The Dog Part 31

297. Scent differs of wounded and unwounded Birds.

298. Three dead Snipe lifted in succession; Setter that stood fresh Birds while carrying a dead one; Pointer that pointed Partridge while carrying a Hare; Retriever refusing to relinquish chase of wounded Hare.

299. Injudiciousness of _retrieving_ Setter pointing dead.

300. Argument against employing retrieving Setters holds against using regular Retrievers.

301. Regular Retrievers to beat; its advantages; one Dog does the duty of two.

302. Water Retrievers, or Water Spaniels, to retrieve crippled before picking up dead Wild Fowl; how taught.

303. None of these accomplishments so difficult to teach as a good range.

304. Might be taught by your Gamekeeper, but not to be expected of regular Breaker.

[Ill.u.s.tration: c.o.c.kERS.--BUTLER AND BRISK.]

DOG-BREAKING.

CHAPTER I.

PRELIMINARY OBSERVATIONS. QUALIFICATIONS, IN BREAKER--IN DOG.

1. Dog-breaking, so far from there being any mystery in it, is an art easily acquired when it is commenced and continued on rational principles.

2. I think you will be convinced of this if you will have the patience to follow me, whilst I endeavor to explain what, I am satisfied, is the most certain and rapid method of breaking in your dogs, whether you require great proficiency in them, or are contented with an inferior education. No quicker system has yet been devised, however humble the education may be.

The education in fact of the peasant, and that of the future double-first collegian, begin and proceed on the same principle. You know your own circ.u.mstances, and you must yourself determine what time you choose to devote to them; and, as a consequence, the degree of excellence to which you aspire. I can only a.s.sure you of my firm conviction, that no other means will enable you to gain your object so quickly, and I speak with a confidence derived from long experience in many parts of the world, on a subject that was, for several years, my great hobby.[2]

3. Every writer is presumed to take some interest in his reader; I therefore feel privileged to address you as a friend, and will commence my lecture by strongly recommending, that, if your occupations will allow it, you take earnestly and heartily to educating your dogs yourself. If you possess temper and some judgment, and will implicitly attend to my advice, I will go bail for your success, and, much as you may now love shooting, you will then like it infinitely more. Try the plan I recommend, and I will guarantee that the Pointer or Setter Pup which I will, for example sake, suppose to be now in your kennel, shall be a better dog by the end of next season--I mean a more killing dog--than probably any you ever yet shot over.

4. Possibly you will urge, that you are unable to spare the time which I consider necessary for giving him a high education--brief as that time is, compared with the many, many months wasted in the tedious methods usually employed--and that you must, perforce, content yourself with humbler qualifications. Be it so, I can only condole with you, for in your case this may be partly true; mind, I only say _partly_ true. But how a man of property, who keeps a regular gamekeeper, can be satisfied with the disorderly, disobedient troop to which he often shoots, I cannot understand. Where the gamekeeper is permitted to accompany his master in the field, and hunt the dogs himself, there can be no valid excuse for the deficiency in their education. The deficiency must arise either from the incapacity, or from the idleness of the keeper.

5. Unlike most other arts, dog-breaking does not require much experience; but such a knowledge of dogs, as will enable you to discriminate between their different tempers and dispositions, I had almost said characters--and they vary greatly--is very advantageous. Some require constant encouragement; some you must never beat; whilst, to gain the required ascendancy over others, the whip must be occasionally employed.

Nor is it necessary that the instructor should be a very good shot; which probably is a more fortunate circ.u.mstance for me than for you. It should even be received as a principle that birds ought to be now and then missed to young dogs, lest some day, if your nerves happen to be out of order, or a c.o.c.kney companion be harmlessly blazing away, your dog take it into his head and heels to run home in disgust, as I have seen a b.i.t.c.h, called Countess, do more than once, in Haddingtonshire.

6. The chief requisites in a breaker are:--Firstly, command of temper, that he may never be betrayed into giving one unnecessary blow, for with dogs, as with horses, no work is so well done as that which is done cheerfully; secondly, consistency, that in the exhilaration of his spirits, or in his eagerness to secure a bird, he may not permit a fault to pa.s.s unreproved, I do not say _unpunished_, which at a less exciting moment he would have noticed--and that, on the other hand, he may not correct a dog the more harshly because the shot has been missed, or the game lost; and lastly, the exercise of a little reflection, to enable him to judge what meaning an unreasonable animal is likely to attach to every word and sign, nay to every look.

7. With the coa.r.s.est tackle, and worst flies, trout can be taken in unflogged waters, while it requires much science, and the finest gut, to kill persecuted fish. It is the same in shooting. With almost any sporting-dog game can be killed early in the season, when the birds lie like stones, and the dog can get within a few yards of them; but you will require one highly broken to obtain many shots when they are wild. Then any incautious approach of the dog, or any noise, would flush the game, and your own experience will tell you that nothing so soon puts birds on the run, and makes them so ready to take flight, as the sound of the human voice, especially now-a-days, when farmers generally prefer the scythe to the sickle, and clean husbandry, large fields, and trim narrow hedges--affording no shelter from wet--have forced the partridge--a _short-winged_[3] bird--unwillingly to seek protection, when arrived at maturity, in ready flight rather than in concealment. Even the report of a gun does not so much alarm them as the command, "Toho," or "Down charge,"

usually too, as if to make matters worse, hallooed to the extent of the breaker's lungs. There are anglers who recommend silence as conducive to success, and there are no experienced sportsmen who do not acknowledge its great value in shooting. Rate or beat a dog at one end of a field, and the birds at the other will lift their heads, become uneasy, and be ready to take wing the moment you get near them. "Penn," in his clever maxims on Angling and Chess, observes to this effect, "if you wish to see the fish, do not let him see you;" and with respect to shooting, we may as truly say, "if you wish birds to hear your gun, do not let them hear your voice." Even a loud whistle disturbs them. Mr. O----t of C----e says a gamekeeper's motto ought to be,--"No whistling--no whipping--no noise, when master goes out for sport."

8. These observations lead unavoidably to the inference, that no dog can be considered perfectly broken, that does not make his point when first he feels a.s.sured of the presence of game, and remain stationary _where he makes it_, until urged on by you to draw nearer--that does not, as a matter of course, lie down without any word of command the moment you have fired, and afterwards perseveringly seek for the dead bird in the direction you may point out--and all this without your once having occasion to speak, more than to say in a low voice, "Find," when he gets near the dead bird, as will be hereafter explained. Moreover, it must be obvious that he risks leaving game behind him if he does not hunt every part of a field, and, on the other hand, that he wastes your time and his strength, if he travels twice over the same ground, nay, over any ground which his powers of scent have already reached. Of course I am now speaking of a dog hunted without a companion to share his labors.

9. You may say, "How is all this, which sounds so well in theory, to be obtained in practice without great severity?" Believe me, with severity it never can be attained. If flogging would make a dog perfect, few would be found unbroken in England or Scotland, and scarcely one in Ireland.

10. Astley's method was to give each horse his preparatory lessons alone, and when there was no noise or anything to divert his attention from his instructor. If the horse was interrupted during the lesson, or his attention in any way withdrawn, he was dismissed for that day. When perfect in certain lessons by himself, he was a.s.sociated with other horses whose education was further advanced. And it was the practice of that great master to reward his horses with slices of carrot or apple when they performed well.

11. Astley may give us a useful hint in our far easier task of dog-breaking. We see that he endeavored by kindness and patience to make the horse thoroughly comprehend the meaning of certain words and signals before he allowed him any companion. So ought you, by what may be termed "initiatory lessons," to make your young dog perfectly understand the meaning of certain words and signs before you hunt him in the company of another dog--nay, before you hunt him at all; and, in pursuance of Astley's plan, you ought to give these lessons when you are alone with the dog, and his attention is not likely to be withdrawn to other matters.

Give them, also, when he is fasting, as his faculties will then be clearer, and he will be more eager to obtain any rewards of biscuit or other food.

12. Be a.s.sured that by a consistent adherence to the simple rules which I will explain, you can obtain the perfection I have described, 8, with more ease and expedition than you probably imagine to be practicable; and, if you will zealously follow my advice, I promise, that, instead of having to give up your shooting in September--for I am supposing you to be in England--while you break in your pup, you shall then be able to take him into the field, provided he is tolerably well bred and well disposed, perfectly obedient; and, except that he will not have a well-confirmed, judicious range, almost perfectly made; at least so far made, that he will only commit such faults as naturally arise from want of experience. Let me remind you also that the keep of dogs is expensive, and supplies an argument for making them earn their bread by hunting to a _useful_ purpose so soon as they are of an age to work without injury to their const.i.tution. Time, moreover, is valuable to us all, or most of us fancy it is. Surely, then, that system of education is best which imparts the most expeditiously the required degree of knowledge.

FOOTNOTES:

[2] It may be satisfactory to others to know the opinion of so undeniable an authority as Colonel Hawker. The Colonel, in the Tenth Edition of his invaluable Book on Shooting, writes--page 285--"Since the publication of the last edition, Lieut.-Col. Hutchinson's valuable work on 'Dog-breaking'

has appeared. It is a perfect _vade mec.u.m_ for both Sportsmen and Keeper, and I have great pleasure in giving a cordial welcome to a work which so ably supplies my own deficiencies."

[3] The American Quail so closely resembles the English partridge in all its habits, except that it takes to covert in large woodlands, and occasionally _trees_, that all the rules of hunting and beating for it, shooting it, and breaking dogs for its pursuit, are entirely identical.--H.W.H.

CHAPTER II.

INITIATORY LESSONS WITHIN DOORS. SHOOTING PONIES.

13. It is seldom of any advantage to a dog to have more than one instructor. The methods of teaching may be the same; but there will be a difference in the tone of voice and in the manner that will more or less puzzle the learner, and r.e.t.a.r.d rather than advance his education. If, therefore, you resolve to break in your dog, do it entirely yourself; let no one interfere with you.

14. As a general rule, let his education begin when he is about six or seven months old[4]--although I allow that some dogs are more precocious than others, and b.i.t.c.hes always more forward than dogs--but it ought to be nearly completed before he is shown a bird (111). A quarter of an hour's daily in-door training--called by the Germans "house-breaking"--for three or four weeks will effect more than a month's constant hunting without preliminary tuition.

15. Never take your young dog out of doors for instruction, until he has learnt to know and obey the several words of command which you intend to give him in the field, and is well acquainted with all the signs which you will have occasion to make to him with your arms. These are what may be called the initiatory lessons.

16. Think a moment, and you will see the importance of this preliminary instruction, though rarely imparted. Why should it be imagined that at the precise moment when a young dog is enraptured with the first sniff of game, he is, by some mysterious unaccountable instinct, to understand the meaning of the word "Toho?" Why should he not conceive it to be a word of encouragement to rush in upon the game, as he probably longs to do; especially if it is a partridge fluttering before him, in the sagacious endeavor to lure him from her brood, or a hare enticingly cantering off from under his nose? There are breakers who would correct him for not intuitively comprehending and obeying the "Toho," roared out with stentorian lungs; though, it is obvious, the youngster, from having had no previous instruction, could have no better reason for understanding its import than the watch-dog chained up in the adjacent farm-yard. Again he hears the word "Toho"--again followed by another licking, accompanied perhaps by the long lecture, "Ware springing birds, will you?" The word "Toho" then begins to a.s.sume a most awful character; he naturally connects it with the finding of game, and not understanding a syllable of the lecture, lest he should a third time hear it, and get a third drubbing, he judges it most prudent, unless he is a dog of very high courage, when next aware of the presence of birds, to come in to heel; and thus he commences to be a blinker, thanks to the sagacity and intelligence of his tutor. I do not speak of all professional dog-breakers,--far from it. Many are fully sensible that comprehension of orders must necessarily precede all but accidental obedience. I am only thinking of some whom it has been my misfortune to see, and who have many a time made my blood boil at their brutal usage of a fine high-couraged young dog. Men who had a strong arm and hard heart to punish--but no temper and no head to instruct.

17. So long as you are a bachelor, you can make a companion of your dog, without incurring the danger of his being spoilt by your wife and children; the more, by-the-bye, he is your own companion and n.o.body else's the better: and it is a fact, though you may smile at the a.s.sertion, that all the initiatory lessons can be, and can best be inculcated in your own breakfast-room.

18. Follow Astley's plan. Let no one be present to distract the dog's attention. Call him to you by the whistle you propose always using in the field. Tie a slight cord a few yards long to his collar. Throw him a small piece of toast or meat, saying at the time, "Dead, dead." Do this several times, chucking it into different parts of the room, and let him eat what he finds. Then throw a piece, always as you do so saying, "Dead," and the moment he gets close to it, check him by jerking the cord, at the same time saying, "Toho," and lifting up your right arm almost perpendicularly.

By pressing on the cord with your foot, you can restrain him as long as you please. Do not let him take what you have thrown until you give him the encouraging word, "On," accompanied by a forward movement of the right arm and hand, somewhat similar to the swing of an under-hand bowler at cricket.

19. Let all your commands be given in a low voice. Consider that in the field, where you are anxious not to alarm the birds unnecessarily, your words must reach your dogs' ears more or less softened by distance, and, if their influence depends on loudness, they will have the least effect at the very moment when you wish them to have the most. For the same reason, in the initiatory lessons, be careful not to whistle loudly.

20. After a few trials with the checkcord, you will find yourself enabled, without touching it, and merely by using the word "Toho," to prevent his seizing the toast or meat, until you say "On," or give him the forward signal. When he gets yet more perfect in his lesson, raising your right arm only, without employing your voice, will be sufficient, especially if you have gradually accustomed him to hear you speak less and less loudly.

If he draw towards the bread before he has obtained leave, jerk the cord, and _drag him back to the spot from which he stirred_. He is not to quit it until you order him, occupy yourself as you may. Move about, and occasionally go from him, as far as you can, before you give the command "On." This will make him less unwilling hereafter to continue steady at his point while you are taking a circuit to head him, and so get wild birds between him and your gun,--179, 196. The signal for his advancing, when you are facing him, is the "beckon"--see 33.

21. At odd times let him take the bread the moment you throw it, that his eagerness to rush forward to seize it may be continued, only to be instantly restrained at your command.

22. Your _left_ arm raised perpendicularly, in a similar manner, should make the young dog lie down. Call out "Drop," when so holding up the left hand, and press him down with the other until he a.s.sumes a crouching position. If you study beauty of att.i.tude, his fore-legs should be extended and his head rest between them. Make him lie well down, occasionally walking round and round him, gradually increasing the size of the circle--your eyes on his. Do not let him raise himself to a sitting posture. If you do, he will have the greater inclination hereafter to move about: _especially when you want to catch him in order to chide or correct him_. A stop is all you require for the "Toho," and you would prefer his standing to his point, rather than his lying down,[5] as you then would run less risk of losing sight of him in cover, heather, or high turnips, &c. Setters, however, naturally crouch so much more than Pointers, that you will often not be able to prevent their "falling" when they are close to game. Indeed, I have heard some sportsmen argue in favor of a dog's dropping, "that it rested him." An advantage, in my opinion, in no way commensurate with the inconvenience that often attends the practice.

23. If you are satisfied with teaching him in a slovenly manner, you can employ your right arm both for the "Toho" and "Drop;" but that is not quite correct, for the former is a natural stop--being the pause to determine exactly where the game is lying, preparatory to rushing in to seize it--which you prolong by art,[6] whilst the other is wholly opposed to nature. The one affords him great delight, especially when, from experience, he has learnt well its object: the latter is always irksome.

Nevertheless, it must be firmly established. It is the triumph of your art. It ensures future obedience. But it cannot be effectually taught without creating more or less awe, and it should create awe. It is obvious, therefore, that it must be advantageous to make a distinction between the two signals--especially with a timid dog--for he will not then be so likely to blink on seeing you raise your right hand when he is drawing upon game. Nevertheless, there are breakers so unreasonable as not only to make that one signal, but the one word "Drop," or rather "Down,"

answer both for the order to point, and the order to crouch! How can such tuition serve to enlarge a dog's ideas?