CHAPTER VII. 



Know Thyself. — Breaking the breaker ; pronounced in- 

 stincts not intelligence ; mistakes of amateurs ; study- 

 ing the young dog. 



BEFORE attempting to tell the reader how 

 he should proceed to break his setter or 

 pointer, it seems best that the breaker him- 

 self be taken in hand. He cannot be broken in 

 one short lesson, but some things can be pointed 

 out that will be useful to him in the future. He 

 may not take this lesson to heart in the very 

 beginning, as he should, but after he has had 

 moderate success with his first dog, he may 

 turn back to this chapter, and in the light of his 

 experience profit by what is here set down. 



The breaker will not journey far on the road 

 of breaking before his }'oung dog will do some 

 foolish thing calculated to move every energy 

 in a calm man, and the man will be moved and 

 the dog will be injured. It is well to know this 

 logic of events. To be sure, the breaker will 

 say to himself in a general way that he will be 

 patient, calm and will not be annoyed. That is 

 because he does not know himself; because he 

 has never been put to the test. The young dog 

 will do the most unexpected thing in the most 



