POINTERS AND SETTERS. 331 



dog's collar a long cord, which is then suffered to trail on the 

 ground, or is held in the hand of the breaker, when the do" is 

 very wild. Twenty, thirty, or at most forty, yards of a small 

 box-cord will suffice for this purpose, and will soon tire down 

 the strongest and most unruly dog. Indeed, an application of 

 it for a short time will make many dogs give in entirely ; but 

 some high-couraged ones, and setters especially, will persevere 

 with it on till they are fairly exhausted. This " check-cord," as 

 it is called, is also necessary in some dogs, to perfect their educa- 

 tion in other respects, and, indeed, is chiefly wanted at a later 

 period of breaking, not being often required at this stage. 



Having described the mode of teaching pointers and setters to 

 beat their ground, I have now to consider the best modes of 

 teaching them (1) to point, set, or stand (which are different 

 names for the same act), (2) to back, (3) to down charge, (4) to 

 retrieve, if considered desirable, and (5) how to remedy certain 

 faults, such as blinking, &c. 



Pointing, setting, or standing is taught as follows. It will, of 

 course, be discovered in practice that, in teaching the range, most 

 dogs begin to point, and nineteen out of twenty, if well-bred, be- 

 come steady enough, without the gun, before they are perfect in 

 the proper mode of beating their ground. For these, then, it is 

 unnecessary to describe any other means of teaching their trade ; 

 but there are some few exceptions, in which, even after a fort- 

 night's work, the dog is still deficient in this essential, and, though 

 he beats his ground in ever so perfect a manner and finds his birds 

 well enough, yet he invariably runs them up, sometimes with 

 great zest and impudent disregard of his breaker, and at others 

 with evident fear of the consequences. Here, then, something more 

 must be done, and it is effected by taking the young dog out with 

 a steady companion and hunting them together; then, keeping 



