FOR THE FIELD AND FIELD TRIALS. 159 



by body scent, should vary so much in their respective 

 methods of locating is not known. Men, however, 

 vary quite as much in the methods employed in 

 shooting, some aiming the gun, others snap shooting 

 by a sense of direction, others again shooting without 

 much aiming or sense of direction, trusting largely 

 to a beneficent providence or the law of chances for 

 material results. 



Whichever method the dog adopts naturally in 

 locating is his best method. Locating by following 

 the foot scent is inferior to locating by following the 

 body scent, but the trainer is powerless in respect to 

 enforcing the better method if the dog choose to 

 adopt the other. However, he can do much to mar 

 it by ill-timed interference or persistent meddlesome- 

 ness. 



The habit of perpetually cautioning and checking 

 the dog, to make him go slow when he is reading or 

 locating birds, a fault displayed by most amateur 

 trainers, should be avoided. The effort, on the con- 

 trary, should be directed toward encouraging the 

 dog to locate as quickly as possible, consistently with 

 his ability to do so truly and properly. In this rela- 

 tion, the trainer would do well to bear in mind that 



