244 TRAINING THE HUNTING DOG 



is actually needed. Men who carry it in their mouths 

 continuously are prone to acquire a drawn, anxious 

 look, and are ever alert to blow it on the slightest 

 pretext of setting the dog aright in his seeking. 

 Probably nine out of ten of the blasts on the whistle 

 are unnecessary, and therefore more or less harmful. 

 Its only useful place in the management of the dog 

 .at work is to turn him if taking a cast too wide; to 

 attract his attention to a signal of the hand, which 

 the shooter desires him to see, and to make him cease 

 work and come in. A different note is used for the 

 respective purposes, and once the note is definitely 

 fixed upon, it should always be used in its proper 

 relation and none other. 



The trainer can use any note or combination of 

 notes which he pleases, there being nothing specially 

 conventional in this respect, although in a general 

 way a long and short note are used to make the dog 

 turn, a succession of short, sharp notes to attract his 

 attention, and a prolonged whistle to call him in. 



When trained for field trial purposes, some dogs 

 are taught to work further out and go faster to blasts 

 of the whistle, to the end that the whistling of the 

 opposing handler may not check the dog's efforts. 



