jO MODERN TRAINING. 



prompt obedience in every detail, it is a positive advantage 

 in all his after training; and the obedience, once thoroughly 

 implanted, is permanent. 



The rattle-headed dog, particularly if he has a hobby, is 

 a trial and trouble to his handler. Devoid of intelligence, 

 he performs his work as it may happen, and never compre- 

 hends the meaning or application of his education except 

 the simplest parts which are related to the simplest work. 

 He is forgetful because his memory is poor; he makes errors 

 because he does not have a solitary plan in his work; his 

 ranging is here and there, in likely or unlikely places, as it 

 may happen; frequently he is a dog which means well, but 

 as 'the friendship of some of the superior race is worse than 

 their enmity, so the good intentions of the rattleheaded dog 

 are generally materialized in glaring faults; he will point 

 birds if he happens to go on them with favorable advantage 

 of wind, position, etc., but he flushes them with equal non- 

 chalance if he goes on them under unfavorable conditions. 

 He profits very slowly by experience, making the same error 

 a thousand times without any apparent concern. In his 

 mature years, a dog of this kind may improve some; but 

 having no understanding, he is always irregular and deficient 

 in the exercise of his nose and legs. Unlimited oppor- 

 tunities afield are necessary to make anything desirable out 

 of him. 



The vicious dog is not common. Setters and pointers 

 are very affectionate and mild in disposition. Once in a 

 long while the vicious dog will be met with. After he has 

 had a few lessons, he becomes cunning. He may attempt 

 to fight when whipped, or while the spike-collar is used on 

 him, or when the trainer attempts to put it on him; in the 

 latter event he generally retires to a corner, growls, shows 

 his teeth, and prepares for hostilities as his trainer advances 

 with the collar. This should not deter the trainer in the 



