Dropping to Whistle-——Here the pro- 
cedure is similar to the above, the han- 
dler blows a short sharp blast (but not 
a loud one) on the whistle, at the same 
time raising his hand over his head; if 
necessary he will also give the verbal 
command “hup.” After a little while 
the puppy will drop to the whistle only. 
The object of teaching this is to ensure 
the puppy dropping in places where he 
cannot see his handler. It is most im- 
portant to obtain implicit obedience to 
this signal, as at a later stage it is fre- 
quently a most effective means of pre- 
venting chase or running it. After the 
puppy can be relied upon to obey in 
the open he must be exercised in it in 
cover, or among gorse bushes, where 
he cannot see his handler, but always 
in places where the latter by slightly 
shifting his position can satisfy him- 
self that obedience has been prompt. 
Response to this signal is useful in 
checking a puppy that ranges ahead too 
far, but it is much easier to drop such 
a one than to get him to respond to the 
verbal command “back.” Nor is it de- 
sirable to blow the “come in,” which 
in the field should be used as rarely 
as possible. 
Dropping to Shot.—Also first taught 
on lead, the word “hup” accompanying 
the discharge of a gun—until from as- 
sociation of ideas the puppy learns to 
drop at the report alone. Later the 
check line will be substituted for the 
lead until the puppy will drop at its 
full length, and eventually at liberty; 
in the last instance for a time it will 
probably be found that he will only 
drop when close to his handler. 
Dropping to Wing (and Fur).— 
Where there is no feathered game pup- 
pies, can be dropped to pigeons re- 
leased from an impromptu trap—drop- 
ping to fur must wait till they are actu- 
ally in the field. 
“Come In.’—This verbal command 
will at first be preceded by the “come 
in” whistle call—which will gradually 
be omitted. The command should be 
given very slowly and at first only to 
puppies on the check line, so that obe- 
dience can be summarily enforced. Re- 
wards for prompt obedience will facili- 
tate matters. The place selected for 
this lesson should for the first few times 
be free from game or other canine dis- 
tractions. 
Retrieving. — Retrieving may be 
taught with all the above from the very 
beginning, although many authorities 
leave it to a much later stage. Some 
puppies not more than eight weeks old 
will retrieve any small light object 
without any teaching at all, and often 
pick up things such as empty cartridge 
cases and bring them in of their own 
accord. The writer of this article had 
last year two such puppies, both of 
whom retrieved a piece of rabbit skin 
to hand at a gallop the first time of 
asking. One was a cocker called 
“Quiz,” the other an interbred springer 
and clumber. Unfortunately both suc- 
cumbed to distemper. 
Dummies.—Retrieving should be 
taught by means of dummies (but small 
soft rubber balls will serve). Dummies 
may be made of either feather or fur; 
the fresher the dummy skin or quills 
the more readily will the puppy pick it 
up, but very often is less prepared to 
give it up than he would an older one. 
Some trainers make their fur dummies 
conical in shape, in order to teach the 
puppy in picking up to find the center 
of balance for carrying. All stuffed fur 
dummies, however, lack the pliancy of a 
fresh shot rabbit, so that many puppies 
which readily pick up a stuffed dummy 
are a bit nonplussed when they first 
meet the genuine article in the field. 
No puppy should retrieve a full-sized 
stuffed dummy until he has changed his 
teeth. For very small puppies a little 
roll of rabbit skin or a bunch of quill 
feathers from some game bird is quite 
sufficient, as it is unwise to call on them 
to make an effort in an exercise which 
should appear to them to partake of 
the nature of a game. The retrieving, 
and in fact all lessons, should be begun 
in the strictest privacy. It is a good 
plan always to take the puppy to a 
strange place, at any rate to begin with, 
and at first simply throw the dummy a 
few yards away—saying “find lost” or 
“seek,” he will at once rush off to in- 
vestigate the curious object, and if it 
is at all attractive, will pick it up— 
as soon as he picks it up, the handler 
must run away, while the puppy neither 
wishing to be left behind nor to forego 
his treasure, gallops after him with it 
in his mouth. Here it is important that 
the handler should contrive to take it 
from him before he has time to drop it, 
should he be so inclined, not always 
an easy matter; so that. each time, so 
to speak, the puppy involuntarily de- 
livers to hand, for which good office he 
receives a reward. When he does this 
fairly well, the puppy must be made 
to sit at the command “hup,” and the 
dummy be thrown a few ‘yards away, 
while the puppy is kept sitting (coerced 
if necessary), until told to “find lost” 
whereat he is allowed to gallop out, 
pick the dummy up and carry it in pur- 
suit of his handler as before. Some 
puppies are disinclined to deliver, and 
hold on like grim death; with such the 
handler may have to curl the upper lip 
round a canine tooth and exert a little 
pressure, saying “give”; the substi- 
tution of an older dummy generally ob- 
viates this difficulty. It is well, how- 
ever, for the puppy to hold the dummy 
in his mouth until told to “give,” as 
he will be less likely to learn the de- 
testable habit of dropping his stuff at 
the handler’s feet. As a puppy im- 
proves he may be made to sit without 
moving while the dummy is thrown 
nearer and nearer to him by degrees, 
never being allowed to bring it till he 
is told; when the dummy is quite close, 
say within a couple of yards or so, he 
will be told to “bring” instead of “find 
lost,” the idea being to get into the 
puppy’s mind the three stages of re- 
turning an object, viz., the pick-up, gal- 
lop in and delivery. Although it will 
take some considerable time to arrive 
at this point, it is worth spending time 
over however, as it will bring distinc- 
tion in style later. In course of time 
very small rabbits, say six weeks old, 
and freshly shot small birds may be 
substituted for dummies; should the 
puppy run away with these, or play 
when carrying them, he must have a 
short course on the check line. Eventu- 
ally the dummy will be thrown into 
short cover where the puppy cannot see 
it but will have to use his nose to find 
it, and will also be made to puzzle it 
out of the line of trailed dummies made 
of fresh flayed skin. . 
Carrying.—Some portion of the time 
spent in retrieving lesson should be de- 
voted to “carrying,” for which purpose 
select some dummy for which the puppy 
has a special affection, and make him 
carry it a short distance, to be gradu- 
ally increased, his handler meanwhile 
walking, or if necessary running in 
front; as long as the latter keeps mov- 
ing, the puppy probably will not drop 
it, nor make off with it. This practice 
well carried out is very helpful towards 
obtaining a certain and complete de- 
livery to hand. There is a great differ- 
ence in individual puppies in regard to 
the facility with which they learn to 
pick up, gallop back and deliver; all 
gallop out but many will not “snatch” 
the dummy up from the ground as they 
ought, neither will some gallop back, 
but are content to amble or walk back, 
wagging their tails and turning their 
heads from side to side expectant of 
admiration. With the dullards at re- 
trieving it is absolutely necessary to 
find a new strange place for each lesson, 
as they will only pick up quickly and 
gallop back when they imagine they 
are being left in the “abomination of 
desolation.” 
When a puppy refuses to bring a 
dummy, substitute one made from a 
fresh flayed skin or fresh plucked quills, 
or even a freshly killed small bird. If 
you can get him to bring one dummy 
consistently, he will generally forget his 
antipathies. 
“Back”—This command indicates a 
reversal of the direction in which a dog 
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