he is about. Presently the old dog "finds," and stands steadily, while the puppy looks like a fool for a short time; then his curiosity being excited, he tries forward, puts up the birds, and has a good chase after them. Encouraged by the scent and chase, and stimulated also by example, he soon begins to work on his own account, and as soon as he will do so, withdraw the old dog, and let the young one beat by himself. Never mind his chasing birds, hares, or any other game -let him enjoy himself and get a zest for the sport, for without this he will never be worth a farthing. Well-bred pointers become sufficiently excited in the spring without the gun, if they are not checked, and it is only by mismanagement that they can be made "blinkers." The moment they begin to work in earnest, whistle, and by that means attract their attention, then make them work to the hand-that is right or left, forward or towards you, according as the hand is waved in either of those directions. Some time and patience will be spent in carrying out this lesson, but it is all important, and upon it is based the whole system of ranging. Nothing else is to be attempted till the dog is tolerably perfect in this lesson—that is, till he understands what he has to do, though he may not always be willing to do it. Perfection in it will require a long time, but two or three days will generally effect what is now wanted. The young dog should always be "hied on" from the leeward side, so as to give him the wind, and then waving him to the right (or left, as the case may be), he is allowed to work on for a certain distance, which in enclosed districts is bounded by the nearest hedge, or in open ones ends at two or three hundred yards from the shooter. he is stopped by a whistle, waved forward for a few yards, then whistled again, and waved to the left, in which direction he proceeds till he has arrived at a similar point on the other side of the shooter, when the operation is repeated, but in the reverse order, and so the ground is beaten out. When two dogs are used together, one is started off to the right and the other to the left, and each being turned at equal distances from the shooter, and moved in opposite directions, they ought as nearly as possible to cross each time in front of him as he walks forward. But this is a subsequent proceeding to the first teaching the beat. During this part of

Here

these lessons, the seven preliminary words of command will be constantly useful, and beyond these little more will be needed except the meaning of the wave of the arm, which is soon learnt, and which can hardly be taught well till the dog has some object in view. He soon begins to understand what he is wanted to do, and as he has learnt to obey his master and to believe in his superior powers and knowledge, so he now readily gives way to him in this particular. When, therefore, he works steadily on, he is encouraged by his master's voice occasionally with "good dog;" but should he "break fence," or chase birds or hares after the first few hours, he is stopped by แ ware fence" or "ware chase," as the case may be. Pursuing these methods, the highly-bred pointer almost invariably begins TO POINT at the end of a few hours' work-that is, as soon as the acquired instinct of the individual breed is not overpowered by the natural appetite which all dogs have to chase anything which runs away. At first the stop is very hesitating, and the dog draws forward and puts the game up. Now is the time to come forward with "Toho !" which is quite useless and will be sure to be disregarded, if adopted before the disposition to point is shown in some slight degree. The point becomes dwelt on longer and longer as the dog becomes more tired, and the encouragement to do right by the word "Toho!" soon makes it last long enough for the breaker to reach the dog before he has sprung his birds; then patting him and encouraging him in every possible manner, the breaker waits patiently with his pupil for ten minutes, if the birds will lie as long; beyond which time there is no use in keeping up the state of excitement. Next walking crouchingly forwards, and keeping his eye on the dog all the time, with his hand up to restrain him from following, he puts up the birds, calling out "Down charge" at the same moment in a loud voice. The dog will perhaps come forward, but he must at once be made to crouch, and it is well to keep him down for a few minutes, repeating the "down" in an encouraging but sonorous tone. In this way the two first acts are completed, and then it devolves upon the teacher to begin the third, or BACKING, which is taught as follows:-A steady companion, whose point is always to be depended on, is put to work with the young one, who

K

should at the time be somewhat tired, and therefore ready to obey orders. Let the old dog work forward, and keep the young one either near the breaker, or in such a position that the latter can interpose between the two as soon as the old one finds. The moment this takes place, the breaker sings out "Toho!" and, with his hand up, stops the young one wherever he is. At first his attitude, when thus stopped, is merely that of irresolution; but in process of time, as he finds by experience that his fellow-dog has game before him, the association of ideas induces the rigid attitude peculiar to the breed, and the firm "backing" is the result, which comes at various periods and in different degrees of intensity, according to the purity of the blood in each individual. A half-bred pointer may be made to point with a little extra trouble, and he may be also made to stop when he sees another point; but his backing thus induced is without rigidity, and it can rarely be depended on except in positions where it is of little usethat is, whenever the master is close at hand. If there is much difficulty in developing this "steadiness behind," the young dog must be hunted in a check-cord; and when he rushes up to his fellow to deprive him of his point, he must be severely checked, and made to stand till his master comes up; when the position is still to be maintained, but with encouragement, by the use of the words "Toho! good dog, toho!" The great point is to stop at once any tendency to draw up to the pointing dog, for this unsteadiness behind has two ill effects: it induces jealousy in the old dog, and it makes the birds lie worse than they otherwise would. The fourth quality, or DRAWING, is one which cannot be fully taught at this time, inasmuch as it requires great experience on the part of the dog. Neither should it be permitted until he is quite to be relied on for steadiness, for it is apt to degenerate into the opposite extreme until the dog fully appreciates the object for which he is used, and is ready to work with and for his master instead of himself. On the moors, "drawing" or "roading" is especially necessary, for sometimes a dog catches scent and stands, but before his master reaches him the grouse are a hundred or a hundred and fifty yards off. Here, if he can gain no information as to their whereabouts, the shooter has little chance of getting within shot, while the

thoroughly educated animal would carefully draw up to his game, and if first-rate, would leave his point, go round them, and head them. Such examples as these are, however, rare, and when met with, they cannot be too highly prized. No education can instil these faculties into a dog of limited brains, and therefore the owner of a brace of puppies must not expect that they will come back to him from the breaker with a full development of them.

AUTUMNAL COMPLETION OF BREAKING.

In the two previous divisions of the breaking process the dog has been taught to do nearly all which he will be required to perform in the shooting season, but he has been barely taught the various acts required; for if he were to be severely drilled he would become disgusted, and "blinking" would be developed. Now, however, there must be no flinching on the part of the breaker, who must firmly correct every fault, however slight, proportioning the punishment to it; but in all cases making the dog understand his error. It will inevitably happen that something wrong is done, but the faults will be venial if the previous education has been conducted by the same person as is now shooting over him, and if that person has been firm and consistent in carrying out his orders in the spring. The range being the first act which must be performed, should at once be attended to, and the dog should be worked by hand most carefully, not allowing him to take his own way for a single yard. This, however, should have been previously carried out during the last few days of the close time, for no one ought to shoot over a puppy (nor, indeed, an old dog), however steady he might have shown himself in the spring, without running him over similar ground two or three times previously. According to the nature of the beat must now be the range: if on an enclosed manor full of birds, the quartering must be so arranged as to keep the dog always within a hundred or a hundred and fifty yards at most of the shooter: if, on the other hand, it is a wild partridge country, or a northern moor, the dogs are made to range two or three hundred yards right and left, and their parallels are also wider apart. There is a considerable difference of opinion and practice as to the

best modes of beating ground, but so much depends upon the individual dogs, and upon the pedestrian powers of their masters, that very few directions can be given. The pace of the shooter should never be so great as to hurry his dogs, and yet he should not be so slow as to be long in reaching them when pointing. Here, as in most similar cases, a happy medium, which can only be learnt by experience, is the proper rule, but this is more easily understood than described. But supposing the nature of the range settled, and the dogs started off and kept at such parallels as shall be suited to the ground or to the fancy of the shooter, he must also exercise his temper in checking his dogs when they attempt to break through any of the rules previously made. When one points the other must be made steady behind him, and this with as little noise as possible, merely by holding up the hand. Walking quietly but quickly up to the standing dog, the game is put up, and, it is to be hoped, shot; and now comes the moment when the fitness of the shooter for breaking is tried to the utmost. If he is a pot hunter, he will either rush in and pick up his game, or he will disregard the dogs altogether and suffer them to move towards it or to leave their ground. Any of these acts is fatal to their progress and to his sport; the dogs should both be made to drop, if they have not done so, and should remain down till the gun is reloaded, when they may be (one or both) allowed to mouth the bird, or to aid in retrieving it if it is not killed, but only wounded. I do not myself like that pointers or setters should be used for this purpose, but others think differently, and shooters will of course please themselves. When this is done the game is disposed of, the beating begins again, and the whole act is repeated as often as the shooter can effect it.

But there are many minutiae and delicacies of the art which demand practice in their proper fulfilment, as, for instance, in the drawing upon running game, or in sending the dog round to head them when so occupied. All this must be seen and practised to be carried out properly; and no directions for special cases can be of any avail. The principle only can be instilled, and this I have endeavoured to do in the directions already given, leaving the details to be filled up at discretion.