518 DOG-BKEAKING. 



ingly close to the ground. With reference to the in. 

 structions in that paragraph, I will here remark, that 

 before you let the dog stoop to hunt, you should have 

 placed him by signal (31) near the spot from which you 

 had begun dragging the bread. In paragraph 190 an 

 instance is given of the manner in which a dog who re- 

 trieves should be put upon a scent ; and why that mode 

 is adopted is explained in 184. 



96. It is quite astonishing how well an old dog that 

 retrieves knows when a bird is struck. He instantly 

 detects any hesitation or uncertainty of movement, and 

 for a length of time will watch its flight with the utmost 

 eagerness, and, steadily keeping his eye on it, will as 

 surely as yourself mark its fall. To induce a young dog 

 to become thus observant, always let him perceive that 

 you watch a wounded bird with great eagerness; his 

 imitative instinct will soon lead him to do the same. 

 This faculty of observation is particularly serviceable in 

 a water retriever. It enables him to swim direct to the 

 crippled bird, and, besides the saving of time, the less 

 he is in the water in severe weather, the less likely is he 

 to suifer from rheumatism. 



97. As an initiatory lesson in making him observant 

 of the flight and fall of birds, place a few pigeons, or 

 other birds, during his absence, each in a hole covered 

 with a tile. Afterwards come upon these spots appa- 

 rently unexpectedly, and, kicking away the tiles or, 

 what is better, dragging them off by a previously 

 adjusted string, shoot the birds for him to bring ; it 



