254 MANAGEMENT OF THE DOG. 



you give hiui the word to let go ; and then you may take him 

 along, accompanied by other dogs, to drive the cattle, encourag- 

 ing him to drive them. At the same time do not send him after 

 cattle unused to dogs, or they may turn and frighten him . After 

 doing this a few times, take a well-broke dog along that has been 

 taught to drive, and let your new dog have a chance to see the 

 old dog work. The young dog will require very little encourage- 

 ment to learn to drive and work with sheep and cattle. After 

 having learned to come, go, take hold, let go, etc., his natural 

 propensities will direct his future efforts. 



TEACHING THE DOG TEICKS. 



Many amusing tricks may be taught the dog, that will make 

 him appear very intelligent. As I have before said, much 

 depends on the breed ; a dog of the poodle family may be taught 

 to perform one set of tricks, while one of the bloodhound, terrier, 

 or greyhound family may be taught to perforai things entirely at 

 variance with those of the poodle. When selecting a dog to 

 train, I always get one that is considered very difficult to train — 

 a mongrel or common cur. If we select a well-bred dog, that is 

 considered very intelligent, we could claim but very little credit 

 for having such a dog perform interesting tricks j therefore, I 

 would advise the selection of the former kind for a trick dog, by 

 which course the trainer will receive greater credit than the dog 

 for his clever performances. 



The reader must bear in mind the necessity of giving the dog 

 primary lessons before undertaking to instruct him in the lessons 

 pertaining to the grammar department of his course of instruc- 

 tions, or, in other words, teach him the simplest first, then the 

 more difficult tricks. My celebrated dog William was trained 

 to drink when he was not thirsty and to eat when not hungry. 

 He was a cross between the bull-dog and terrier, and did 



