( 312 ) 



CHAPTER IV. 



BREAKING AND ENTERING. 



The Entering of the Greyhound and Deerhound— Of Foxhounds and Harriers 

 — Breaking the Pointer and Setter— The Retriever (Land and Water)— 

 The Spaniel— The Vermin Dog. 



With the exception of the greyhound, sporting dogs require some 

 considerable education to the sport in which they are to be en- 

 gaged. Unlike the hound and the dogs intended for the gun, 

 greyhounds have only their instinctive desires to be developed, 

 and as no restraint is at any time placed upon these, except 

 that depending upon mechanical means which they cannot get 

 rid of, nature has uncontrolled sway. Hence their entering is 

 a very easy process ; nevertheless, there are some precautions to 

 be taken which it is necessary to describe. The deerhound, as 

 well as the greyhound, is held in slips, a single one being used 

 for him, and a double slip, or pair of slips as it is called, for 

 the two greyhounds which form the complement for coursing the 

 hare, a greater number being considered unfair, and therefore 

 unsportsmanlike. These slips are so made that by pulling a 

 string the neck-strap is loosed, and the two dogs are let go 

 exactly at the same moment. They are always used in public 

 coursing, but in private the greyhounds are sometimes suffered 

 to run loose, waiting for the moment when the hare is put up by 

 the beaters or by the spaniels, which are occasionally employed. 

 Hounds also are coupled under certain circumstances, but they are 



