232 BREAKING AND ENTERING. 



piece of strong wood, such as ash or oak, attached to the neck 

 by a leather collar, and to the jaw by a string tied just behind the 

 tusks or canine teeth, so as to constitute a firm projection in 

 continuation of the lower jaw ; and, as it extends from six to nine 

 inches beyond it, the dog cannot put his nose nearer to the ground 

 than that amount of projection will allow of. The young dog 

 should be well accustomed to it in kennel and in the field, before 

 he is hunted in it ; for when it is put on for the first time it inevi- 

 tably " cows " him so much as to stop all disposition to range ; but 

 by putting it on him for an hour or two daily while he is at liberty 

 and not expected to hunt, he soon becomes tolerably reconciled to 

 it, and will set off on his range when ordered or allowed. With it 

 on, a foot-scent can seldom be made out, unless pretty strong ; but, 

 at all events, the dog does not stoop to make it out in that spaniel- 

 like style which occasions its adoption. Nevertheless, when it is 

 left off, the old tendency to stoop most frequently reappears, more 

 or less, and the sportsman finds that all his care has been thrown 

 away. Still I have known it to cure this fault, and if it fails I have 

 no other suggestion to offer but sixpenny worth of cord or " a hole 

 in the water." If used at all, it must be kept on for many days 

 together, that is to say, while at work, and when left off it should 

 be occasionally reapplied if the dog shows the slightest tendency 

 to put his nose down, or dwell on the scent where birds have been 

 rising or have " gone away." I may here remark that " false point- 

 ing "is altogether different from this low hunting, though often 

 coupled with it ; but this we shall come to after describing the 

 nature of, and mode of teaching, that part of the pointer's educa- 

 tion. There is a wonderful faculty in some breeds of discovering a 

 body-scent at long distances, while they have no perception of the 

 foot-scent, and this is the quality which ought to be most highly 

 prized in the pointer or setter, unless he is also wanted to retrievt 

 in which latter case, such a nose will be found to be defective. Bu . 

 of this also we shall come to a closer understanding in a f u 

 ture part of this volume. In addition to the use of the " puzzle- 

 peg," which should only be resorted to in extreme cases, and even 

 then, as I before remarked, it is of doubtful utility, the voica 



