PUBLIC COURSING. 315 
is likely to bear, judging from his breed, and also from his bodily 
formation. The first thing to be done is to see that his health is 
good, and that his liver and kidneys are doing their work properly, 
without which it is useless to attempt to train him. If he is 
known to be descended from a stock which has been accustomed to 
severe preparatory work, and if he also has a stout frame and good 
feet, it may reasonably be expected that he will bear as much 
training as his progenitors, and he may be treated accordingly. 
“If, on the other hand, he comes of a soft strain, that has never 
been used to road-work, and of which the dogs composing it have 
always trained themselves in their play to the highest pitch of 
which their frames are capable, then it will be safer to follow suit, 
and to take the descendant of these latter animals out for two or 
three hours a day on the greensward, simply keeping him moving, 
and encouraging him to play with his fellows till he is tired. 
Less than three hours’ exercise can never be sufficient, as the dog 
is only compelled to walk, and any faster pace is voluntary, and 
will not be attempted if he is at all exhausted. From this it will 
appear that the trainer’s art greatly consists in apportioning the 
proper quantity of work, which he can only do by studying the 
constitutions and breeding of the dogs under his charge; after 
which he will determine in his own mind the probable amount 
‘of work which each will bear, and will proceed to put his theory 
‘nto practice, always carefully watching the progress which is 
made, and altering ‘his plans as he goes on, according as he finds 
that he has calculated erroneously. One great guide which he has 
is the weight which is gained or lost; for if he finds the dog is, 
putting on flesh when he wants some off, or if he is losing it when 
he is already too light, there must be some alteration made, or the 
dog will not come out fit for his duties. Thus, then, the trainer 
first fixes in his mind the weight to which he wishes to bring his 
dog on a certain day, and then, by apportioning the work, physic, 
and food according to his ideas of the dog’s constitution, he 
endeavours to attain that standard of proportion; altering his 
plans as he goes on if necessary. It must, however, always be 
remembered that training should not attempt to produce an un- 
natural condition, but rather the highest state of health consistent 
with that free play of the lungs and heart which will enable the 
