116 CAUTIOUS DOGS. [CH. vn. 



excitement, blind to your signals and deaf to your calls. 

 These obviously are qualities that, under good manage- 

 ment* lead to great excellence and superiority, that 

 make one dog do the work of two. But they are not 

 qualities sought for by an idle or incompetent breaker. 

 He would prefer the kind of dog mentioned in 280, 

 and boast much of the ability he had displayed in 

 training him. These valuable qualities in the fast dog, 

 must, however, be accompanied by a searching nose. 

 It is not enough that a dog be always apparently 

 hunting, that is to say, always on the gallop his nose 

 should always be hunting. When this is the case (and 

 you may be pretty certain it is if, as he crosses the 

 breeze, his nose has intuitively a bearing to windward), 

 you need not fear that he will travel too fast, or not 

 repay you ultimately for the great extra trouble caused 

 by his high spirits and ardour for the sport. 



199. The Eev. Mr. M t (spoken of in 195) had one of these 

 valuable, fast, but cautious dogs. The dog, in leaping over a stile 

 that led from an orchard and crowned a steep bank, accidentally 

 tumbled head over heels. He rolled to the bottom of the bank, 



and there remained motionless on his back. Mr. M 1 went up 



in great distress, fancying his favourite must have been seriously 

 injured. However, on his approaching the dog, up sprung some 

 partridges, which, it appears, the careful animal must have winded, 

 and fearing to disturb, would not move a muscle of his body, for 

 happily he was in no way hurt by the fall. 



200. I was shooting in the upper provinces of Canada over a 

 young dog, who suddenly checked himself and came to a stiff " set " 

 on the top of a high zigzag log fence. I could not believe that he 

 was cunning enough to do this for the purpose of deceiving me, 

 because I was rating him for quitting the field before me ; and yet 

 why should he be pointing in mid-air as rigidly as if carved in 

 stone ? On my going up the enigma was solved, by a bevy of quail 

 flying out of a neighbouring tree.f It is said they often take to them 



* The more resolute a dog is, *f* The mention of quails taking 



the more pains should be taken, to trees recalls to my recollection 



before he is shown game, to perfect a novel light infantry manoeuvre 



him in the instant " drop " (26), (for the exact particulars of which 



however far off he may be rang- I will not, however, positively 



ing. pledge myself,) that was con- 



