622 DOG-BREAKING. 



manner, he repeated this manoeuvre whenever a bird fell, 

 J returned him. I afterwards heard he had just been 

 shot over by a party on the moors, who, no doubt, 

 had spoilt him by their ignoble, pot-hunting propen- 

 sities. 



260. Had I chosen to sacrifice my shooting in order to 

 reclaim him which I must have done, had I too hastily 

 concluded the purchase, I ought to have sent home the 

 other dogs, and proceeded, but with greater severity, 

 much in the manner described in 220 and 222. I ought 

 not, however, to have gone after him when first he bolted; 

 I ought merely to have endeavored to check him with 

 my voice, for it would have been most important to set 

 him a good example by remaining immovable myself, 

 and he might have misconstrued any hasty advance 

 on my part into rivalship for possession of the bird ; in 

 short, into a repetition of one of the many scrambles to 

 which he had recently been accustomed, and in which I 

 feel sure he must invariably have come off victorious. 

 I ought, when loaded, to have walked calmly up to him, 

 and, without taking the slightest notice of the disfigured 

 bird, have dragged him back, while loudly rating him, to 

 the spot where he should have " down charged." After 

 a good flagellation a protracted lecture and a long 

 delay, the longer the better, I ought to have made 

 him cautiously approach the bird ; and by a little scolding, 

 and by showing him the wounds he had inflicted, have 

 striven to make him sensible and ashamed of his enormi- 

 ties. Probably, too, had the birds lain well, the moment 



