162 MANUAL FOE YOUNG SPORTSMEN. 



the casual wantonness of high spirits, as when a dog has 

 been long confined without being shot over then indeed 

 chastisement must not hide his head. 



The sportsman should, however, always have a careful 

 heed to causes, and to the actuating motives of his dogs, 

 before he punishes. I have seen good, careful, true-nosed 

 dogs flogged for flushing birds ; when it was evident to me, 

 from their coming to the point instantly, and looking 

 around with a deprecatory glance, that the fault was acci- 

 dental, or, in fact, no fault at all, but the consequence of 

 existing circumstances ; perhaps the failure of scent owing 

 to the state of the ground, or of the atmosphere. Again, 

 I have seen a martinet punish dogs, what I call cruelly, for 

 not sitting down to charge, on snipe ground, where the 

 water was three inches deep and as cold as ice ; when the 

 poor brutes were standing to charge, perfectly passive, 

 with ears and sterns lowered, and only failed to squat, on 

 account of the state of the ground. 



But it is needless to multiply instances. In the former 

 case, all that is desirable is a gentle " Have a care, Sir ! 

 Have a ca-are, Don ! " in the latter, when a shot should 

 be again fired on good dry ground, to insist on the charge 

 being made in the most perfect style, with the paws 'ex- 

 tended and the nose down between them. 



By the way ! if a dog be at all unsteady, the only 

 sure plan is to make him charge, whenever a bird rises, 

 whether shot at or not. In fact, it is better always to 

 make him do so, steady or not ; and, if a retriever, never 

 to allow him to gather a dead bird until he have pointed it. 



Thus much as to general rules, for dogs in general. 



