H4 MODERN TRAINING. 



Very few dogs require all these formalities and training 

 to perfect them in this branch; yet inasmuch as every dog 

 differs more or less in temperament from every other dog, 

 some parts will do for one, some for another, and an occa- 

 sional one will require the whole course combined with the 

 best judgment of his trainer; but there is one part that 

 must be observed with all dogs, namely, regularity and de- 

 liberate training. 



In teaching a dog to drop to shot, caps may be exploded, 

 or a common 22-caliber blank cartridge exploded in a rifle 

 or pistol. If the dog is at all gunshy, no greater folly could 

 be committed than to attempt to teach him to drop to shot. 



Just the same methods should be used as in teaching a 

 dog to drop to an order delivered by the voice, the report 

 of the gun having precisely the same significance. The 

 other training, relating to the same thing, will enable the 

 trainer to teach this part very expeditiously. 



The orders Charge and Down Charge have fallen into 

 disuse with expert sportsmen; besides, they are meaningless 

 and inelegant. 



Toho is the order which denotes that the dog is to stop 

 and stand still. With expert trainers, the order has fallen 

 into disuse, the improvement in methods and greater knowl- 

 edge of the dog's nature rendering it superfluous. The old 

 theory was that it served a useful purpose in teaching the 

 dog how to point and back, or in restraining him when road- 

 ing. Amongst an unskilled class some very efficacious pow- 

 ers were supposed to be inherent in it. Amateurs frequently 

 use it; they will give the order Toho to an unsteady dog 

 which had never been taught its meaning; yet it had about 

 the same beneficial effect that it had on any dog, taught or 

 untaught. 



It is a wholly useless and superfluous order, as, if it is de- 

 sired to stop the dog, it can be done more perfectly by 



