OIL iv.] TAUGHT TO "FETCH." 63 



after you. Let a dog retrieve ever so carelessly, still, 

 while on the move, he will rarely drop a bird. 



108. Dogs that retrieve should be gradually brought 

 to lift heavy, flexible things, and such as require a large 

 grasp, that they may not be quite unprepared for the 

 weight and size of a hare ; otherwise they may be in- 

 clined to drag it along by a slight hold of the skin, 

 instead of balancing it across their mouths. Thus ca- 

 pacious jaws are obviously an advantage in retrievers. 



The French gamekeepers, many of whom are capital 

 hands at making a retriever (excepting that they do not 

 teach the "down-charge"), stuff a hare or rabbit skin 

 with straw, and when the dog has learned to fetch it 

 with eagerness, they progressively increase its weight 

 by burying larger and larger pieces of wood in the 

 middle of the straw: and to add to the difficulty of 

 carrying it, they often throw it to the other side of a 

 hedge or thick copse. If the dog shows any tendency 

 to a hard mouth they mix thorns with the straw. 



109. I ought to have mentioned sooner, that you 

 should commence teaching a puppy to "fetch," by 

 shaking your glove (or anything soft) at him, and en- 

 couraging him to seize and drag it from you. Then 

 throw it a yard or two off, gradually increasing the 

 distance, and the moment he delivers it to you, give 

 him something palatable. It is easier to teach a dog to 

 retrieve as a puppy than when he is older. From teeth- 

 ing his gums are in a state of slight irritation, and it 

 gives him pleasure to employ his teeth and gums. 

 Should you, contrary to every reasonable expectation, 

 from his having no inclination to romp or play with the 

 glove, not be able to persuade him to pick it up, put it 

 between his teeth, force him to grasp it by tightly 

 .pressing his jaws together, speaking all the while im- 



