294 BREAKING AND ENTERING, 
beat directly towards the wind, yet they have it blowing from the 
game towards them in each of their crossings. (See diagram on 
page 292.) But suppose, as it sometimes happens, that the sports- 
man cannot well do this, as when birds are likely to be on the edge 
of a manor, with the wind blowing on to it from that over which 
he has no right of shooting ;—here, if he gave his dog the wind in 
the usual way, he would drive all the birds off his own beat; and, 
to avoid this, he begins at the edge of it, and makes his pointers 
(if they are well enough broken) leave him and go up the other 
side to the far end of the field (if not too long), and then beat 
towards him in the usual way. It is true that the necessity for 
this kind of beating does not often occur; but sometimes a con- 
siderable number of shots are lost for want of teaching it, and the 
perfect dog should understand it thoroughly. When, therefore, 
the puppy has learnt to range in the ordinary way, and will work 
to the hand well, as before described, give him a lesson in this 
kind of beating; and, if any difficulty occurs, send a boy to, lead 
him until he is far enough away, and then let the biped loose his 
charge, first catching the dog’s eye yourself, so as to make him 
aware that you are the person he is to range to. In a few lessons 
he soon begins to find out the object of this departure from the 
usual plan, and by a little perseverance he will, of his own accord, 
when he finds he has not got the wind, work so as to make a cir- 
cuit and get it for himself. Nevertheless, a good dog, who has a 
master as good as himself, should always wait for orders, and there 
is always some excuse for very clever ones becoming headstrong 
when they are constantly misdirected. Let me again repeat what 
I have observed on the importance of teaching, at jirst, the correct 
mode of quartering the ground, and of persevering (without regard 
to standing or pointing) in the lessons on this subject alone, until 
the puppy is tolerably perfect in them. At the same time, it is 
true that some little attention may be paid to the ‘“‘point;” but 
this is of far less consequence at the early stage which we are now 
considering. Indeed, in most well-bred dogs it comes naturally ; 
but none beat to the hand without an education in that particular 
department. 
But at this stage it will be frequently needful to correct various 
faults which are apt to show themselves in young dogs, such 
