CH. xi.] PEOOF BEFOEE PUNISHMENT. 191 



If you have good reason to suspect that, unseen by you, 

 he has wilfully sprung birds, still rather give him an 

 earnest caution than any severer rebuke. It is not easy 

 to repair the mischief occasioned by unjust punishment. 

 When from his sheepish look, or any other cause, you 

 imagine that he k has raised game, either through heedless- 

 ness, or from their being unusually wild, be sure to give 

 him a short lecture, and accompany him to the haunt. 

 A lingering bird may occasionally reward you. If his 

 manner has led you to form an incorrect opinion, your 

 warning can have no other effect than to increase his 

 caution (rarely an undesirable result) ; and if you are 

 right, the admonition is obviously most judicious. 



327. Let me caution you against the too common 

 error of punishing a dog by pulling his ears. It has 

 often occasioned bad canker. Some men are of opinion 

 that it is frequently the cause of premature deafness. 

 When you rate him you may lay hold of an ear and 

 shake it, but not with violence. 



328. I would strongly recommend you always to 

 make your young dog " drop " for half a minute or so, 

 when he sees a hare ; or when he hears a bird rise.* 

 To effect this, stand still yourself. After a few seconds 

 you can either hie him on, or, which is yet better, get 

 close to him if you expect other birds to spring. You 

 will thus, especially in potatoes or turnips, often obtain 

 shots at birds which would have made off, had he con- 

 tinued to hunt, and early in the season be frequently 

 enabled to bag the tail-bird of a covey. This plan will 

 also tend to make him cautious, and prevent his getting 

 a habit of blundering-up birds, and cunningly pretending 

 not to have noticed their escape. It will also make him 



* Of course, with the proviso that he is not pointing at another 

 bird <274). 



