POINTERS AND SETTERS 107 



obedience; but against this must be placed the fact that a 

 puppy should never be tired of a lesson. A lesson, before 

 entry on game, should always be only a part of a game at 

 romps to the dog. Consequently, it must not go on so long 

 that the puppy tires of romping, or be repeated so often in 

 the game that the youngster thinks it " a bore." 



Obedience is one thing, prompt obedience quite another; 

 and it is the latter that serves the sportsman, not the former. 

 It is the last stage of hand breaking to ensure prompt 

 obedience when hesitation or unwillingness has gone before. 

 These two stages generally occur in dropping to hand and gun 

 lessons, and in answering whistle, all of which will require a 

 little pushing and pulling force to be used in the early stages, 

 until the meaning of the teacher is grasped by the pupil. Up 

 to this point the order has to be repeated many times as the 

 force is being used, in order that the pupil may grasp the 

 meaning, which he will only do gradually. But after the lesson 

 has once been learnt it is a bad plan to give any order twice. 

 It should be once only, followed by obedience or punishment. 

 This sounds severe, but it is the method for saving the 

 necessity for severity in the future. 



After the hand-breaking stage comes temptation during 

 excitement, which is -a very different thing from mere 

 " cussedness," as the Americans call it, in hand breaking, 

 where a pupil only disobeys for the sake of disobedience. 

 That is the reason why prompt and instinctive obedience has 

 to be obtained before the canine pupil goes out into the fields 

 or on to the moors, and sees game. When this excitement 

 begins, all hand-breaking lessons may be forgotten on the 

 spur of the moment, and yet it is extremely important that 

 they should not be, and that there should be no necessity for 

 punishment, and as little as possible for restraint. 



It is to avoid these misfortunes that hand breaking should 

 culminate in forced promptitude on the pupil's part. Up to 

 this time your puppy has dropped and answered the whistle 

 because it pleases you and does not hurt him, and he has 

 done it, possibly, as if he thought you took a particular interest 



