THE DOG 77 



From this to " Down charge " becomes a very easy 

 step indeed, again remembering that he is not to be 

 allowed to move till commanded by signal or "call." 

 The advantage of firing some caps or small charges 

 during this early training is twofold : you decrease the 

 risk of causing gun shyness and you avoid the excite- 

 ment which it causes in the presence of game. In our 

 opinion a very common mistake is to take a young dog 

 to the second part of his education before the first is 

 complete and endeavour to teach those primary lessons 

 in the field. This is undoubtedly wrong, and renders 

 the task a difficult one, which is otherwise so simple. 

 The advantages of having a dog which drops to hand 

 or "shot" in the field are sufficiently obvious. In 

 practice what do we usually find ? " Duke " or " Don," 

 if he does "down charge," does so only for a moment, 

 and then he is off to have a look at a dead bird, putting 

 up some others on the way, or the repeated shouts of 

 his trainer effectually does this. In extreme cases we 

 perhaps have a race between master and dog who is to 

 get the bird first, and if Don wins the feathers begin 

 to fly. 



Use of "Call" or " Whistle." We cannot too 

 strongly impress also the proper use of a suitable call 

 instead of the human voice. It is too heart-breaking 

 for words to find a whole hillside cleared of grouse, 

 covey after covey of grouse responding to the frantic 

 shouts of "Don," "Don," "Heel," "Heel," or to 

 witness a fine "show" of partridges, which you have 



