FIRST DAYS IN THE FIELD 7 
Some dogs mature more quickly than others. 
Just as do some people. Perhaps your dog 
may be one of these slow developers. Be 
sure of this before allowing yourself to be¬ 
come discouraged too quickly or easily. Else 
you may live to regret a too impetuous deci¬ 
sion that may rob you of what might have 
become a splendid performer. 
After Byrd flushed that first covey I tried 
to put the check cord on her and lead her up 
to the singles as Ned found and pointed them 
one after another. Nothing doing! With 
the cord attached to her, Byrd simply refused 
to move, squatting right down in her tracks 
with her head between her paws—and that’s 
all there was to it. Thus did I arrive at an¬ 
other conclusion in regard to the training of 
Byrd: she would have to be steadied with¬ 
out the help of the check cord. That only 
made matters more difficult in the case of 
one so exceedingly timid as she. But I 
realize that most of you will be able to use 
this means of checking and controlling your 
dog, so will mention that a very good con¬ 
trivance can be made by getting a plain ring 
of about one and one quarter inches in di- 
