34 THE dog; and how to bklak him. 



— let it be pointer, setter, or spaniel — he is com- 

 paratively of no value. 



The education of the spaniel should, if possible, 

 commence in the house, yard, or garden, at a very 

 early age, by draAving- a bit of meat along the 

 ground in a zigzag manner, and encouraging him 

 to find it ; rewarding him with food and caressing 

 him when he has done so, but carefully preventing 

 his eating the meat he sought for. As I have 

 previously observed, all of the breed I ever saw 

 have been eager to hunt ; and to place an effectual 

 check upon this ardent disposition is the great 

 secret of training the spaniel. The puppy shoidd 

 be early taught to crouch at the firing of a gun or 

 pistoL and compelled to remain in this position 

 until ordered to move. It is not uncommon for 

 young setters or young pointers to be afraid of 

 the gun; but I never saw a spaniel that did not 

 manifest symptoms of pleasure on seeing it, as well 

 as on hearing it fired. When the puppy is obe- 

 dient to the call or whistle, he may be suffered to 

 run about in the lanes, Vvdien taken out for exercise, 

 pretty much at his own pleasure, using the wliistle 

 when he rambles too far off. When he begins to 

 have a notion of hunting it will be well to show 

 liim his game at once. 



In shooting with spaniels the dogs are neces- 

 sarily a good deal out of sight. Even in the open 

 ground, in turnips, their smallness of size prevents 



