"When there is much difficulty in teaching the dog his lesson, the fault lies as often with the master as with him; or they are, generally speaking, both in fault. Some dogs cannot be mastered but by means of frequent correction. The less the sportsman has to do with them the better. Others will not endure the least correction, but become either ferocious or sulky. They should be disposed of as soon as possible. The majority of dogs are exceedingly sagacious. They possess strong reasoning powers; they understand, by intuition, almost every want and wish of their master, and they deserve the kindest and best usage. "The scholar being thus prepared, should be taken into the field, either alone, or, what is considerably better, with a well-trained, steady dog. When the old dog makes a point, the master calls out, 'Down!' or 'Soho!' and holds up his hand, and approaches steadily to the birds; and, if the young one runs in or prepares to do so, as probably he will at first, he again raises his hand and calls out, 'Soho!' If the youngster pays no attention to this, the whip must be used, and in a short time he will be steady enough at the first intimation of game. "If he springs any birds without taking notice of them, he should be dragged to the spot from which they rose, and, 'Soho!' being cried, one or two sharp strokes with the whip should be inflicted. If he is too eager, he should be warned to 'take heed.' If he 'rakes' or runs with his nose near the ground, he should be admonished to 'hold up', and, if he still persists, the 'muzzle-peg' may be resorted to. Some persons fire over the dog for running at hares: but this is wrong; for, besides the danger of wounding or even killing the animal, he will for some time afterwards he frightened at the sound, or even at the very sight of a gun. The best plan to accustom dogs to the gun, is occasionally to fire one off when they are being fed. "Some persons let their dog fetch the dead birds. This is very wrong. Except the sportsman has a double-barrelled gun, the dog should not be suffered to move until the piece is again charged. The young one, until he is thoroughly broken of it, is too apt to run in whether the bird is killed or not, and which may create much mischief by disturbing the game. "Although excessive punishment should not be administered, yet no fault, however small, should pass without reproof: on the other hand, he should be rewarded, but not too lavishly, for every instance of good conduct.