BREAKING AND HANDLING. 31 1 



master he loves is assaulted, or any attempt made to injure 

 children he associates with as guard and playmate. It is 

 the nature of all dogs, even the most cowardly, when vio- 

 lence is threatened to the master or the household, to take 

 the defence upon themselves. 



To give a correct education, it should begin from early 

 puppyhood, the dog having his liberty, and instructed more 

 by association, with proper checking and encouraging as 

 occasion requires, than by any system of formal training. 

 He, by association, learns the everyday routine of the 

 household, the habits of its members, and learns who are 

 strangers, and even learns to discriminate between those 

 which are suspicious in appearance and those which are 

 not, probably being aided in this by observing the air with 

 which different classes of callers are received. He also, 

 from his own powers of observation, learns what are usual 

 incidents and what are unusual, thus showing powers of dis- 

 critnination. 



The guard dog should, however, be taught to obey the 

 common orders, such as " Come here," or " Come in," 

 "Drop," or "Lie down," the methods for accomplishing this 

 being the same as laid down for the training of setters and 

 pointers in like branches. 



Nothing is more destructive to a large dog's amiability 

 and usefulness than to keep him chained, and nothing is so 

 unwise or so quick to superinduce viciousness as to tease 

 and worry him when so restrained. It also affects the dog 

 physically if persisted in, large dogs not enduring the con- 

 finement without injury. If chained during puppyhood, 

 they are sure to get more or less cow-hocked, out at the 

 elbows, rickety, or twisted out of shape, and are pre-dis- 

 posed to acquire a scowling or anxious expression of face 

 which detracts from their companionable qualities. Only 

 by thus treating the dog as a companion can he be made an 



