188 
THE CABINET OF NATURAL HISTORY 
for should you show too much eagerness, it will make your 
Dogs impetuous also, and the least staunch Dog will cer- 
tainly rush in and spoil your shot. Besides producing a 
habit of impatience in the Dog, it unfits the sportsman for 
that deliberation necessary to success. At every fire, the 
master’s first care should be to observe his Dog, and rather 
lose the bird than, by any neglect, injure the Dog. There- 
fore, immediately after shooting, the Dog should be called 
in, and made to lie at your feet, by using those expressive 
words, as, “down,” “ close,” or “ down charge,” and not 
in any wise, be suffered to leave you, or chase the bird, until 
you are prepared for the game which may spring up around 
you. Then give a sign of your readiness, as hold off. 
The sportsman who will observe this rule strictly, cannot 
fail to have fine shooting, whenever he gets his birds into 
good cover. I have seen Dogs possessing every desirable 
quality but this, so spoil the sport on the first covey of birds, 
as to dampen the pleasure of a whole day’s excursion; 
therefore, too much care cannot be observed in this point 
of training. 
A man should' study well, and become perfectly acquaint- 
ed with the disposition of the animal he attempts to educate 
— on this depends in a great measure his success in training, 
for the dispositions of Dogs vary like those of men. Some- 
times it is improper to hunt a high spirited young Dog in 
company with an old well broken Dog, as it frequently hap- 
pens that the latter will excite the jealousy and impetuosity 
of the former, which, in his ambition to excel, will com- 
mit many errors, that he would not if hunted alone, and 
draw on himself, the undeserved displeasure of his master. 
Again, other young Dogs, are mere imitators, and will only 
follow the wake of an old Dog during the whole day, in- 
stead of hunting seperately and independently — while some 
will bear the most severe chastisement, and others frighten- 
ed at merely the sight of a whip — of this the sportsman 
must judge and act according to these varieties. 
During the process of training a Dog, the whip will cer- 
tainly be a necessary auxiliary, but much judgment is ne- 
cessary to use it properly, which can only be done by 
knowing the disposition of the Dog ; — every error should 
be punished, but according to its demerit, and a regular sys- 
tem of training must be commenced and continued, without 
relaxing the least in discipline, for the Dog will take advan- 
tage of every oversight of yours to his faults, and lenience, 
in case of necessary chastisement, will injure him more 
than undeserved punishment ; and being educated with this 
discipline he will always expect fromyour hands somenotice 
of his errors, whether accidental or intentional, and punish- 
ment should be meted out commensurate with his deserts, 
from an angrily spoken word, to the severity of the whip. 
Another rule from which the sportsman should never 
deviate, is, always to make your Dog come to you, to be 
chastised *this is an important point to obtain — as in this 
case, he will on every error, no matter how trivial, come to 
you for correction, and crouch at your feet, when he 
must always be noticed — but, should the opposite plan 
be adopted by a sportsman, of running up to his Dog to flog 
him, he, after the first severe chastisement, will run from and 
avoid you, and on every offence, will, upon your scolding 
him, most likely lie down in the field — but the greatest dis- 
advantage is, that, when a dog may be hunting in a swamp 
or difficult place, and commits error, harsh words will have 
thetendency to keephim out of sight, and no persuasion what- 
ever will bring him to you ; you then, cannot get to him, and 
he will not come to you ; he will therefore, be worse than 
useless. Consequently, habituate him to come to you for 
chastisement, in the early stage of training, and before you 
take him to the field, and you will soon discover the impor- 
tance of thislesson. 
A Dog should be broken with as few words and little 
noise as possible, andwith these words should be used signs, as 
moving the hand right, left, forward, and toward you, accord- 
ing to to the direction you wish the Dog to go — he will soon 
learn these signs, and his obedience to them will prevent 
far ranging — a Dog may be learned to quarter a field hand- 
somely, in this way, if while Waving, the master will also 
walk the direction — the whistle is recommended and used 
by many sportsmen ; but I never could see much advantage 
arising from its use ; they who choose can adopt it if they 
think proper. 
The plan recommended by some writers, never to suffer 
your Dog to break field, is nothing more than a reiterationof 
the old English rule, and enjoined, because others have 
adopted it, without any good reasons given, why it should 
be enforced, is in my view, altogether useless. In a coun- 
try like ours, where it sometimes occurs you are hunting 
in fields of but few acres, this rule could not be enforced 
without detriment to the Dog, or injury to your own com- 
fort. Being frequently surrounded by fields, in each of 
which you may probably find a covey, you are left uncertain 
of the fact until your Dog has faithfully hunted the first field 
you enter, and he discovers by their trail, they are intheadjoin- 
ingfield, and crosses the fence, todrawupon the game;now is 
it not better that the Dog should keep his point, than that 
he should be called back to the original field, because affect- 
ed etiquette says, you and he must leave together ? The 
plan may answer, where you find fields containing from 
thirty to one hundred acres, and you in danger of losing 
* When chastising a Dog, you should avoid, kicking him in the sides, striking 
him over the head, punching him with the butt ofyourgun, pulling him by the ears, 
or throwing any missiles at him; a training whip should be provided, and always 
used. 
