Sentry Dogs 219 



The Training 

 The training of these dogs must be carried on at t In- 

 official training school, and must be under expert manage- 

 ment. It is useless to imagine that any dogs, picked up 

 here and there, can be utilized by a unit for its sentries. 

 The dogs, to understand the work property, must be care- 

 fully trained, and this must be done at night at the school. 

 The training commences at dusk, when the dogs are led 

 from their kennels by soldier keepers to various posts in 

 isolated spots. Persons representing the enemy are in- 

 structed to approach from various directions. Accurate 

 note is taken of the time and the distance at which the dog 

 first takes notice, and how much ahead he is of the sentry, 

 in detecting the approach of the enemy. After a course 

 of this training, the dog becomes well aware that he is 

 expected to be on the look-out, and his senses, already 

 naturally acute, are developed in a remarkable way. The 

 training is somewhat slow, as it is not possible to do more 

 than two or three attacks each night, and a good deal of 

 patience and understanding is required in the trainer, and 

 in those in charge. Day training is not necessary, as it is 

 essential that the dog should rest during the day, so that 

 it may be thoroughly alert at night. In any case, in the 

 daylight, the sentry can easily detect the enemy himself 

 from afar, so that he has no need for the dog at this time. 



Feeding and Kennelling 

 Sentry dogs, both when under training, and after they 

 are drafted from the training school to the various units, 

 must be kept, during the day, in a quiet and isolated spot, 

 and unvisited by anyone except the men told off as keepers 

 to attend to them. These men should be selected on 

 account of a previous knowledge of dogs, and when posted 



