24 BREAKING A BIRD DOG 
her when she flushed them. Much of this 
latter would have been done away with, you 
understand, had I been able satisfactorily to 
use the check cord on her. Also, the instinct 
to point is much stronger in some dogs than 
in others. You probably often have seen 
small puppies point sparrows or chickens or 
just a shadow. In others—and these may be 
fully as good in the field—the development 
of the pointing inclination is much slower. 
In any event it is best not to attempt to stop 
a young dog up and make him steady too 
soon. You can always do this. The thing 
you can't do is make him go out unless he 
wants to naturally or is susceptible to being 
gently encouraged to do so. Nothing should 
ever be done that may tend to restrict the de¬ 
velopment of speed and range and the desire 
to go out in search of game. Artificial 
means of stopping a dog up, if employed too 
early or by one who lacks judgment and ex¬ 
perience, may prove the ruination of what 
might have become a very fine animal under 
proper handling. I can only add here that 
the lack of good judgment in handling dogs 
is appalling—it is cruel to contemplate how 
