BREAKING AND HANDLING. 135 



degree of manual strength and dexterity are necessary quite 

 as much to avoid giving unnecessary punishment as to pun- 

 ish. Without some dexterity the trainer cannot manipulate 

 the collar with the force, promptness, skill and correctness 

 which are required. He must be ever watchful to modify or 

 change the application of the collar according to the pecu- 

 liarities exhibited by the dog, and no two dogs require pre- 

 cisely the same treatment. Jerking a dog about violently 

 from loss of temper is the height of brutality. By no pos- 

 sibility can such acts be considered a part of intelligent 

 training; on the contrary, they defeat the purposes of train- 

 ing by cowing the dog, breaking his spirit, or wrecking his 

 constitution. The punishment should not be so severe at 

 any time as to terrify him. When terror stricken he is 

 wholly incapable of understanding anything, and such 

 severity is never required to accomplish the purpose. Rarely 

 will the trainer have need to exert himself violently if the 

 directions herein given are observed. The novice usually 

 begins by telling the dog to fetch, and begins thereupon to 

 punish violently with the collar; immediately he is terribly 

 angry, perspires profusely, gives commands at the top of his 

 voice, and continues the violence till man and dog are 

 exhausted, and the neighborhood disgusted. Unless such 

 weakness can be overcome, the trainer would do well to 

 abandon the lessons. No experience or instruction has 

 any value when the trainer's temper is uncontrollable. 

 Before beginning the retrieving lessons, the dog should 

 be accustomed to the collar, which is readily done by put- 

 ting it, having a rope eight or ten feet long attached to it, 

 on his neck. Let him struggle as much as he will, holding 

 him steady the while, and keep perfectly passive. Fre- 

 quently he bites at the collar and attempts to fight it; let him 

 do so without hindrance until he is satisfied that his efforts 

 are futile and an injury to himself. The flurry generally 



