FOR THE FIELD AND FIELD TRIALS. Ill 



many times more effort than would be required to 

 establish correct backing and pointing without it. 

 Under it teacher and pupil are in a manner slaves 

 to a worthless idea. 



After it is taught, with much labor and pains, there 

 is but little opportunity to use it after the manner set 

 forth in the older books, for out of the sum total of 

 opportunities presented to the dog to point birds, the 

 trainer concerning them is in profound ignorance 

 of the proper juncture of time and place at which to 

 order the dog to "Toho." To apply the order intelli- 

 gently, the trainer must know the time and place at 

 which the dog should make his stand, yet ordinarily 

 he does not know where the birds are, or, indeed, 

 whether there are any at all. If by any chance the 

 trainer sees the birds, he seldom is able to get the 

 dog in the right position to fit the order; but even if 

 he succeeds in getting him to the right place, his own 

 sight and judgment are in no sense a substitute for 

 the dog's sense of smell and consciousness. 



The meddlesome attempt to force the dog to pro- 

 ceed according to the trainer's thought and plans, 

 with the incidental bawlings of "Toho, toho," etc., 

 seldom fails to flush the birds and confuse the dog. 



