TRICKS TAUGHT To DOGS. 87 



easily by him without hurting his mouth or teeth. The weight 

 should at first be eery light and never more than he can easily 

 carry. Most dogs will take a real pleasure in carrying articles 

 in this manner, and they seem to feel the responsibility attached 

 to their duty, for they will carry theh- own or th^ir master's 

 dmner without attempting to appropriate any portion of it unti^ 

 the proper time when their share shall be given them. In 

 teaching dogs to carry food, however, it is necessary to take a 

 littk special pains to overcome their instinctive inclinations to 

 eat it. A good plan is to place the article m a covered basket 

 which they cannot open, and when the dog has learned to carry 

 an ordinary parcel give him this. If he attempts to get at the 

 food, which he readily detects by his sense of smell, box his 

 ears. By-and-by reward him with the fcod, and then try him 

 with a basket from which he can abstract the contents ; if he 

 tries to do so punish him slightly, never permitting him to steal 

 the food. If a dog ever deserves a reward for well doing he cer- 

 tainly does in this case, for it is too bad to tantalize him with 

 the smell of some dainty and then not to let him finally have 

 something for his good conduct. 



To make a dog carry articles from one person to another it 

 is only necessary for two persons to take their position at som« 

 distance from one another. One gives the dog some article 

 saying, "go, sir,'' at the same time. As the first says this let 

 the other person call or whistle to the dog. Now let this 

 one give the dog some thing and let the other one call him, 

 and so on back and forth until he will go from one to the 

 other at the command, "go, sir." The distance between 

 the parties may be increased from time to time, and the 

 trick may be varied by one of them hiding himself, this will 

 teach the dog to hunt for the person to whom he is to deliver 

 the article, which will prove useful when you by-and-by desire 

 to send him on an actual errand to a distance. 



The extent to which any dog may be educated in this matter 

 depends very much upon his natural intelligence and the skill 

 -and perseverance of his teacber. Many anecdot'Cs are told of 

 dogs going on errands. In some cases they go to the post-office 

 for letters, in other cases to the store for groceries, etc., and w€ 

 recollect several instances cited where dogs ^ould, on being 

 given a piece of money, go to the baker's and purchase cake on 

 their own account. The baker, in one of these instances, is said 

 to have one day palmed a stale bun upon a dog who had been 

 in the habit of coming to him regularly with pennies, and the 

 animal, to show he was not to be imposed upon, transferred his 

 custom to a rival establishment In none of these accounts 



