THE BLOODHOUND 59 



Training should begin early. Most puppies take 

 to it naturally from the fifth or sixth month upwards. 

 As a beginning the novitiates should see some one 

 start whom they know, and the runner, after going 

 a short distance, should conceal himself. With a 

 little encouragement they will soon know what is 

 being asked of them, and when once they have got 

 their noses down they will take to the work with 

 zest. On coming up to their man they should be 

 rewarded with a tit -bit. As time goes on the dis- 

 tance should be lengthened, and the interval between 

 the setting out of the runner and the laying on of 

 the hounds should also be increased. It is well, too, 

 to change the runner, in order that the hounds may 

 be accustomed to hunting strangers. It is not neces- 

 sary that anything handled by the man should first 

 be offered them to smell, and it is a most undesir- 

 able thing to dress the runner's boots with aniseed 

 or any other concoction, for you will but be implanting 

 a lesson that has afterwards to be unlearnt. To 

 ensure greater proficiency, the original line may be 

 crossed at certain points by others, the direction of 

 the false line being marked by sticks, so that hounds 

 may be immediately checked if they show any ten- 

 dency to change. This, however, is a fault rarely 

 observable in the Bloodhound. 



As regards the appearance of the modern Blood- 

 hound, he is a majestic -looking animal, somewhat 

 taller and more heavily built than the Foxhound, 

 and with greater length of body. His head is his 

 most distinctive feature. In perfection it should be 

 of great length from the occiput to the tip of the 

 nose, and divided in about equal proportions by the 

 set on of the eyes. 



