496 AMERICAN GAME BIRD SHOOTING 



must set himself at the start, so that all his muscles 

 would co-ordinate to accomplish it. This pause, so 

 useful in the dog's natural efforts to secure a food 

 supply, serves a double purpose in such attempt: it 

 enables him to locate the birds accurately before mak- 

 ing the final spring to capture, and it enables him to 

 spring powerfully and accurately. Sometimes, withal, 

 the dog makes a false estimate, and springs wide of 

 the mark, thus totally failing in his attempt. 



The point, however, does not always indicate the 

 presence of game. Under such conditions the act is 

 called a false point, and it may be a rarity in the field 

 work of a dog, or it may be of frequent occurrence, 

 or may happen irregularly. A dog which habitually 

 false points is next to worthless for field work. 

 The fault is displayed by some dogs under unfavorable 

 weather conditions, which affect the scent. The ma- 

 jority of dogs will false point when fagged out or 

 when stale from overwork, day after day. There is 

 no cure for habitual false pointing. It probably is 

 the result of a faulty brain or nose, or both combined, 

 or, it may be, of over caution. 



The standard of field work is precisely alike for 

 pointers and setters. In their methods of work, natu- 

 ral or acquired, there are no particular differences 

 which can properly be classed as peculiar exclusively 

 to either breed. Yet each pointer or setter, in per- 

 forming identical tasks, may have his own individual 

 methods and mannerisms, no two dogs working or 

 planning alike, just as no two men think or act pre- 



