TRAINING BIRD DOGS DURING THE SUM- 

 MER. 

 BY JAMES DIXON. 



The training of young dogs for sporting 

 purposes should be begun when they are 

 four or five months old, but the lessons 

 should be short and should cover only cer- 

 tain elementary branches of their education. 

 Puppies of this age may be taught to down 

 or charge and to know their master's voice, 

 but great care must be observed lest they be- 

 come cowed and ruined. A young dog's in- 

 telligence develops with age exactly as does 

 a child's, and too much must not be expected 

 at the kindergarten stage of canine training. 



To teach a dog to down or charge he 

 must be placed in the proper position with 

 hind legs under the body and not sprawling 

 out at the side, nose flat on the floor or 

 ground between the fore paws. The trainer 

 should keep him in this position with one 

 hand on his head, while he straddles the 

 pupil's body. The word down or charge 

 should be repeatedly spoken and whichever 

 of the two words be chosen must be rigidly 

 adhered to. This, and to know the whistle 

 and their names, is all that should be at- 

 tempted at this early age. 



It is always a good plan to blow the 

 whistle when approaching the pups to feed 

 them. This accustoms them to associate the 

 call with the gratification of their appe- 

 tites and young dogs, like children, can be 

 more easily influenced through their stom- 

 achs than by their reason. 



Short, sharp names are the best. A world 

 of meaning can be conveyed in the tone of 

 voice used in calling the name of a dog, and 

 this is as true in handling old dogs in the 

 field as in breaking young ones. Names 

 ending in "o" should be avoided "toho" is 

 the word of command to point. It is an 

 important part of a dog's education to know 

 the meaning of the word "halt," to slow up, 

 and as "toho" is the command to point, halt 

 should be substituted for the word "no." 

 Some sportsmen transpose this, but a rule 

 must be made and followed in common jus- 

 tice to the dog. At nine months the serious 

 part of breaking begins. Patience and perse- 

 verance accomplish much more than brutal 

 flogging for uncomprehended faults. The 

 whip should never be used out of the real 

 hunting field and then as sparingly and as 



seldom as possible. The best authority ex- 

 tant on the art of dog-breaking recommends 

 and strongly advocates a strong, light cord, 

 eight or ten yards long, and says : "Fasten 

 one end around the dog's neck, the other to 

 a peg firmly staked in the ground. Before 

 doing this, however, your young dogs 

 should, along with a high ranging dog, be 

 taken out into a field where there is no 

 game and suffered to run at large without 

 control until they are well practiced in rang- 

 ing. Too much stress cannot be laid on 

 this point, as on this first step in a great 

 measure depends the future ranging propen- 

 sities of the dog. When the youngster sees 

 the old dog galloping about as hard as he 

 can, he soon takes the hint and follows. 

 After a few days the old one may be left 

 behind, when the pups will gallop about 

 equally as well. These lessons should never 

 be too long, else the effect is lost. 



"When the puo is confirmed in ranging 

 one should take the cord as above directed 

 and peg him down. Probably he will at- 

 tempt to follow as one leaves him, in which 

 case the cord will check him with more or 

 less force, according to the pace he goes. 

 The more he resists the more he punishes 

 himself. At last he fin4s that by remaining 

 still he is best off. Generally he lies down. 

 At all events he stands still. This is just 

 what is desired. Without intervention he 

 punishes himself and learns a lesson of great 

 value without attributing it to his trainer, 

 and consequently a wakening sense of fear, 

 to wit, that he is not to have his own way 

 always. After repeating this lesson a few 

 times the trainer may take him to the peg 

 and "down" or "charge" as one likes the 

 term best, close to the peg in the proper 

 position. Move away, but if he stirs a single 

 inch drag him back crying "down" or 

 "charge." Leave him again, checking him 

 when he moves or letting him do it for him- 

 self when he gets to the end of the cord, 

 always bringing him back to the peg, jerk- 

 ing the cord with more or less severity. Do 

 this eight or ten times and he will not stir. 

 The trainer must now walk quite out of 

 sight, around him, run at him, in fact do 

 everything to make him move, when, if he 

 moves he must be checked as before, until 

 he is perfectly steady. It is essential in this 

 system of breaking that his first lesson 



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