CHAPTER I. 



INTEODUCTION. — Training an art ; Icnowledge of self ; skill 

 required to handle a dog ; ruined dogs ; incompetent 

 owners ; professional breakers. 



ONE of the first things the amateur should 

 learn is that the breaking of setters and 

 pointers for field use is not so much of a 

 science as it is an art. To know all the conven- 

 tional methods of accomplishing certain results 

 in dog breaking is one thing, but even with 

 this knowledge stored in his head, the breaker 

 has much to learn if he would avoid failure. 

 He must learn the why and the wherefore of the 

 technique of dog breaking, and he must know 

 considerable about the psychological side of the 

 setter and pointer to make a good application of 

 the conventional methods of dog breaking. 



Nor is this all. More important than mere 

 technical knowledge of the science of breaking, 

 and the peculiarities of setter or pointer dispo- 

 sition, is the knowledge of self. To every ama- 

 teur and many professionals this knowledge of 

 self must seem the simplest part of the art of 

 dog breaking to acquire, and yet it will bear 

 repetition — it is the most difficult. The human 



