494 DOG-BREAKING. 



break from hare, the method to be followed is men 

 tioned in 233, <fcc., for with spaniels as with setters or 

 pointers it is always advisable to drag them back to 

 the spot from which they started in pursuit. 



56. Occasionally you may see a country blacksmith 

 when preparing to shoe the hind legs of a cart horse 

 that appears disposed to make a disagreeable use of his 

 heels, twist the long hair at the end of his tail, raise 

 the foot that is to be shod, pass the twisted hair round 

 the leg immediately above the hock, and by these 

 means press the tendon close to the bone. The t\i\ 

 assists in retaining the leg in position, and thus, for the 

 time, the limb is rendered powerless. Acting much 

 upon this coercive principle, but discarding the aid of 

 the tail, some breakers slightly confine a hind-leg of 

 their most unruly spaniels with a soft bandage, shifting 

 it from one leg to the other about every hour. Possibly 

 a loop of vulcanized india-rubber, being elastic, would 

 best answer the purpose. Restrained in this manner a 

 dog is less likely to tumble about, and become injured, 

 than if one of his fore legs had been passed through his 

 collar. Other breakers, when hunting many couple 

 together, fasten a belt with a few pounds of shot round 

 the necks of the wildest. But the sooner such adjuncts 

 to discipline can be safely discarded the better; for 

 " brushing " a close cover is severe work. Gorse is the 

 most trying.* Its prickles are so numerous and fine that 



* There is no gorse in America. It is a prickly shrub, sevci'e 



