58 DOG FETCHING BIRD. [CH. iv. 



a little time you can drop something without letting him 

 see you, and afterwards send him back for it. A 

 dog thus made, who is your intimate companion, be- 

 comes so conversant with every article of your apparel, 

 and with whatever you usually carry about you, that, 

 should you accidentally drop anything, the observant 

 animal will be almost certain to recover it. On re- 

 ceiving your order to be " off and find " he will accu- 

 rately retrace your footsteps for miles and miles, dili- 

 gently hunting every yard of the ground. Of course, 

 the distances to which you at first send your dog will 

 be inconsiderable, and you should carefully avoid perse- 

 vering too long at a time, lest he get sick of the lesson. 

 Indeed, in all his lessons, as well in-doors as out, 

 but particularly in this, let it be your aim to leave off 

 at a moment when he has performed entirely to your 

 satisfaction ; that you may part the best of friends, and 

 that the last impression made by the lesson may be 

 pleasing as well as correct, from a grateful recollection 

 of the caresses which he has received. In wild-duck 

 shooting you may be in situations where you would be 

 very glad if the dog would bring your bird ; and when 

 it is an active runner in cover, I fear you will be more 

 anxious than I could wish (322) that the dog should 

 " fetch." It is probable that he will thus assist you if 

 he be practised as I have just advised ; and such in- 

 struction may lead, years hence, to his occasionally 

 bringing you some dead bird which he may come across, 

 and which you otherwise might have imagined you had 

 missed, for its scent might be too cold, and consequently 

 too changed, for the dog to have thought of regularly 

 pointing it. 



97. When I was a boy, I recollect seeing such an instance in 

 Kent. As a great treat, I was permitted (but merely as a spectator) 



