RETRIEVING. 35 



in his mouth ; for we are aiming at perfection and must be 

 satisfied with nothing short. 



When our pupil has become S) proficient in this that he 

 will pick up a piece of meat and bring it a few steps and de- 

 liver it safe into your hand, you should take a piece of cloth 

 and loosely wrap up the meat inside of it, and commence as 

 in the first place by putting it in his mouth and proceeding as 

 in your first lesson at this. He will proba^y unders'and 

 what is required and very soon perform as well with this as 

 he did with the bare m~at ; but should he not like this, you 

 must proceed with the same painstaking perseverance that 

 we have endeavored t ) impress upon your mind a 3 being of 

 the utmost importance, until your end is attained. You will 

 find that a p'ece of old cotton cloth that is clean and about as 

 large as your two hands will answer admirably. You should 

 let him see you wrap it around the meat, that he may the 

 more readily understand your object, and if he gives you any 

 trouble you must be very careful that you do not try to force 

 him too fast. Perhaps you will find it expedient to leave the 

 meat partially exposed until he understands what is wanted. 

 Or you can merely tie a shred ot the cloth to it for a while, 

 and very gradually increase the amount until you have it en- 

 tirely covered. Your knowledge of his disposition will aid 

 your judgment in so timing his lessons and in so conducting 

 any new experiments that he shall not become disgusted nor 

 sulky, thus givirg you no end of trouble. Your aim should 

 be to so handle him that his lessons shall prove a source of 

 enjoyment, and he be ever anxious to receive your instruc- 

 tions. This you can easily accomplish by a proper system of 

 rewards when he does well, and by lavishing upon him un- 

 stinted caresses and praise when giving his lessons. To 

 bring about this result you may find it advantageous to be 

 charry of your caresses at other times and to reserve your 

 words of praise for your hours of practice : but this will be 

 necessary only in extreme cases. 



When our dog brings in his birds in the faultless manner 

 that we have been at so much trouble to teach him, we shall 

 want to see him deliver them into our hand in the same fault- 



