468 LETTERS TO YOUNG SHOOTERS 



may follow^, it is quite sufficient punishment, and can 

 be made to simulate a severe one. 



Use a whip in this manner only, and the fact of 

 carrying one will give you great influence over a dog 

 that, however mercifully, you occasionally correct by 

 its application, for the crack of the lash will appeal 

 to his senses at once though some distance from you. 

 A dog instinctively dreads a whip, and it undoubtedly 

 gives you considerable power over him, yet I would 

 undertake to break nine dogs out of ten (other than 

 spaniels) without either whip or stick, by merely 

 insisting on an offender coming to my feet to lie 

 down, and then scolding him, with the addition of a 

 little whistling and shaking.* 



A dog should be punished immediately after his 

 offence or not till he sins again, for if some time 

 elapses he may forget the commission of the fault 

 and wonder why he has earned the correction. 



It is a fatal mistake, but one frequently made, 

 to coax a dog to you in order to catch him, and 

 then to punish him a sudden change of front that 

 will soon cause a dog to lose all confidence in 

 his master on perceiving he has been deceived, as 

 of course he has ! A truant dog should be ordered up 

 sternly to your feet when about to be corrected, and 



* Do not pull a dog's ears to punish him, or ever hold him by 

 his ears whilst you correct him (a not uncommon practice among 

 keepers), as doing this is not only cruel but is also always liable to 

 cause deafness. 



