PUPPIES 103 



and hounds, delight in, the same as bears and 

 wolves ; and in teaching them simple dog manners. 

 The time for this is between the ages of three and 

 eight months. Then is the time to teach the pup 

 not to run after strangers, not to jump and fawn 

 all over you, not to fear the water, not to make 

 amorous advances towards other dogs; to learn 

 and obey your various whistles, to follow at heel, 

 and to associate shotguns and rifles with good 

 times afield, so that he neither fears the sound of 

 the shot nor dislikes the gun as an implement of 

 sport. From eight to twelve months is the best 

 time to start yard breaking the bird-dog pup, and 

 at twelve months he should undergo a regular 

 course of training with the force collar. 



For hound and Airedale the same period is to be 

 spent in practical hunting afield, at first with older 

 dogs who know the game, later by himself after 

 hunting has become a passion with him. It may 

 be said here, in passing, that coonhounds, beagles 

 and bassels are less apt to be gun-shy than fox 

 hounds, which latter, having, as a rule, ancestors 

 who have hunted foxes in the South, have no gun 

 in their blood and fear it from the first. Pepper 

 was almost incurably gun-shy, being finally cured, 

 yet, at that, not caring to hunt when there was a 

 gun in the game ; yet as a bench dog he has already 



