34^ THE BOOK OF THE DOG. 



at the same time give him the zest for his work which he will require, without which he will 

 be nothing in the eyes of a good breaker. If of the latter sort and very plucky, keep a good 

 eye on him, and should he be inclined to chase when he comes across game, give him a taste 

 of the whip, as with him a stick in time saves nine. Now let him down, as you know 

 which of the methods you will have to proceed on, and I hope you have a good stretch of 

 ground before you. Let him go off by the words, ' hold up,' with a wave of the right hand. If 

 a high-couraged one he will not have to be told twice, as you will have found by this time 

 that his fondness for hunting has given you a little trouble at home before now. Let him 

 have a good fling all by himself, to work off the steam before he settles down to your 

 signals by hand, which you must try and get your pupil to understand and depend on 

 as much as possible, which you will soon see he will look for. Therefore, let no one be 

 with you to take up his or your attention at any time : rather stop your work for the day. 

 Presuming by this time he is off to the right, be in no hurry to blow your whistle, as 

 very likely he would not mind it, he is so full of work. Let him turn of himself, and 

 when he does turn try to get him to cross you to the left. But very likely he will pay 

 little attention until he has been down for a time ; he will likely repeat the same thing 

 for the first few days until he knows what is intended to be done, when he will settle 

 down steadily to you, when you will have a chance of getting him to work to your signals. 

 Of course, all the time he has been down you have been giving a signal, when you could, 

 by a wave of the hand, to make him cross backwards and forwards in front of you. I 

 often find by sticking too close to a pattern in quartering at first, your dog will try to get 

 behind you in crossing instead of thirty yards in front of you. This will try the breaker 

 more than anything, as a rash word now would make your dog come to heel altogether. 

 Should he cross behind you once or twice, when he comes next run forward yourself, and 

 he will run up to see what is up. This will encourage him likewise, and will do no 

 harm. As this is one of the most essential points in dog-breaking, great care must be 

 taken with your pupil to quarter his ground thoroughly. It is only by perseverance 

 keeping at the work every day that real masterpiece work in this part of the training 

 can be done. Should your pupil get too keen, and be inclined to hunt for himself and 

 not answer the call, drop him when he turns by hand ; go up to him, and I hope you have 

 a few feet of check-cord in your pocket ; attach this to his collar, then take your whistle 

 and blow it, also rating him with the words, ' Do you hear the call ? ' Repeat pulling the 

 check-cord, you yourself going after the back, and making him follow you. You must now 

 watch him for this, as you must have perfect obedience to the whistle. 



" Now he should be ready to be shown game. If you have many to break, or not much 

 game to show, take a steady old dog out with your young one, and let him get a point. I hope 

 he is steady and stands in good style. Have your young one in your hand ; go quietly up, 

 treading lightly, and give him a whiff of the delightful aroma. He may be very impatient at 

 first, but very likely he may stand at once. Some will, others will not, until several days. 

 However, persevere until he does. I myself never take an old dog, but it is the quicker 

 plan. After you think you can depend on your pupil, leave the old dog at home, and 

 give him a chance for himself. Let no attendant or anything be near you to take off 

 his attention, and I hope he may stand his first point well. 'Should he not do so, mark down 

 the first brace of birds you can for him. Now put on your check-cord when not far from 

 them. Then bring him round and get near the cord when he winds them, allowing him to 

 get well out from you, so that he thinks he is by himself. Should he be inclined to run in, 



