710 THE AMERICAN FARMER. 



ample protection under most circumstances, yet at night and in cold or stormy weather they 

 should be provided with shelter. They should have a well built dog-house, which is amply 

 supplied with clean, dry straw for bedding, rye straw being the best for the purpose. This 

 should be changed sufficiently often to keep the bed clean and comfortable. In making a 

 dog-house make it large enough for comfort, perfectly rain-proof, and sufficiently tight for 

 warmth, not forgetting to have ventilation so arranged that the air of the kennel can be 

 kept pure without exposing the animal to a draft of air. There should be a broad floor, 

 with cleats or blocks underneath to raise it from the damp ground, thus securing it from 

 dampness, otherwise there will be a liability of the animal contracting rheumatism and other 

 diseases to which canine flesh is subject. White pine is a cheap, light wood for building a 

 dog kennel, and is also the most easily worked. 



Training Dogs. Dogs should be trained according to the purpose for which they 

 are to be used, for without proper training a dog is comparatively of but little value. Obe 

 dience should be the first lesson in training, and this should commence early. When this 

 has once been learned, the remaining part of the dog s education is merely the result of 

 patience and practice. . In order to secure prompt obedience, it is not necessary to practice 

 severity, much less cruelty. The experience of the best trainers proves that the less one 

 uses the whip, the better the dog. When a pleasant tempered, intelligent dog once under- 

 stands what is wanted of him, he will generally be pleased to do it, if praised for his obedi 

 ence and preference, with perhaps at first a reward with some choice bit that he prizes. 

 When obstinate, which is very rarely the case, obedience must be secured by sterner measures, 

 but we would not recommend punishment except in rare cases, such as those of willful 

 disobedience. 



Many otherwise valuable dogs have been rendered worthless by cruel and severe beating, 

 often, perhaps, when they did not understand what it was for, and thus have had all the 

 courage taken out of them. Kindness and praise will accomplish much more than blows and 

 harsh words, and will have a tendency to improve upon all his desirable qualities, while 

 severity and cruelty has, as a general result, the opposite tendency. In training to carry, 

 take a small stick, and after handling it, let him smell it; then allow him to take it in his 

 mouth; afterward throw it on the ground a short distance; and tell him to bring it to you. 

 If he does so, pat him and give him words of praise, with a bit of something that lie likes, 

 or perhaps the praise will be a sufficient reward with some animals. Then throw it a little 

 further off, and have him find and bring it to you, always allowing him to see you throw it. 



In this way an intelligent dog can be very soon taught to carry game, and even live 

 birds, without harming them. Dogs can be taught to perform any trick within their capacity, 

 by kindness and patient effort, always rewarding them in some way, either by caresses, praise, 

 or some choice bit, to show your appreciation. Mr. J. K. Felch states that a Collie puppy 

 four months old was trained to carry a newspaper from the store to his master s house, going 

 to the store and asking for it with a sharp bark; at one year old he would go from the fac 

 tory to the house, or house to the factory, with a note, waiting an answer, and return. He 

 would go to the store for the paper, and if told &quot;it is not here,&quot; would go to the owner s father 

 for it before returning to the house, for the reason that some of the family sometimes went over 

 to get it to read in the meantime. He would shut the door when told to do so, bring your 

 cane, hat, slippers, gloves, or paper by sending him for them by name, all of which he learned 

 without once being punished. 



Training Shepherd Dogs. The following directions for training shepherd dogs, 

 given by Dr. N. H. Paaren, will be found of great value to those desiring such information: 

 &quot;Most men professing to train young Collies display much ignorance of the nature of the 

 breed, and of the aptitude of the particular individual for its peculiar work; and hence many 



