122 BREAKING A BIRD DOG 
unquestionably need punishment, I give it 
to them. I very seldom punish a young dog 
in the early stages of training. An older 
dog must be punished if he does wrong de¬ 
liberately when he knows better. My dogs 
suffer almost as much from the mere 
thought of a whipping as from the whip¬ 
ping itself—because they are so anxious to 
please; because they really want to do right. 
My rule is that a good, severe talk always 
precedes the whip and then the latter is 
very effective even though not too harshly 
administered. Do I hear any one call this 
“slush”? If so, let him come around with 
a dog that will do anything I can't make 
mine do both easier and better, and I'll listen 
to him. Otherwise not. And this goes. It 
is both a threat and a promise. 
I work Byrd regularly at least twice each 
week and it is the most fascinating recrea¬ 
tion imaginable. You can make quite a 
game of it if you take a kodak along and 
try with it to record all unusual or striking 
poses or situations. The fact that it is not 
easy to get what you want but adds to the 
interest. There was, for instance, that 
