600 DOG-BREAKING. 



he has given some evidence of having forgiven you, 

 and of his desire to be reconciled, by crawling towards 

 you, for instance, or wagging his tail. On no occasion- 

 under circumstances of ever such great provocation be 

 so weak or irritable but I hope you do not need the 

 warning as to give him a kick or a blow when he is 

 going off. He ought to have stood with reassured con- 

 fidence alongside of you, for perhaps a minute or so, 

 before you sanctioned his departure; and the severer 

 his punishment the longer should have been the deten- 

 tion. You are always to part tolerable friends, while he 

 feels perfectly convinced that his chastisement is over. 

 If you do not, you may find it rather difficult to catch 

 him when he commits another fault. It will be owing 

 to your own injudiciousness if he ever becomes afraid of 

 approaching you after making a blunder. Should he be 

 so, sit down. He will gradually draw near you ; then 

 quietly put your hand on his collar. 



224. If a man cannot readily get hold of any dog 

 under his tuition whom he desires to rate or punish, you 

 may be certain that he fails either in temper or judg- 

 ment ; perhaps in both. He may be an excellent man, 

 jbut he cannot be a good dog-breaker. There are men 

 who get quite enraged at a dog's not coming instantly to 

 ;" heel " on being called. When at length the poor brute 

 does come within reach, he gets a blow, perhaps a licking 

 a blow or licking, he has the sense to see he should 

 have longer avoided had he stayed longer away. Thus 

 the punishment increases instead of .remedying the evil. 



