SPANIEL TRAINING. 701 



chastisement should be given, not a few pats and an "Oh! 

 you naughty fellow, how could you! '" I do not agree with 

 the cynic who wrote: 



A woman, a Spaniel, a walnut-tree, 



The more you beat them, the better they be; 



But I know that there are times when the only proper 

 remedy for a dog is a sound thrashing. 



In dog- training, what one has to do is, gain a footing in 

 the animal's mind by making him understand what is 

 wanted, and teach him the meaning of words and signs. 

 The rest is easy. 



To teach a dog to jump through a hoop: Take a hoop 

 of proper size, call your pupil to you, and holding the hoop 

 over his head, rap his legs smartly with it on the knees and 

 say, "Jump, sir, jump! " Hold him firmly and force him 

 against the hoop, saying all the time, "Jump! jump!" 

 Then force him through it, praise and pet him, giving him 

 some dainty as a reward. 



Try it again, and if he will not go through, force him 

 again, and proceed as before. When once he will go 

 through, on being ordered, all will be well and you can 

 gradually hold the hoop higher and higher, until he will 

 spring several feet in the air. 



An important thing to remember is, never weary your 

 pupil, and only teach one thing at a time, which he must 

 have learned thoroughly ere you take up something new. 



To teach him to be dead : Force him to the ground 

 where he has been standing, saying, "Dead, sir, dead!" 

 and hold him there for a few moments. Then spring up 

 yourself and cry, "Alive again!" making him get up, 

 when praise and pet him. Continue this until he will fall 

 down on receiving the command, and rise also at the word. 

 Scold him if he moves a muscle while dead, and never make 

 him lie more than a few moments at the outset. 



A dog can be taught to " say his prayers" in precisely 

 the same way, except that you make him assume a suitable 

 posture, with his nose on a chair or hassock, and to spring 

 up at the word " Amen." 



