 

 down or worn out animals, or from those whose extreme youth 

 renders it impossible for them to beget perfect offspring. Too 

 close in breeding is also objectionable for the same reasons. Many 

 fine bred puppies are, however, too high strung, having an ex- 

 tremely sensitive nerve organization, and to the carelessness with 

 which such are handled may be largely attributed their gun-shy- 

 ness. This is especially the case with setters, who are much more 

 liable to cerebral or brain affections than is generally supposed. 

 If the causes of these attacks were known, we could the better sug- 

 gest a cure. A friend, an army surgeon and a thorough patholo- 

 gist, desiring further light upon this subject, obtained a notoriously 

 gun-shy animal for anatomical purposes. He was unable to prose- 

 cute his researches as thoroughly as desired, but discovered suffi- 

 cient disorganization of nerve material to lead him to believe gun- 

 shyness to be but a symptom of disease. If the animal is gun-shy 

 merely as the result of alarm or some transient impression, it may 

 be corrected with care, and the exercise of patience. The treat- 

 ment must accord with the peculiar temperament of the animal, 

 and will depend largely upon the astuteness of the owner. Mod- 

 erately gun-shy animals have been cured by discharging fire-arms 

 slightly loaded, or but capped to begin with, in their presence, be- 

 fore feeding, causing the dogs to associate the report with the 

 pleasure of satisfying their hunger. This may be used to advan- 

 tage, ofttimes, even with old dogs, by bringing them to the verge of 

 starvation. But as before remarked, this is a problem the solution 

 of which, each must work out to his own satisfaction. As " an 



