122 ANIMALS USED BY THE SHOOTER. 



out any severe thrashings, the amount of which is generally 

 in proportion to the ignorance of the breaker. I am now 

 alluding to those cases in which the latter has had the 

 management of the puppy from the earliest period ; for it 

 cannot be denied that if a high-couraged dog is sent to the 

 breaker at twelve months old, and without any preparatory 

 education, he must use the whip pretty severely at times. 

 When the pupil is steady in dropping to the voice or the 

 hand, make him do the same at the sound of a pistol, dis- 

 charging it, and at the same moment raising the hand, or, if 

 that is not enough, crying " Down." Great care is necessary 

 at this stage to avoid severity, for many a dog is made " gun- 

 shy" by being thrashed for neglecting to drop at the report 

 of the pistol. When he first hears it let him be rewarded 

 by a piece of food, and do not attempt to make him drop 

 until he has quite got over the fear which naturally attends 

 upon an explosion. By firing off the pistol, however, with 

 a small charge at first, or with a cap only, puppies soon 

 become regardless of the noise, and then they may be made 

 to drop whenever they hear it. This part of the education 

 should be made very complete before the puppy has game 

 killed to him, or there will be great trouble in preventing 

 him from " running in" and mouthing it. 



The 5th and 6th words of command hardly require any 

 comment, since they are only used when the dog is about to 

 do wrong, and the tone of voice in which they are uttered 

 is of that scolding or " rating" nature, that he readily under- 

 stands that he must stop, or that he will be punished. An 

 expressive voice is an essential to success in dog management, 

 and the breaker of pointers and setters will hardly be likely 

 to succeed well unless he has it to some considerable extent. 

 It is wonderful what power this has over the dog, and how 

 soon some men thereby obtain the affection and implicit 

 obedience of animals which have refused altogether to 

 become attached to others. 



Lastly comes the 7th command, which is hardly necessary 

 in a dog of high breeding, inasmuch as it is only intended 

 to render more easy that which comes without effort to him 

 as an instinct derived from his parentage. Nevertheless, it 

 is just as easy to enforce as the first six; and as even the 



