FORCED BROKEN VS. NAT¬ 
URAL RETRIEVING 
Dear Forest and Stream : 
N O dog is a finished shooting-dog 
unless he is a good retriever. Some 
dogs are natural retrievers and do very 
good work afield, but if they do not feel 
in the right mood, often refuse and no 
amount of persuasion will make them 
fetch. 
The writer has a little setter bitch that 
is retrieving nicely now of her own free 
will, yet who can tell when she may de¬ 
cide that she doesn't feel like doing so. 
When she was a puppie she would fetch 
a ball or stick when thrown out. The 
practise was not kept up and she out¬ 
grew her playful stage of life and re¬ 
fused to fetch. The first bird killed over 
her points was a big cock pheasant and 
as he was only winged he ran away at 
a lively pace. The dog chased and 
caught him. She picked up the bird, 
took a couple of steps with him in her 
mouth then dropped him. There was no 
command that she understood, such as 
“Fetch" or “Bring It In” so it was oi 
little use to try to get her to bring it in. 
The next few birds brought down were 
unable to run away, and she did not 
even pick them up. Then another bird 
was only winged and ran away. 1 his 
bird fell about ten feet from a woven 
wire fence. The dog followed and after 
considerable trouble getting through the 
fence trailed the bird across a field fot 
several hundred feet, caught it and 
proudly brought it in. She has re¬ 
trieved all birds killed over her since, 
and mav continue to do so, but on the 
other hand she may refuse on the very 
next bird and there is no command that 
she understands by which she can be 
made to do so. 
A big pointer had been hunted for 
nearly two years and never retrieved a 
feather. During the second season a 
pheasant was knocked down and fell in 
the river. The bird immediately swam 
to the middle of the stream and might 
have gotten clear across if it hadn’t been 
for the fact that another batch of num¬ 
ber seven and one-half chilled was 
spread over him. During this perform¬ 
ance the big pointer was tearing up and 
down the shore. He wanted to go and 
get the bird, yet he hesitated to plunge 
into the cold water. Persuasion and 
coaxing on the part of his owner was 
of no avail. The dog still showed a de¬ 
sire to retrieve the bird and it was de¬ 
cided to keep quiet and let him alone. 
Several attempts were made by the dog- 
in which he would swim out four or five 
feet then turn around and swim back 
to shore. Finally he mastered his fears, 
swam straight out till he was directly up* 
WESTM; 
stream from the bird, turned with the 
current, and grabbing the big bird by 
the head towed him to shore. It was 
nice work and he has continued to re¬ 
trieve. 
To have a real dependable retriever 
though, he must be force-broken. The 
forced retriever understands certain 
commands and will obey them under all 
circumstances. The writer has described 
in detail the method used in teaching- 
forced retrieving in a previous issue of 
Forest and Stream. The big setter 
shown in the photo is proudly holding 
a big cook pheasant in his mouth, wait¬ 
ing for his master to take it. To be 
steady to shot, hunt for and find the dead 
bird at command, bring it in to his mas¬ 
ter and sit down in front of him, still 
holding the bird is about perfection in 
retrieving. 
Where hunting is done on horseback, 
as in quail hunting, the retriever is 
sometimes taught to stand on his hind 
legs and place the birl in the hunter’s 
hand while he is still in the saddle. 1 he 
dog in the photo was retrieving almost 
anything about the yard when he was 
A Master of the Game 
a four-months’-old pup. He grew tired 
of the job and refused. He was then 
put through a course in forced retriev¬ 
ing. He is now a master of the game. 
The first bird killed over him was 
properly handled, and every bird since 
has been. The whole bird is carefully 
taken in his mouth and scarcely a 
feather torn out. The force-broken re¬ 
triever understands certain commands, 
and if properly trained will obey them 
under all conditions. A bird may be 
killed by a hunter while his dog is a 
long way off. With the force-broken 
retriever, the dog is called in and told 
to find the dead bird. He understands 
whatever command is used and will hunt 
for and find the bird. With a natural 
retriever, if he did not see the bird fall, 
it is more or less luck if the bird is 
found. 
Put your good bird dog through a 
course in forced retrieving, and you will 
have a retriever that you can depend on. 
G. F. Hamilton, N. Y. 
ABALONE FISHING 
Dear Forest and Stream: 
H OW many persons have heard of 
the abalone? And further how 
many fishermen have had the occasion 
to partake of this rare delicacy of the 
sea, fried in a thick batter after pound¬ 
ing it for an hour with an axe? 
I have, just returned from several 
months’ cruise in a small forty-foot Co¬ 
lumbia River “salmon boat,” up and 
down the West Coast of the peninsula 
of Baja California, Mexico. Here is the 
fisherman’s paradise, where one may find 
the sport at its best. It is as yet un¬ 
spoiled by an advancing civilization’s 
lust to destroy and there are no game 
laws, alas, to hinder anyone from fishing 
at any time of the year or the day or 
night. 
One of the most interesting sights we 
saw was a Japanese abalone camp at 
Turtle Bay, some two hundred miles 
South of the California frontier. It is 
due to these camps, which are increas¬ 
ing in number and size, that this edible 
shell-fish or mollusc is fast becoming ex¬ 
tinct. 
Abalone “fishing” has become an in¬ 
dustry along the Lower Californian 
coast and is carried on exclusively by 
thrifty Japanese who sail their junks 
across the Pacific. They have divers and 
diving equipment and are thorough in 
their methods. When they have combed 
a given spot not a seed is left to prop¬ 
agate and multiply. 
The Spanish name of abalone is the 
common one of this specie of the Halio- 
tidae family and is found in Japan. India 
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