FOR THE FIELD AND FIELD TRIALS. 23 



ing the dog the necessary opportunities to learn. 

 These being given, the manner of seeking, or 

 whether he seeks at all or not, lies with the dog. 



The beginner generally falls into the error of at- 

 tempting to train the dog before the latter knows 

 anything about practical field work. The true 

 method is to permit the dog to seek and find in his 

 own manner, and then school his efforts to the use 

 of the gun. Any efforts directed toward improving 

 the dog's natural methods of hunting are likely to 

 end in failure, or are likely to mar them. 



If a dog is naturally deficient in speed, nose, stam- 

 ina, industry, intelligence, etc., no trainer can sup- 

 ply the qualities which Nature omitted. It is impos- 

 sible to make a good dog out of a naturally poor one, 

 though the reverse is possible. 



In this connection it may be mentioned that a good 

 pedigree is not necessarily a guarantee of a good 

 worker. A poor dog with a fine pedigree is no better 

 than a poor dog with no known pedigree at all. The 

 test of field merit is the test of the individual himself. 

 The excellence of an ancestry may be something en- 

 tirely apart from any qualities possessed by the indi- 

 vidual, or it may be possessed in a greater or less de- 



