274 POINTERS ' AT WALK' 



with setters or pointers it has a most injurious effect, 

 and it becomes a very difficult matter to break them off 

 the scent of hares, although it is comparatively easy to 

 break them off chase ; but when once they get a taste 

 for the seductive scent of a hare it is rarely ever for- 

 gotten, and they get into the habit of false setting on 

 the runs of hares and rabbits, which is an intolerable 

 nuisance where ground game is plentiful. Only a 

 trainer is aware what heart-breaking work it is to 

 induce a young dog to forget the scent of a hare. It 

 is, therefore, infinitely wiser to keep puppies at home 

 rather than to run the risk of sending them to a careless 

 farmer, or to a place where there is much ground game. 

 In order to break dogs off ground game they must be 

 broken where such game exists, but it is necessary to 

 be on the spot the moment the young dog finds it for 

 the first time. 



Spaniels may be allowed greater liberty in the above 

 respect, since it is their business to become acquainted 

 with the scent of hares and rabbits quite as much as 

 with that of birds, and they can be easily broken-in to 

 hand. 



Retrievers should never be allowed out of sight of 

 their owner or trainer. They require constant exercise 

 to keep them in health, but such should be given them 

 at home, and they should never be allowed out ' at 

 walk.' 



Many of my setters would have been useless if I had 

 not allowed them a good wild run ' at walk ' for a time, 

 and have turned out shy, blinking animals. When a 

 pup has by chance contracted some bad habit ' at 

 walk,' he often turns out all the better for having ' run 

 riot ' a bit, when he is afterwards put to hand work ; 



