Modern Breaking 15 



its mechanism, its care and handling. It can be 

 stated safely that half the dogs which go out of 

 the breakers' into the owners' hands valuable 

 animals are next to worthless in a year's time, 

 simply because the owner has given no time 

 or study to the art of dog breaking. Therefore, 

 no one should attempt to direct and handle the 

 wonderful and delicate instincts of a high-class 

 dog until he knows something of the theory and 

 art of dog breaking. No matter how well a 

 dog may be broken, the time will" come when 

 something will go wrong with him. If his 

 owner understands dog breaking the fault may 

 be corrected. If not, it gets worse and worse, 

 and a well-broken dog may be ruined, because 

 the owner does not know how to handle him. 

 Then there is the man who expects to buy a 

 well-broken dog for twenty-five or fifty dollars, 

 or hopes to get his dog broken for that amount, 

 and finally complains of being cheated and says 

 dog men are dishonest. This man is not deserv- 

 ing of- sympathy. In the first place, he started 

 out to get two dollars' worth of goods for one 

 dollar in money. This, in the abstract, is just 

 as dishonest as disposing of one dollar's worth 

 of goods for two dollars in money. Honest 

 men never buy green goods. If. you cannot 

 afford to pay a reputable breaker the regular 

 fee of one hundred or one hundred and fifty 



