JVLT 3, 1891.] 



FaREST AND STREAM. 



48S 



BEAGLE TRAINING. 



[Continued from Page 



FOLLOW him slowly, about a rod behind, occaaionallv 

 speaking an encouraging word to him and endeavor to 

 hold him to his work, always remembering to keep him 

 ahead of you. It is hardly possible he will run this rabbit 

 very fa r before he will get thrown, but if he ru ns it a hundred 

 yards, or even less, yoii have made a good beginning and one 

 that will remain in your pup's memory several days at least. 

 I don't think it advisable to make a puppy of this' age do too 

 much at first. Your titiie will not by any ineaus lie wasted 

 if you do not run a rabbit at all the first time or for the 

 matter of tliat, for the first half dozen times you take your 

 pup out with you, because he will be getting more and more 

 accu.stomed to his snrrotiudings, and this means a yreat deal 

 to any dog, especially if he is the least bit inclined to be 

 timid, as very many beagles are. I will now suppose you 

 have had your pup out several times and he has run a few 

 rabbits in his own way and taking his own time, it is now 

 that you step in again to your pup's advantage and aid him. 

 Cast him off from you— he .should be made to follow at heel 

 until he gets the word to leave, and where you have only one 

 to attend to, this is comparatively easy, especially as you 

 have taught him that you are master when he was young 

 and never given him an opportunity to think otherwise. 

 Let him search the favorable places and the unfavorable 

 ones too, as he most likely will until he strikes a trail or 

 starts his game. 



Right here let me say that in rare instances a dog will run 

 mute or. what is worse still, will not le,ave your side under 

 any provocation. In the first case you can usually over- 

 come this muteness, which by the way is very rare indeed 

 in a well-bred beagle, by running your puppy with an old 

 dog— a good "touguer." In the second instance, if by re- 

 peatedly moving yourself every time your pup sits down 

 and calling him to you does not cure him I would recom- 

 mend the following, applied internally through the left ear 

 in one dose: Sig. Take of Hazard FFG-, SWdrs.. insert in 

 a U. M. C. shell, place on this one cardboard and two pink- 

 edge wads, then put in about two dozen buckshot and dis- 

 charge at short range. It is in my opinion the only remedy, 

 and I will vouch for its effectiveness if used according to 

 directions. 



Having disposed of the mute dog and the habitually 

 "tired" dog, I will now return to the time when your pup 

 starts game. As soon as you are sure he is on a trail, go to 

 him and watch him. If tie is pottering round and seems to 

 be making no headway, push him a little; tell him to go on, 

 get out, etc., making him search new places, and here is 

 where your control comes in. Send him into the most 

 likely places, and if he is accustomed to obeying you he will 

 go without hesitation, and as soon as you think he has 

 worked a place long enough to have thoroxighlv covered it, 

 call him to another, and so on, until you" get him on a 

 straight trail. 



As soon as he has things straightened out drive him as 

 fast as you can, keeping right behind him, which you can 

 easily do with a puppy of this age, and make him run as fast 

 as he can trail. This will be of special advantage to him 

 when the rabbit makes a "fling," as you, being so much 

 higher up than your puppy, can see the most likely places to 

 cast in and thus save much time at a period when it is valu- 

 able—when the trail is hot. Keep this mode of procedure up 

 until your puppy gets too fast for you, then only endeavor to 

 keep within hearing and to be in at the "flings," as you can 

 always be of advantage here whether with a puppy or an old 

 dog. After this it is no longer work but pleasure. You 

 have got your puppy to run tolerably well, and every time 

 you take him out makes him better, and now you have only 

 to teach him to '%iark the hole" and the use of the gun. etc 

 I have purposely refrained from referring to the gun before 

 as I never bring it into play until the puppy is otherwise 

 thoroughly trained, -for the simple reason that I believe that 

 a puppy can be thoroughly gunbroken in half a dozen 

 lessons at the outside. To do this I load for a 12-gange a 

 dozen shells vrith IJ^drs. of powder and three wads, and 

 when 1 get my puppy on a hot trail and running well, I dis- 

 charge one ban-el of my gun. The puppy should not be 

 nearer to you than 40 or 50yds. at first, and should not see 

 you when you fire— this last I believe to be very important. 

 The puppy may stop and look up, and may quit altogether, 

 but w^hat is most likely of all, will continue with his work 

 without making more than a momentary stop if indeed he 

 stops at all. Should he pay but little or no attention to the 

 report you can safely try him again, gradually coming 

 nearer until he will stand a full charge in the open without 

 flinching and when not on the trail. But remember to make 

 haste slowly in this matter, as many otherwise valuable dogs 

 have been ruined for all practical purposes by a little care- 

 lessness in the beginning. 



Now I come to the dog that, as soon as he hears the report 

 of the gun, quits his work; and here you vpill see the value 

 of keeping yourself concealed from him when you fire, for if 

 he is frightened, the minute he quits his work he will look 

 for you, his master. If, on the other hand, he understands 

 that this awful noise proceeds from you, he will be very apt 

 to prefer your room to your company, and will not infre- 

 quf-ntly scud for home, I will .suppose, however, that you 

 have followed out my plan and the piip does not connect 

 on iu any waj' with the noise, then you should run to where 

 e was driving, calling to him and endeavoring to excite 

 him to run again. The chances are that you will succeed 

 and get him to work again. Let him finish his hunting to- 

 day without any more shooting, and on the following day or 

 w^hen next you take him out repeat, and you will soon accus- 

 tom him to the light and then the full charges. I believe 

 this plan would prove equally effective on setters, and it is 

 certainly better than fish horns and tin pans. Your pup 

 will now go out with you and drive his rabbit and let you 

 shoot it ahead of him, if you wisn, and will come to you 

 when called, when not on the trail; and here is where, I 

 think, some of your readers make a mistake in expecting'to 

 make a dog leave the scent. He should be taught to obey 

 you at all times, excepting when on the trail; then, if yoii 

 are wise, you will let him rule, or if you want him, catch 

 him off I believe it is next to impossible to make good 

 beagles leave the trail unless you are within a rod or so 

 and not then if the track is very fresh, and should you suc- 

 ceed in so doing, it v>'ould result in eventually spoiling your 

 dog for hunting purposes. At all other times he should 

 obey you, and if taught as I have described, he will obev 

 You might as well ask a setter or pointer to leave his point 

 as to call a beagle off a "hot foot." 



The best way I know of to make a dog mark the hole 

 which is quite an important point when you come to con- 

 sider that by this means you can tell exactly what has 

 become of your quarry without, perhaps, a long tramp and 

 a, weai-y search for the dogs, is to get a rabbit or two every 

 time you go out and make the dog stay and watch you 

 You can, of course, use a crowbar, but by far the best and 

 easiest way is to use a ferret, muzzled. This is I well 

 know, against the law in some States, but it is about the 

 only way to do if you wish to teach your dog, unless you 

 use the crowbar, which attains the same end but is more 

 laborious and within the law. I will suppose your dog has 

 run bunny to earth, and by a little .searching you have 

 found the hole. Try to get your puppy to dig if you can, if 

 not, tie him near and put in you ferret. As soon as your 

 ferret is in untie your puppy and hold him facing the hole. 

 la a minute outcomes the rabbit almost in your face, unloose 

 your dog as soon as bunny appears and you will see a lively 

 chase until cover ia reached. Now, as soon as your ferret 

 appears catch him, sUp him in your pocket and follow your 

 fto^. A iPVf such experiences as these will, teach your dog 



to stay at the hole, and liy patting him on the flanks^ and 

 egging him on you can usually get him to barking. Your 

 dog is now well trained, and having got him perfected so 

 far, you can add such little points as your style of buuting 

 may suggest or necessitate. Several filings you should bear 

 in mind. I. <;., that a dog to do good work alone must be the 

 superior of a good pack dog, inasmuch as he must combine 

 m one dog all the good qualities that is perhaps divided 

 among .several members of the pack, also that you .should 

 never allow a dog to get into the habit of thinking that per- 

 haps you want him and perhaps vou don't, therefore don't 

 try to call a beagle, a hundred yards away, off a hot scent, 

 as the chances are very likely be will not come, and you 

 have lost just so much control over him every time you 

 allow him to disobey you, in other words, never issue a 

 command to your dog you are not prepared to enforce. 



Much more mig)it be said on this subject of beagle train- 

 ing, as probably no two men use just the same method to 

 gain their end, but as I have no wLsh to monopolize this 

 department, I will withdraw and listen to what others may 

 have to say. . Ukcus. 



PERFECT TRAINING. 



Eclitnr Forest and Stream: 



I was agreeably surprised a few days ago by meeting an 

 old friend here in the person of Mr. .Tas. Hennessy. This 

 meeting called vividly to mind several days of rare sport 

 which I have enjoyed in the field in company with this 

 friend and his dogs. For several years past 1 have been 

 making trips to the South and Southwest on business, and 

 I have timed these trips so as to get .■some .sport. I would 

 take with me a 12-gauge shotgun and a Hunter's Pet 

 Stevens .22cal. On my first trip I took a dog also, a fine 

 young Irish setter, but was unfortunate enough to lose 

 him; since then I have omitted the dog on these trips. 



Being in Little Rock with a few days' time to spare, and 

 having heard that my fi-iend was located at Carlisle, only 

 thirty-five miles di.stant, I resolved to pay him a visit and 

 have a few days with the partridges, as they are called in 

 the South. At this time Mr. Hennessy had quite a number 

 of fine dogs in his kennels. The team which we shot over 

 during my stay of three days consisted of two English set- 

 ters and one Gordon setter. The English setters were Bee, 

 white bitch, with black head and a few black patches and 

 ticks on the body. The dog Startle B., half brother to the 

 bitch, was a very handsome black, white and tan patched 

 and ticked; the Gordon was a very handsome black and tan; 

 he was called Jim. This dog was one of the must intelli- 

 gent animals I ever saw. He was one of the few really tip- 

 top Gordons that I have seen in speed, style, nose and all 

 the qualities that go to make up a flrst-cla.ss field dog. 

 There would be no choice between this dog and the best 

 Lewellyn setter that I ever saw turned down in the field. 

 These three made the bpst workiog team I ever shot over, or 

 ever saw in fact. They were fast, high rangers, perfectly 

 staunch at point and they would back as far as they could 

 see each other; they would also back their h,andler. Foi- in- 

 stance, if they saw Mr. R. stop and crouch with the gun in 

 position for a shot, they would back instantly, and as soon 

 as Mr. Hennessy as.sunied an upright position they would 

 be off at their work again as if nothing had occurred. To 

 check them, at the crack of the gun every dog would drop as 

 if knocked down, and they would remain down until 

 ordered up. 



For my edification they were dropped while Mr. Hennessy 

 went a distance of over a quarter of a mile to a pond out oil 

 the prairie; they showed no signs of impatience nor did they 

 attempt to rise until they got the signal to do so. When fi. 

 bird was killed the dog whose name was called would go to 

 the front and retrieve; if more than one bird was down 

 another dog would be sent on as soon as the first one had 

 found. They seemed to understand just what was to be 

 done by them. In order to get the best work for the gun 

 each worked independently of the others and there was no 

 sign of jealousy among them. The dog Jim could be sent 

 on errands, and one day when we were about three-quarters 

 of a mile from the house Jim was given a handkerchief 

 which had been loaded with birds and empty brass shells, 

 the corners of the handkerchief being tied together so that 

 the dog could carry it handily. He went to the house on a 

 run and soon returned with a lot of loaded shells. I was 

 told he could be sent to much greater distances and one need 

 not wait for him, as he would return to the spot from which 

 he was sent and from that point trail out the party, some- 

 times carrying a load in his mouth. Altogether he was a 

 very remarkable dog. 



The first thing in the morning and in the evening, just 

 before feeding time, the dogs, some seventeen or eighteen in 

 number, were taken in a body to a piece of mowed prairie 

 about a hundred yards from the house; this was the exercis- 

 ing ground. It was an ideal spot. On three sides there was 

 a wall of timber and the ground was undulating, with here 

 and there a patch of sumac and blackberry bushes. It was 

 just the place for a dog to show to the best advantage. On 

 the last evening of my stay I was invited to go and see the 

 dogs put through their drill, and I shall always remember 

 that evening. The dogs were kept at heel until we reached 

 the exercising ground; they were then commanded to drop 

 and rise several times before they were given their liberty. 

 At the sign to go, they were off" like so many arrows shot 

 from well-strung bows, and what a beautiful sight it was to 

 see them skimming the close-cropped grass! Some of them 

 seemed to be flying rather than going afoot. After they had 

 been ranging for about fifteen minutes the gun was fired 

 and every dog dropped as if the shot had been fired at him' 

 and had proved fatal. When the gun was reloaded some of 

 those that were nearest showed .signs of impatience and 

 wanted to be off, but they quieted down on being gently ad- 

 monished. At the signal to rise, which was an upward 

 wave of the right hand, they were up and off in various 

 directions, flying over the ground as before. To say that I 

 was surprised and delighted but faintly expresses mv feel- 

 ings, but the greatest surprise was yet to come. 



After the dogs had been allowed to range for a short time, 

 Mr. Hennessy bade me stand where I was and watch until 

 he advanced well into the field where he could be plainly 

 seen for a great distance, then, at a favorable moment he 

 crouched with gun in position for a shot. One of the dogs, 

 who was nearest, caught sight of him and came to a stand' 

 the others, as they caught sight of this dog backed beauti- 

 fully, some at a great distance; when all were in position 

 Mr. Hennessy straightened up, holding his right hand on a 

 level with his face, palm to the front, and every dog held his 

 place. After holding them there for what seemed to me a 

 very long while, the hand that held myself and the dogs 

 spellbound, as it were, was raised above his head and every 

 dog .sank to the ground. After holding them down a short 

 time they were given the sign to ri.se, and were then allowed 

 to tinish their romp without further interruption until we 

 reached a narrow belt of timber near the house, when all 

 were whistled in and kept at heel until the kennels were 

 reached, when they were put up to cool out before feeding. 



Mr. Hennessy tells me he has perfected a code of signals 

 to be given with the whistle and vocal organs, which the 

 dogs learn to understand in a very short time. And he says 

 they vn.ll obey more readily than if given verbal orders. For 

 instance: One short blast on the whistle means drop, two 

 short blasts is the signal to rise, three or four turns the dog 

 from right to left and vice versa. At close work it is a hiss 

 to drop, and a cluck to rise. These signals and the waving 

 of the hand, Mr. Hennessy tells me, is his method of work- 

 ing the dogs at present. Wheu the chicken season opens I 

 hope to be able to -join my friend for a few days, when 1 ahall 

 hskve an jspportumty to see a brace of pointers at work of 



which he has been telling me. I will say this before closing, 

 the only thoroughly educated field dogs that Thave ever seen 

 have been tho.se from the hands of Mr. Hennessy. For the 

 past two years he hss refu.spri to take dogs to handle, as he 

 tells me he has quit handling for the public, eiving as a 

 reason that all of his best work was wasted. He talks of 

 running two or three of his own in thefield trials the coming 

 season. If he should, I wish him luck. HAL. 

 Chicago, IU. 



GREYHOUNDS AT CHICAGO. 



Editor Forest and Stream: 



Of the eight questions addressed to you la.st week the fol- 

 lowing was fourth on the list: 



4. Mr. Lacy s.iys: "To pr"ve that we dirl not mean that a grpv- 

 hnimd should have a short back it was onlv the week before, while 

 iudsiii? at Boston, that we nut hark an 'otherwise frnori hnnnr!, 

 Imperator, for that very fanU." Now, ai a matter of fnct . Mr. Lacy 

 did nothiner of the sort, wliich is proved hv liic reivn-t uf f ho erev- 

 honrd claps Rt BoBtnn. This is what Vip ar.id { Fokest a^'d .'^TKEAir, 

 April 9): "Imperator by some mi=taVe n^as eifh-u- not in the rirg 

 or was .?e7jt nut by the steward." [Thp report went on to pay 

 "thouKli too s>uirt in back, etc."] And Mr. Licv asl;a rae to accept 

 this as "prool" that "he did not mean that a, erpyhon ■ d should 

 have a shnrt back." Docs it not pecm strar ge l.hat.i ,iudf?e .should 

 put a doe buck for having a short back when he never saw the 

 dog in the ring? Will yonr kennel editor kindly explain .iust 

 where the "prool" comes in'? 



It will be seen from the above, Mr. Lacy, to clear him.'ielf, 

 added the words in brackets. Now, sir, I do not object 

 to Mr. Lacy telling us that "wonderful rib development 

 means length of back; that Mother Demdike is faultv in 

 ribs and back; that when Mr. Lacy wrote "short hack" he 

 meant "short loin;" that grevhoiind.s of a very fast and 

 clever family are not well letdown behind; that Mr, Lacy 

 turned out of the ring a dog he had never seen in the ring; 

 that rny questions were fully answered bf fore they bad been 

 written, etc , etc. But when Mr. Lacy undertakes to con- 

 vince me that he cannot read or quote his own reports, I 

 feci tbtit the time has arrived to put in amost vehement and 

 indignant protest. The Boston report does not go on to .say 

 that Imperator is "too short, in bade" The Bo.ston report 

 (FoKEST AND.Strkam, April !)) does noteven mention Impera- 

 tor's back. It does, however, say that the dog is too short 

 in "body." ft is now in order for Mr. Lacy to .state that 

 "body" means "back" and vice vcrf«(. or that he meant 

 "hack" when he said "body." But "Hndy" does not mean 

 "back," and in view- of the fact that Mr. Lacy has told us 

 that "rib development" means length of back, there is actu- 

 tually not the smallest kind of a hole l)y which he can es- 

 cape. He might spring another trap on "us by statine that 

 "short body" means "wonderful rib development," and this 

 would clearly land him on the back. The argument, how- 

 ever, would hardly be a safe one. Will Mr Lac v kindly 

 answer this question: Why did he misquote the Bofeton re- 

 port? The question has not been "fully answered in our 

 last." 



Mr. Lacy's summary mode of getting rid of those tight 

 o[uestions by saying they were "fully answered in our last," 

 is not creditable to that gentleman, because as a matter of 

 fact several of them had never been written, told or con- 

 ceived. These are 1, 2, 8, 4, 5 and 6. No. 7 had been asked, 

 but as Mr. Lacy could not answer it in any fa.shion other 

 than by admitting his inability to produce evidence, he very 

 carefully left out any and every kind of an allusion to it. 

 No. 8 he answered on the theory that two wrongs make a 

 right; but he carefully shirked givinar a direct and explicit 

 reply on the question of prick-ears. To say that questions 

 which were never asked had been "fully answered" is to 

 take a rather .low estimate of the ability of the readers of 

 this paper. 



Mr. Lacy assures us that if I cannot understand his an- 

 swer he knows of "no further remedy." The remedy is 

 riKht here, plain, unadulterated and easy of digestion. 

 Give intelligible answers to questions asked, do not evade 

 the real issue, state fact.*, never say black is white and never 

 misquote. This done, the writer and other readers of Forest 

 AND Stream will be given a chance to "under.stand." As 

 matters stand now, they cannot under.stand what Mr. Lacy 

 cannot understand himself and cannot explain. 



I am much grieved to learn that a discussion of the cor- 

 rect formation of the greyhound is a subject of "hardly 

 sufficient interest to merit a newspaper controversy." The 

 greyhound is a gallant dog. His royal lineajre, his aristo- 

 cratic ajjpearance and bearing, his graceful lines and the 

 fascinating and noble sport he gives to those who are cap- 

 able of appreciating it, makes him a central figure in the 

 world of sport. In truth, as a factor in sport he stands sec- 

 ond, and a very handsome second, to the thoroughbred 

 horse. His pedigree has been guarded as jealously and 

 carefully as that of man himself. The lines on which he is 

 built have been a worthy study for noblemen and statesmen. 

 No .society in the world is too good company for him, and 

 methinks that his back, loin, ribs and hindquarters consti- 

 tute a fit .subject of discussion for Forest Am) Stream or 

 any other sportsman's paper on the face of the globe. How 

 ever, as greyhound form is not a matter of interest to your 

 readers you will please consider my promise to write an 

 article on wolfhounds canceled. There are probably thous 

 ands of greyhounds where there is one wolfhound, and in 

 view of your astonishing statement a controversy on the 

 latter breed would simply be a waste of paper. 



Chas. H. Mason. 

 [Greyhound form is a matter of great interest, but not a 

 quibble on word^ as to what we wrote or did not write. 

 There is, however, this to say regarding Mr. Mason's ques- 

 tion about Imperator. It was a mi.stake on our part to say 

 we had not seen this dog in the ring. We did see it, and 

 told Mr. Mason so at the time and why he was put to one 

 side, and now we candidly confess he was forgotten after- 

 ward, perhaps owing to the .steward having sent him out 

 along with one or two others, and when we came round to 

 write our notes the mistake was rectified as far as possible. 

 Quoting from memory, we said "back" in.stead of "body" 

 m the brackets. There is a difference certainly, and 

 though back does not mean body, body includes back. We 

 are sorry to lo.se the article on Russian wolfhounds, but 

 lerhaps some other well-known authority on this breed will 

 help us out.] 



DEATH OF DR. J. W. ALSOP.— Hulton, I>a.— Editor 

 Forest and Stream: Comparatively few of the dog men of 

 to-day knew Dr. Alsop, but many of those of six or more 

 years ago will always remember the kindly heart, the bright, 

 winning manners and the thorough goociness and nobility 

 of the life that went out at Fenwick, Conn., on June 24. 

 Never at all a public man in dog matters, none took a 

 warmer interest in all things concerning dogs in their best 

 relations to us, and none made himself more thoroughly a 

 friend of his dogs. He was emphatically the kind of rnan 

 vve should most value and most miss. Dr. Alsop was a mas- 

 tiff man, and had kept them for very many years, althouo-h 

 very rarely exhibiting. He imported the 'rarely bred bitch 

 Boadicea, by Rajah' out of a Young King bitch, but her 

 failure to breed made her importation almost barren of 

 results as far as American mastiffs were concerned.— W 

 Wade. 



We hear that Pittsburgh will make its claim of being the 

 head center of "Barzoidom" certain and sure, forlNIr. Hacke 

 is in the mood to buy out a whole Russian kennel of these 

 grand dogs. Mr. Hacke certainly deserves encouragement 

 at the hands of bench show committees for his efforbs'toward 

 popularizmg this breed. 



