THE GUN AT HOME AND ABROAD 
many restrictions, which, if applied too soon, tend to damp their ardour 
for ranging. Pointers and setters should be handled with as little noise 
as possible, and taught to work entirely by signal, or, at most, a whistle 
and signal. Having never run wild nor indulged in “ self -hunting,” it 
is extraordinary how quickly they take to their work. With fifteen yards 
of light cord on the dog, which he drags loose, the trainer proceeds to 
an oblong field, giving the dog the wind. He begins at one end, by walking 
across the field; he starts the puppy off, checking him should he start 
straight up the field and waving him in the direction in which he is him- 
self walking. When the dog reaches the fence, he whistles, turning himself 
in the direction he wishes the dog to take, and walks back diagonally 
across the field, the object being to make the pupil quarter his ground 
in such a manner that every part of it will come under ‘‘ observation ” 
of his nose, and so no game can be passed over. As the dog nears that 
part of the field where birds usually lie, the handler will be near him, 
and when he hesitates, on winding them, as he most likely will do, the end 
of the check cord must be caught, the dog restrained from rushing for- 
ward, and made to stand steady for some minutes before being encouraged 
to creep forward and flush the birds, when he will be gently pressed down 
and kept at the down “ charge ” for some little time. Some young dogs 
at first take no notice of scent, and charge into covey after covey. Here 
the simplest, if not orthodox, method is of making a steady old dog find 
the birds, and allowing the young one, led on a check cord, to come up 
behind; when he feels the scent the old dog may be ordered to ” drop,” 
and the juvenile to advance and spring the birds. This may be done till 
the young dog takes an interest in birds, when he must start again and 
find them for himself. 
One great difference exists between pointers and setters and other 
gundogs; the former are always under the eye of their handler, whereas 
a retriever or spaniel may be a quarter of a mile off, on the line of a runner, 
and so must act on his own initiative, and do what the human race so 
often shrink from — take the responsibility of their actions. 
In teaching all dogs to retrieve the same methods and objects equally 
apply, to get the game brought quickly and tenderly right up to hand. 
Begin young, because when the playful moods of youth have passed away, 
it is not always easy to get the beginner to “ pick up ” at all. This is a 
most aggravating state of affairs. On the other hand, a small fat puppy 
generally wants to carry anything it sees, either with a view to a meal 
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