3IO MODERN TRAINING 



CHAPTER XXVI. 



GUARD DOGS. 



The guard dog does not undergo a regular, formal course 

 of training as do the setter and pointer when educated for 

 field work his education is accomplished more by making 

 a companion of him continually, thus affording unlimited 

 opportunities for him to exercise his judgment and in- 

 telligence. 



St. Bernards, mastiffs and Great Danes find great favor 

 as house and guard dogs. It is a mistake, however, to sup- 

 pose that any dog is a good guard dog simply because he is 

 mastiff, Great Dane or St. Bernard. Lazy, stupid or physi- 

 cally inferior dogs are quite as common in these breeds as 

 in others. In no dog is greater intelligence necessary than 

 in one used as a watch dog, and in none is a good temper 

 more desirable. A vicious temper is no indication of cour- 

 age; often one possessing such a temper is a pitiful coward 

 in time of danger. A vicious dog is wholly unfit for a 

 companion for children; however, the St. Bernard and 

 mastiff are commonly the personification of amiability and 

 attachment, the Great Dane generally so. The mild tem- 

 per and cool judgment which a guard dog must preserve 

 even if he suffers provocation is wherein the breeds afore- 

 mentioned excel. As for desperate courage and destruc- 

 tiveness, they are surpassed by some other breeds; never- 

 theless, a mild, amiable dog is sufficiently fierce if his tem- 

 per is once thoroughly aroused as it is certain to be if the 



