HINTS TO PURCHASERS. SHEEP KILLING.
256. When your dog has been properly taught the "back," fail not to
recommence hunting him alone, if it is your object to establish a perfect
range.
257. Professional dog-breakers, I have remarked, almost invariably hunt
too many dogs together. This arises, I suppose, from the number which they
have to train; but the consequence is, that the younger dogs are
spectators rather than actors, and, instead of ranging independently in
search of game, are watching the manoeuvres of their older associates.
258. A glimmering of knowledge may be picked up in this way; but no one
will argue that it is likely to create great excellence. Doubtless the
young ones will be good backers; and to the inexperienced a troop of
perhaps a dozen dogs, all in chiselled form, stanchly backing an old
leader, is a most imposing sight--but if the observer were to accompany
the whole party for a few hours, he would remark, I will bet any money,
that the same veterans would over and over again find the birds, and that
the _"perfectly"_ broken young ones in the rear would do nothing but
"back" and "down charge." What can they know of judicious quartering? Of
obeying the signals of the hand? Of gradually drawing upon the faintest
token of a scent--only perceptible to a nose carried high in the
air--until they arrive at a confident point? Of perseveringly working out
the foil of a slightly-winged bird, on a hot still day, to a sure "find?"
Nothing, or next to nothing,--nearly all is to be taught; and yet the
breaker will show off those raw recruits as perfectly drilled soldiers.
Would they not have had a much better chance of really being so, if he had
given a small portion of his time each day to each? He well knows they
would; but the theatrical display would not be half so magnificent. If he
had truly wished to give his pupils a good systematic range, without a
doubt he would have devoted one hour in the field exclusively to each dog,
rather than many hours to several at once--and not have associated any
together in the field until he had gained full command over each
separately. And this he would have done--_because it would have tended to
his interest_,--had he supposed that his dog's qualifications would be
investigated by judges--by those who would insist on seeing a dog hunted
singly--in order to observe his method of ranging,--or with but one
companion, before they thought of definitively purchasing.
259. At the beginning of a partridge season, I unexpectedly wanted to
purchase a dog. An old gamekeeper--one on whose judgment I could rely, and
who, I knew, would not willingly deceive me,--saw a setter in the field
that he thought would please, and accordingly sent it to my kennel. I
greatly liked the looks of the animal. He quartered his ground well--was
obedient to the hand--carried a high and apparently tender nose--pointed,
backed, and down-charged steadily. Unquestionably he had been well broken.
I thought myself in great luck, and should not have hesitated to complete
the purchase, but that fortunately I had an opportunity of shooting a bird
over him, when to my horror he rushed at it with the speed of a greyhound.
As, in spite of all my remonstrances, shouted in the most determined
manner, he repeated this manoeuvre whenever a bird fell, I returned him. I
afterwards heard he had just been shot over by a party on the moors, who,
no doubt, had spoilt him by their ignoble, pot-hunting propensities.
260. Had I chosen to sacrifice my shooting in order to reclaim him--which
I must have done, had I too hastily concluded the purchase,--I ought to
have sent home the other dogs, and proceeded, but with greater severity,
much in the manner described in 220 and 222. I ought not, however, to have
gone after him when first he bolted; I ought merely to have endeavored to
check him with my voice, for it would have been most important to set him
a good example by remaining immovable myself, and he might have
misconstrued any hasty advance on my part into rivalship for possession of
the bird; in short, into a repetition of one of the many scrambles to
which he had recently been accustomed, and in which I feel sure he must
invariably have come off victorious. I ought, when loaded, to have walked
calmly up to him, and, without taking the slightest notice of the
disfigured bird, have dragged him back, while loudly rating him, to the
spot where he should have "down charged." After a good flagellation--a
protracted lecture--and a long delay,--the longer the better,--I ought to
have made him cautiously approach the bird; and by a little scolding, and
by showing him the wounds he had inflicted, have striven to make him
sensible and ashamed of his enormities. Probably, too, had the birds lain
well, the moment he pointed I should have employed the checkcord[44] with
a spike, giving him a liberal allowance of slack line--234. Had I thus
treated him throughout the day, I have little doubt but that he would have
become a reformed character; though an occasional outbreak might not
unreasonably have been expected. See 205 to 208.
261. To create a feeling of self-dependence, obviously there is no better
plan than for a considerable time to take out the dog by himself, and thus
force him to trust for sport to his own unaided powers; and when he is at
length hunted in company, never to omit paying him the compliment of
attending to every indication he evinces of being upon birds, even
occasionally to the unfair neglect of confirmed points made by the other
dogs.
262. I conceive those dogs must be considered the _best_ which procure a
persevering sportsman most shots in a season and lose him fewest winged
birds.[45] If you are anxious for your pupil to attain this superlative
excellence,--I will repeat it, at the risk of being accused of
tautology,--you must be at all times consistently strict but never severe.
Make him as much as you can, your constant companion; you will thereby
much develope his intelligence, and so render him a more efficient
assistant in the field, for he will understand your manner better and
better, and greatly increase in affection as well as observation. Many men
would like so faithful an attendant. _Teach_ obedience at home--to
_obtain_ it in the field. Consider the instantaneous "drop," the moment he
gets the signal, as all-important,--as the very key-stone of the arch that
conducts to the glorious triumphs of due subordination. Notice every
fault, and check it by rating, but never punish with the whip unless you
judge it absolutely necessary. On the other hand, following Astley's
plan--10--reward, or at least praise, every instance of good behavior, and
you will be surprised how quickly your young dog will comprehend your
wishes, and how anxious he will be to comply with them. Remember that evil
practices, unchecked until they become confirmed habits, or any errors in
training committed at the commencement of his education, cannot be
repaired afterwards without tenfold--nay, twentyfold--trouble. Never let
him hunt from under your eye. Unceasingly endeavor to keep alive in him as
long as possible his belief that you are intuitively aware as fully when
he is out of sight as within sight of every fault he commits, whether it
arise from wilfulness or mere heedlessness. This is a very important
admonition. Remember, however, that the best dogs will occasionally make
mistakes when they are running down wind--especially if it blows
hard,--and that there are days when there is scarcely any scent.--Note to
128.
263. Attend most carefully to the injunction not to let your dog hunt out
of sight. It is essential that you do so.
264. Notwithstanding Beckford's capital story of the hounds making a
dinner of the old ram which his lordship had left in their kennel to
intimidate them, if your dog be unhappily too fond of mutton or lamb of
his own killing, perhaps no better cure can be _attempted_, provided you
superintend the operation, than that of muzzling him, and letting a strong
ram give him a butting at the time that you are administering the lash,
and hallooing out "Ware" or "Sheep." But, unfortunately, this too often
fails.
265. If you do not succeed, you must hang or drown him,--the latter is
probably the less painful death, but a charge of shot well lodged behind
the ear in the direction of the brain would be yet better. Therefore you
will not mind giving him another chance for his life, though confessedly
the measure proposed is most barbarous. Procure an ash-pole about five
feet long. Tie one extremity of the pole to a strong ram, by the part of
the horns near the forehead. To the opposite extremity of the pole attach
a strong spiked collar, and strap it round the dog's throat, to the
audible tune of "Ware" or "Sheep." To prevent the possibility of the cord
slipping, through each end of the pole burn a hole. The continued efforts
of the ram for some hours either to free himself from his strange
companion, or to attack him, will possibly so worry and punish the dog as
to give him a distaste ever afterwards for anything of a woolly nature.
The pole will so effectually separate these unwilling--but still too
intimate--associates, that you need not muzzle the dog.
266. There is yet another remedy, which I will name, as it sounds
reasonable, though I cannot speak of its merits from personal observation,
never having seen it tried.
267. Wrap a narrow strip of sheep-skin, that has much wool on it, round
the dog's lower jaw, the wool outwards, and fasten it so that he cannot
get rid of it. Put this on him for a few hours daily and there is a chance
that he will become as thoroughly disgusted as even you could wish, with
every animal of the race whose coat furnished such odious mouthfuls; but
prevention being better than cure, pay great attention to your dog's
morals during the lambing season. Dogs not led away by evil companionship
rarely commence their depredations upon sober full-grown sheep. In
ninety-nine cases out of a hundred,[46] they have previously yielded to
the great temptation of running down some frisking lamb, whose animated
gambols seemed to court pursuit.
268. If ever you have fears that you may be unable to prevent a dog's
breaking away to worry sheep, hunt him in a muzzle of a size that will not
interfere with his breathing, and yet effectually prevent the wide
extension of his jaws.
269. The killing of fowls is more easily prevented. The temptation, though
equally frequent, is not so great--he will only have tasted blood, not
revelled in it. Take a dead fowl--one of his recent victims, if you can
procure it--and endeavor, by pointing to it, while you are scolding him,
to make him aware of the cause of your displeasure. Then secure him to a
post, and thrash him about the head with the bird, occasionally favoring
his hide with sundry applications of a whip, and his ears with frequent
repetitions of the scaring admonition, "Ware fowl," "Fowl--fowl--fowl."
Whenever you afterwards catch him watching poultry, be sure to rate him.
FOOTNOTES:
[44] I am glad to say I have never had occasion to adopt so severe a
remedy as the following; but I have heard of an otherwise incorrigible
taste for blood being cured by a partridge pierced transversely with two
knitting-pins being _adroitly_ substituted for the fallen bird which the
dog had been restrained by a checkcord from bolting. The pins were cut to
a length somewhat less than the diameter of its body, and were fixed at
right angles to one another. Several slight wires would, I think, have
answered better.
[45] And if hares are shot to him, fewest wounded hares.
[46] In the remaining odd case--one out of a hundred--the propensity may
be traced to the animal's belonging to a vicious stock--in short, to
hereditary instinct.