488 LETTERS TO YOUNG SHOOTERS LETTER 



or glove as far as you can toss it, and whilst you are 

 walking forward. Do not ornit to reward the puppy 

 with a tit-bit now and then when he is particularly 

 quick in fetching the ball to you.* 



Next substitute for the ball the head and neck of 

 a freshly killed rabbit (sewn up at the point of sever- 

 ance), and let him bring this to you, always being- 

 careful to make him give it gently up as you place 

 your hand wnrfer his mouth to take it from him; on 

 no account should he lay it at your feet. Continue to 

 give the puppy a morsel of cake in exchange for the 

 rabbit head when he behaves well, but gradually dis- 

 continue the system of reward till your puppy will 

 retrieve what you send him for, and be satisfied with 

 being merely patted and praised for his performance. 



To teach the puppy to carry, if you have a fancy 

 for such a trick, all you have to do is to walk quickly 

 from him when he has brought the object you sent 

 him for, and then to coax him after you, and make 

 him give you up what he has in his mouth at any 

 moment you put down your hand for it, at first 

 taking it from him after you have walked a few 

 yards only, then a score, and so on, till he will at 

 length carry it for half a mile if you wish ! 



Whenever the puppy drops what he is carrying 



* To learn to retrieve quickly is everything. A retriever should 

 bring you what he is sent for at a gallop, straight to your hand. 

 If you allow your puppy in this lesson to walk or even trot up to 

 you with the ball he is fetching, ten to one he will turn out a 

 ' potterer ' with game in the field. 



