SEPTEMBER, 1917 
FOREST AND STREAM 
403 
voluntarily to head a running bird so as 
to get it between himself and the gun. 
The mind of the intelligent bird dog 
never rests. It is adding to its store ot 
knowledge with each new experience and 
preparing itself to meet the emergencies 
that are constantly developing. We are 
perfectly willing to concede all that mod¬ 
ern field trials have done for modern dogs. 
They have developed their instinctive quali- 
Running birds 
ities but unfortunately they have not only 
neglected their intellectual qualities but 
have actually placed a premium upon their 
suppression. 
The field trial world subscribes unquali¬ 
fiedly to the theory that the mental quali¬ 
ties of the dog are simply instinctive, that 
reasoning powers are not to be encour¬ 
aged therefore instinctive searching quali¬ 
ties “sans” reason or intelligence mark the 
field trial dog. The field trial dog above 
all must go, race, keep going, take a chance 
of getting lost, ignore its handler, forget 
that it has a handler, get lost, ty.it keep 
going,—all of this is class. 
The intelligence that prompts a dog to 
search likely fields carefully, to develop 
the faint scent floating on the breeze, to 
follow a running bird with the delicate tac¬ 
tics that will force it to lie or the prompt 
manceuver that places the bird between the 
dog and the sportsman, has no place in the 
curriculum of the field trial dog. 
There are two instincts recognized by 
field trials and it is by the display of these 
instincts that races are won and lost; one 
is the instinct to range fast and unceas¬ 
ingly, the other is to point stylishly, yes, 
dramatically! 
The purely intellectual qualities are not 
considered worthy of consideration, and 
how can they be, for the entire field trial 
system is based upon the fundamental error 
that the dog is an instinctive and not a 
reasoning animal. 
W E will leave the field trial dog to field 
trial men and write only for those 
who want an intelligent companion 
on the fields. 
“I am thoroughly convinced, after an ex¬ 
tensive experience,—wrote one of Ameri¬ 
ca’s leading sportsmen—that ninety-nine 
men out of each hundred can, with a lit¬ 
tle instruction, break their own dogs well, 
and that they will really take more satis¬ 
faction with them, both while in training 
and afterwards, than they can with even 
the most perfectly broken animals, which, 
from being associated with and handled by 
another person, must ever be to their own¬ 
ers ready-made articles, and not the work 
of their own. 
In cases where the sportsman breaks his 
own dogs, he wins from them an attach¬ 
ment which I doubt if he ever gains in 
any other way. I think it is an undeniable 
fact that a dog ever afterwards likes best 
to hunt the birds he is broken on, and 
upon the same principle his affection goes 
forth to the person who initiates him into 
the pleasures of the field. The reason may 
be found in the fact that a dog is an 
intelligent, impressionable creature, so first 
lessons, first sympathies and first love are 
never eradicated, but remain in their fullest 
strength centered round the memory ol 
the original prompter. No two men work 
and handle dogs exactly alike, so that 
though the same words of command may 
be used the dog hunts differently for dif¬ 
ferent men. It may also be said that it 
requires but a short time to change a dog’s 
attachment, and that he soon transfers his 
regard from an old master. 
There is also another benefit. It lies in 
the fact that the sportsman advances in 
knowledge of his craft as his dog pro¬ 
gresses in his instruction. In order to 
break well, a man must study his dog that 
he may apply the incentives of reward or 
punishment in just such a degree as the 
dog will bear, without either rendering 
him too eager to receive the one or break¬ 
ing his spirit by the other. By this study 
of the animal the sportsman really edu¬ 
cates himself, and consequently finds that 
after breaking one dog he has compara¬ 
tively little trouble with any he may under¬ 
take thereafter; thus he becomes independ¬ 
ent of professional assistance while at 
the same time he enjoys a rare pleasure, 
for next to watching the development of 
the human mind there is no more fascinat¬ 
ing pursuit than the training of a high- 
couraged, intelligent dog. Only those who 
have experienced it can appreciate the 
pleasure of seeing the faculties unfold 
under instruction while the affectionate in¬ 
stincts prompt the pupil to do his best and 
to delight in the approval of his teacher. 
There will follow brief and simple di¬ 
rections by which any man may undertake 
to break a dog with a certainty of success, 
provided he will keep ever in mind the 
watchwords of the art: Observation, pa¬ 
tience and perseverance. I took my in¬ 
itiatory lessons from one whom I have 
never yet seen surpassed in his control over 
dogs, and found that the secret of his suc¬ 
cess lay in his rare control over himself. 
Every year since has impressed upon me 
two facts; first, that without self-control 
no man can ever break a dog well; and 
again, that no set of rules, no matter how 
carefully they may be arranged, will apply 
to all dogs. It is the power of compre¬ 
hending and adapting himself to different 
natures that makes one man a much better 
breaker than another; therefore the first 
point is to study and thoroughly under¬ 
stand the pupil before beginning the real 
work of breaking. 
Though the same rules will not apply 
to all cases, the same order of instruction 
may be observed, and I believe that which 
I shall now propose to be the best for 
practical use. Undeniably it is easier to 
train an intelligent pup six or eight months 
old than one two years old with confirmed 
will and habits; but even this may be ac¬ 
complished if the instructor is gifted with 
perfect patience, and will adapt himself to 
the character of his dog. In nature the 
animal is like a child, possessed of a cer¬ 
tain degree of reasoning power and as 
readily recognizing a friend and master. 
Some dogs need to be encouraged. The 
obstinacy of others require long effort to 
overcome. Some need severity, and here 
the sharpest is the most merciful because 
less liable to need repetition. 
Select your dog from a superior stock, 
since a stupid, thick-headed brute, or one 
that does not take to hunting readily, will 
not pay you for the time and trouble you 
will have to give him. Give him his les¬ 
sons when you are alone, and if possible, 
in a room, since he is there always under 
your control, a fact which he soon learns 
to appreciate. Never attempt to teach him 
a new thing till the previous lesson has 
been thoroughly learned, or he will con¬ 
found the two and become discouraged in 
consequence. 
(continued next month) 
Nailed to the minute 
