FOR THE FIELD AND FIELD TRIALS. 143 



played with a natural purpose, is nevertheless gen- 

 erally persisted in from education and habit. 



As to its origin, backing is an act resulting from a 

 process of reason, a perception of cause and effect, 

 and is of use to the dog individually when a member 

 of a pack. Some dogs take readily to backing as 

 taught by man, others are induced with much diffi- 

 culty to observe it, and, again, others cannot be in- 

 duced to back at all. Much depends upon the intel- 

 ligence and temperament of the individual as to 

 whether he will back or not. 



The natural act of backing has no reference what- 

 ever to a man with a gun, who desires that his pur- 

 poses with it shall not be obstructed. 



It has been maintained, as against the theory and 

 practice of intelligent backing, that the dog, first 

 pointing the birds instinctively that a man might the 

 better kill them thereby, also backed instinctively on 

 occasion so that he would not interfere with the dog 

 which was pointing, and thus would not jeopardize 

 the success of the shooter. In support of this con- 

 tention, the fact that the young puppies, when point- 

 ing sparrows and other small birds in the kennel yard 

 and elsewhere, back each other, was adduced as proof 



