12 Modern Breaking 



seeing their dogs hunted for a day or two by 

 the breaker, and carefully observe his peculiar 

 modes of speech and action with these dogs, it 

 \yould serve as a guide to their own conduct 

 toward their dogs in insisting upon their living 

 up to their breaking. To be sure there are dis- 

 honest breakers, just as there are dishonest 

 merchants, ministers and .doctors, but the pro- 

 fessional handlers of to-day — and there are 

 numbers of them — are as reliable as the mem- 

 bers of any profession. Their statements can be 

 accepted. If a dog which appears wild and 

 unbroken is received from a breaker of reputa- 

 tion, the sportsman should not jump at the con- 

 clusion that he has been defrauded. The dog 

 should be given an opportunity to get acquainted 

 with his new master, and the owner should 

 study himself. Perhaps he does not know how 

 to handle a dog. This will be a difficult thing 

 for him to confess, and besides, having paid his 

 money for a broken dog, he is likely to expect 

 too much. A dog is not a piece of machinery 

 that can be run with an oil can and wrench. 

 He is a bundle of nerves and muscles, energy 

 and pronounced instincts. These, properly 

 handled, will go far to increase his owner's 

 pleasure in the field. Even if the dog were 

 simply a piece of machinery, like an automobile, 

 the purchaser would not attempt to run it until 

 he had received a course of instruction as to 



