FOR THE FIELD AND FIELD TRIALS. 255 



on the subject of a steadiness to shot, point, back 

 and wing is applicable to the training of the field 

 trial dog. He must be steady in the work which is 

 designated as being competitive. Flushing inten- 

 tionally or through erroneous judgment will be pen- 

 alized to a certainty, although flushes under adverse 

 conditions, such as running onto a bird down or 

 across wind when the dog could not scent it, are 

 rarely considered demerits. 



The best manner of ranging, reading, pointing, 

 etc., qualities treated fully in previous chapters, are 

 essential to the field trial dog. They should be care- 

 fully developed to their best, for the fact that the 

 dog is in a race instead of "an ordinary day's shoot- 

 ing" should ever be borne in mind, for to insist that 

 the field trial should be conducted as an ordinary 

 day's shooting is analogous to insisting that a horse 

 race should be conducted as an ordinary day's farm 

 work. In the one case, the dog displays the powers 

 with which Nature endowed him, under the least 

 restriction consistent with his control; in the other, 

 he displays his powers as a menial habituated to the 

 restrictions of servitude. 



It is better to give the dog as much preparation 



