BREAKING AND HANDLING. 49 



The obstinate dog is usually very intent on having his 

 own way, or on resisting the will of his trainer. Usually he 

 is consistently obstinate and has very little respect for pun- 

 ishment; nevertheless, the obstinacy may be combined with 

 timidity or cowardice. The thoroughly obstinate dog must 

 be taken firmly in hand from the beginning, and a thorough 

 yard breaking given. Cowing the dog slightly is often 

 beneficial, providing that the trainer has skill enough to 

 keep him within control; that is, can prevent him from run- 

 ning away. If he is taught to retrieve by force from the 

 start, it usually has a beneficial, subjugating effect. It mat- 

 ters little when the training is begun, whether the trainer 

 has any acquaintance with the obstinate dog, or vice versa j 

 the dog very soon learns to recognize his master, and if he 

 is treated kindly between lessons, will soon learn to love 

 him and recognize none other as his master. With a timid 

 dog, it is necessary to gain his confidence before the training 

 is begun. With the obstinate dog, it should be made an 

 inviolable rule to enforce obedience to any orders, and 

 every care should be taken to avoid giving any orders that 

 cannot be enforced with a reasonable degree of certainty. 

 For instance, if when afield, the dog is ordered to Drop, 

 being some distance away at the time, there may be uncer- 

 tainty about his obeying the command. If he refuses and 

 an attempt is made to catch him, he may range safely out 

 of reach. The attempt was an error on the part of his 

 handler, for no command should be given under such cir- 

 cumstances, when there was a probability of a refusal to 

 comply, with every advantage on the side of the dog. The 

 trainer, knowing the peculiarities and reliability of his 

 dog, might give him a command which he knew would be 

 obeyed, such as Come in ; when caught, the desired obedi- 

 ence could be then enforced. However, if the yard disci- 

 pline is thoroughly established with rigid adherence to 



