THE HUNTING DOG 



79 



given in the proper tone the same dog will 

 obey "go on," "come in," and charge," just 

 as readily as he will respond to "get away," 

 "heel" or "drop." Put a well-broken dog in 

 the field with a man who has the right tone 

 of command — it will make but little differ- 

 ence what words he uses. The best handlers 

 are the quietest ; not because they confine 

 themselves to a certain few words of com- 

 mand, but because they realize that nothing 

 is to be gained by talking to their dogs. 

 Some old handlers have the bad habit of 

 keeping up a running stream of remarks to 

 their dogs. But the dog is seldom, if ever, 

 influenced by these remarks. When the in- 

 fluence is apparent it is not because of the 

 words that are spoken, but, I must repeat, it 

 is on account of the tone used. Of equal 

 importance with the tone is the gesture; a 

 great deal might be said on this phase of 

 the subject alone. But I will merely men- 

 tion one very common and important order 

 which can never be properly conveyed to the 

 dog by word of mouth. I refer to changing 

 a dog's course in the field. He may be a 

 quarter of a mile away, or perhaps within a 

 few rods of you; but if you want him to 

 make a cast off to the left or to search out 

 a corner to the right, you can order him to 

 do so only by indicating the direction with 

 a wave of the hand. 



There seems to be an impression that in 

 order to control a dog it is simply neces- 

 sary to be certain just what words have, 

 been used in educating him. The man who 

 receives a supposedly broken dog from a 

 trainer must, to a certain degree, become 

 acquainted 'with the dog before expecting 

 thorough obedience. Take, for instance, the 

 case of an owner who has just received his 

 dog from the trainer's hands. He does not 

 know what terms have been used in break- 

 ing, but if .he has any judgment, or the fac- 

 ulty for handling, the dog will obey him as 

 soon as he becomes accustomed to his voice. 

 On the other hand, if he lacks that faculty 

 for handling, that peculiar ability to con- 

 trol, the fact of his knowing each word to 

 which the dog has been accustomed, will be 

 of no service whatever. 



In conclusion, let me say that I do not 

 wish to be understood as denying to the 

 dog the ability to distinguish between differ- 

 ently worded commands. What I claim is : 

 that when in the field he is influenced by 

 the command conveyed in tone rather than 

 in articulation. This fact, of course, does 

 not interfere with the practicability of a uni- 

 form set of commands. It simply indicates 

 that the advantage gained is of a very doubt- 

 ful quantity, particularly when the difficulty 



of bringing about such a change is taken in!'. 

 consideration. It is really ;i case <>$ "Wli.it 

 is the use?" Under presenl conditions the 

 dog has a real good excuse for nol obeying, 



(lie handler has a reasonable excuse for nol 

 breaking, and the owner lias a plausible i 

 cuse for not being able to handle his own 

 dog. William Tallinan. 



BOOK TALK 



There can be little doubt in anyone's mind 

 that Adirondack Murray was one of our 

 pioneer apostles of out-of-door life, and, 

 when we pick up the little volume by our 

 young friend, Harry V. Radford, giving a 

 biographical sketch of Murray, the old Eng- 

 lish ballad comes to our mind, "Lythe and 

 listin, gentilmen, That be of freborn blood, 

 I shall you tel of a gode yeman, His name 

 was Robyn Hode." 



Not that Mr. Murray was in any sense an 

 outlaw, like the celebrated English bowman, 

 but both Robin Hood and Murray loved the 

 free life of the green woods, Murray being 

 as good a shot with his rifle as "Robyn 

 Hode" was with his long bow and just as 

 genial a "yeman." 



The book, "Adirondack Murray," termed a 

 "Biographical Appreciation" by its author, is 

 a tribute to the father of the Adirondacks 

 from a young man who evidently looks upon 

 Mr. Murray as his patron saint. 



One might easily have a worse patron saint 

 than the famous preacher, who made our 

 New York wilderness famous. Published by 

 Broadway Publishing Co. Price, 50 cents. 



The New York Zoological Society is issu- 

 ing four nature series. Number one is a 

 book., called "Sea-Shore Life," by Alfred 

 Goldborough Mayer, Director of the Marine 

 Biological Laboratory of the Carnegie In- 

 stitution at Tortugas, Florida, which is a 

 splendid volume and tells exactly the things 

 which any person, visiting the seashore, 

 wants to know. There have been occasions 

 when we would gladly have traded the 

 clothes from our back for such a book. It 

 is written in every-day English, that kind 

 which most of us understand and speak, and 

 it is not loaded up with words with meanings 

 only known to a few scientists. It is de- 

 signed to be of use to the beginners, and, 

 like all common-sense books of this sort, it 

 will be of use to everybody whose interest 

 in the seashore extends beyond the veranda 

 of a summer hotel and a bathing suit. The 

 book is a gift to the New York Zoological 

 Society and the proceeds of its sale are to 

 be devoted to the increase of the collections 

 of the Aquarium. 



