132 BREAKING A BIRD DOG 
apt to work out. On the other hand, some 
dogs—just as some people—are merely 
slower in developing and often don’t really 
“come to themselves” until later in life. I 
have found that the cheapest dogs are 
usually the most expensive; and I have seen 
so many people fall victims of the delusion 
of picking out a good one for a small price. 
What a pity! 
Lytle’s Hoosier Spot, the exceptional 
Pointer bitch that we now work regularly 
as a brace mate with Byrd, required almost 
no training at all. She just took to it as nat¬ 
urally as a duck to water. From the very 
first she went wide. She is industrious and 
has always been stanch on point as well as 
steady to shot and wing—yet she has never 
even needed a check cord. But, of course, 
she is phenomenal. Almost the only train¬ 
ing Spot ever needed was in the matter of 
distinguishing game—she would at first 
point anything from snakes to rabbits and 
she was as stanch on fur as on feather. As 
soon as a few birds had been killed over her, 
however, she was almost perfectly broken. 
Yes, some dogs “break” more easily than 
