94 BREAKING A BIRD DOG 
believe has never before been made public 
property. It deals with the plan used by 
a prominent field-trial trainer. The first 
part is the same as usual—to fasten a check 
cord to the dog when on point. The han¬ 
dler's assistant then holds the other end of 
the cord, or else it can be tied to a stake 
driven in the ground. After the dog is thus 
secured, this trainer's plan is to rush by the 
dog and flush, making all the noise and ex¬ 
citement he can and firing as he flushes. 
That's how he gets his dogs to the point 
where he can take plenty of time after flush¬ 
ing birds and firing; and it also makes a dog 
steady before a field-trial crowd. After a 
while the dog gets so that all you have to do 
is to twitch at his collar as you go up, so that 
he thinks he is being fastened, and soon he 
will become so steady that even this is not 
necessary. This little method of refinement 
may come in handy some day and I am 
pleased to pass it on. It is authentic and 
should prove to be a really valuable tip in 
breaking a bird dog and making him abso¬ 
lutely steady to shot and wing. 
And now, speaking of tips, here's another, 
