THE AMATEUR TRAINER. 21 
also comes into play frequently later on, and has the 
advantage at this time of preventing the puppy 
from running into yards on passing by, assures from 
straying before reaching destination, and from tak¬ 
ing a short cut for home to reach same sooner upon 
the return. But should the puppy be timid in the 
least this lesson must be deferred to a later date, 
when full courage has been attained. 
THE PROPER AGE. 
The proper age at which to commence training 
cannot be precisely given, for the reason that the 
dog’s health, development, established courage, and 
confidence, must be duly considered. As a rule, 
eight or ten months old is early enough, and twelve 
or eighteen months is none too late. In fact, dogs 
fully matured can be subjected to more force and ac¬ 
quire knowledge with greater precision in ex¬ 
perienced hands than a puppy under one year of 
age. In his practice in the training of field dogs 
the writer has developed the best and most useful 
dogs in the shortest time among so-called “old 
dogs,” but a novice should not attempt such a feat; 
he will succeed far better with a young dog, and 
learn himself by degrees as he progresses in the dif¬ 
ferent stages of training. Training is an art which 
,requires inclination, talent, a thorough study of the 
dog’s nature, etc., and must be conducted in a sys¬ 
tematic manner, if to be rewarded by success. Dogs 
