BREAKING A BIRD DOG 
CHAPTER I 
FIRST DAYS IN THE FIELD 
O N a certain well-remembered day in 
February of 1922 the writer came 
into possession of a little Red 
Setter which is to become the subject around 
which the chief messages in this book re¬ 
volve. She was at that time just past six 
months old and in her veins flows Irish Setter 
Blood as pure as can be found anywhere that 
Bird Dogs are bred. This puppy was regis¬ 
tered as Smada Byrd and it wasn’t long be¬ 
fore she had found her way into all hearts in 
my home. She was an interesting little 
thing, full of fun and frolic, and I venture to 
predict that but seldom has any dog ever 
merited or achieved more love than we gave 
her. 
But Smada Byrd was not to be an orna¬ 
ment—she was to be a field dog, unless my 
