FOR THE FIELD AND FIELD TRIALS. 235 



other than the dog at this juncture. He can see 

 what the dog is doing without looking directly at 

 him. The latter, when he hears the report, is likely 

 to scrutinize the trainer closely, and if he detects 

 no purpose referring to himself, he passes the inci- 

 dent by as a matter of no importance. On the other 

 hand, let the trainer look hard at the dog, and im- 

 press upon him that all the alarms are directed at 

 him, and the matter is made worse instead of better. 

 If he runs to a corner and curls up in fancied secur- 

 ity, he must be brought gently back, and the same 

 deliberate procedure is continued. 



Another method, often successful, is to place the 

 dog's food in its regular place at the regular time, 

 and then to shoot at a reasonable distance away when 

 the dog begins to eat. If he bolts into his kennel, the 

 food is quietly removed, and none given again till 

 the next meal time, when the lesson is again repeated 

 as at first. In time his hunger will become so raven- 

 ously importunate that he will appease it regardless 

 of all fears. The noise of the gun coincidentally will 

 have a grateful significance and a pleasant associa- 

 tion, so that the fears will give way to delighted 

 eagerness. As a matter of course, under this method 



