156 MANUAL FOB YOUNG SPORTSMEN. 



ever excellent he may originally have been, it is admitted 

 by all that the more familiar your dog is with your ways 

 and habits, the better he understands your words and 

 signs, the more intuitively he anticipates your thoughts 

 in a word, the less he fears and the more he loves you 

 the better he will serve you. 



The exception, in regard to housekeeping, is merely 

 physical, not mental. The house-dog, being present at all 

 times, is unduly pampered, is fed with improper food and 

 at improper times. He lives too high, sleeps too soft and 

 too warm ; becomes fat and lazy, loses his health, his vigor, 

 his spirits, and, above all, his nose which, beyond all 

 things, depends on his health and general well-being. 



For the dog, as for the man, plenty of hearty, whole- 

 some, unstimulating food ; abundance of washing, a con- 

 stant supply of fresh air, and no stint of exercise in sea- 

 son, are the grand requisites for being in perfect health 

 and perfect condition. 



These conditions complied with, it may be taken for 

 granted that the more either dog or man is under the in- 

 fluence of, and in constant communication with, intellects 

 superior to his own, the more will his own intellect expand, 

 and his own powers of acquisition increase. 



It is marvellous to those who have not observed it, 

 how perfect will come to be the mutual understanding 

 between a dog and his master, when the master has the 

 faculty and inclination to teach his servant, and to talk to 

 him, as friend to friend, and when the servant is aware 

 that he must obey his master, and that resistance is use- 



