ENTERING AND BREAKING THE SPANIEL. 139 



ENTERING AND BREAKING THE SPANIEL. 



I have already said that the spaniel's preliminary education 

 must be commenced very early, and the same may be said 

 of his entry to game and breaking to the gun. A dog which 

 is left till he is a year and a half old will give a world of 

 trouble, while a young puppy of seven or eight months may 

 be broken in half the time. Spaniels are naturally of a most 

 impetuous temper, and moreover they have not the instinctive 

 tendency to stop or stand, which so much assists the breaker 

 in his education of the pointer. When quite young say at 

 six or seven months of age they should be taken out and 

 worked in hedgerows and little spinneys and coverts, where 

 they cannot get away far. Here they soon learn to know the 

 scent of game, which is in itself more delightful to game-dogs 

 than that of other animals. In some breeds, indeed, the fond- 

 ness for particular kinds of game is well marked, and the 

 " cock," for instance, will be recognised with a whimper indi- 

 cating much greater pleasure and enjoyment than that which 

 is displayed on ordinary occasions when a pheasant or a hare 

 is owned. Great caution is necessary, lest the young dog takes 

 to " self-hunting." He should rigidly be made to work with 

 and for his master, and should never be allowed to feel that 

 he is at liberty to search for game on his own account. If he 

 does this, he will be quite useless, and not only will he start 

 off whenever he is loose, in season or out, but he will get 

 away to the other side of the covert, and play such pranks as 

 will spoil the day's shooting. When spaniels are intended to 

 be kept to any special game, such as cocks or pheasants, they 

 should never be allowed to hunt anything else, but generally 

 they are taught to work out all that comes before them, and 

 if they will only indicate the nature of that which they are 

 after, they are to be the more highly prized. In order to keep 

 them to one kind, it is only necessary to "rate" them for 

 hunting any other when it is discovered. " Fur" is often 

 discouraged, and for those who do not want to kill rabbits or 

 hares in covert, it is desirable to stop a spaniel from speaking 

 to it the moment his error is discovered. But the grand 

 essential in breaking covert spaniels is to make them keep 



