302 BREAKING AND ENTERING. 
This defect is only to be remedied by instilling confidence: and 
by avoiding punishment; but it is often one which gives great 
trouble before it is got over. It is not so bad as the obstinately 
refusing to work at all, but is only next to it. Both occur in 
dogs which are deficient in courage, and both require the most 
delicate and encouraging treatment to remove them. Let such 
dogs run “riot,” and commit any fault they like, without fear 
for a time; then afterwards (that is, when they begin to be quite 
bold and are full of the zest for game) begin very cautiously to 
steady them, and something may yet be done. In very. bad cases 
all attempts at breaking must be given up at “pairing time,” 
and the gun must be relied on as a last resource, the killing ot 
game having sometimes a wonderful effect in giving courage to 
a dog which has been depressed by undue correction. Punish- 
ment is not to be condemned altogether, for in some breeds and 
individuals without the whip nothing could be done; but it 
should be very cautiously applied, and the temper of each dog 
should be well studied in every case before it.is adopted. Kind- 
ness will effect wonders, especially where united with firmness, 
and with a persevering determination to compel obedience some- 
how; but if that “how” can be effected without the whip, so 
much the better; still, if it cannot, the rod must not be spared, 
and if used at all, it should be used sufficiently. 
Shyness of the gun will generally also go off in time; but as it 
seldom occurs except in very timid and nervous dogs, they do not 
often become very useful even when they have lost it. The best 
plan is to lead a shy dog quietly behind the shooters, and not to 
give him an opportunity of running off, which he generally does on 
the first discharge. When game falls, lead him up and let him 
mouth it ; and thus, in course of time, he connects cause with effect, 
and loses that fear of the report, which he finds is followed by a 
result that gives him the pleasure of scenting fresh blood. 
Potiering at the hedges in partridge-shooting is the result of using 
dogs to find rabbits, or of allowing them to look for them, which 
they always are ready to do, especially if permitted to chase or even 
to retrieve hares. There is no remedy for it, and a potterer of this 
kind is utterly worthless and irreclaimable. 
Hunting too wide for close partridge-shooting may be easily 
