HOUSE AND GARDEN 
August, 
I9G 
the same misunderstanding. Neither dog is the mythical slave 
trailer of Uncle Tom's Cabin, nor yet the ferocious hound of 
the Baskervilles. 
As a policeman, the German Shepherd is taught special duties, 
but the very keynote of all his training, when properly conducted, 
is absolute control. He is first taught that he must always obey 
promptly and without question. 
One of his first lessons is to stick 
at his master’s left heel. In this 
position he covers the rear and left 
flank, leaving the man’s right hand 
free for the forward fighting. A 
more difficult lesson is never to 
take food from anyone except his 
master. This is a test of self- 
control, and important, too, since 
it may some day save him from 
being poisoned. He is early taught 
to “stay put,” and after he has 
learned this so well that he cannot 
be coaxed off or driven away from 
his appointed place, it is an easy 
step to learn to stand guard over 
a person or property placed in his 
charge. He is instructed how to 
capture a fleeing criminal by trip¬ 
ping him by running between his 
legs, or hindering him till his mas¬ 
ter can come up. He will also fight 
a man, but only in case of an 
attack on his master. When des¬ 
tined for the river or harbor squad, he learns to drag people 
out of the water, and, in Paris particularly, he has been used 
very successfully in preventing suicides and recovering drowned 
bodies in the Seine. All these hard and complicated duties he 
learns, but be acts only on order, for unless under command 
he would be a hindrance rather than a help. 
When he enlists in the army his training is only slightly dif¬ 
ferent. As a sentry, he sticks by the left heel, and gives the 
alarm at any suspicious sight, sound or smell. In the Red Cross 
Corps his exceptional scent is employed to help locate the 
wounded. In modern warfare this work of mercy must always 
be done under cover of 
darkness, and since 
wounded men in their 
agony drag themselves into 
all sorts of out-of-the-way 
places, into hollows, shell 
pits, under bushes, and 
behind boulders, many 
would never be recovered 
if these clever four-footed 
searchers did not hunt 
them out and with short, 
eager barks call the 
stretcher bearers.. 
As a watchdog, he 
should have a slightly 
modified police training, 
and, of course, in his orig¬ 
inal work as a herder, he learns to round up and drive sheep or 
cattle. 
The proper training of a sheepdog for whatever duties he will 
be called upon to perform is at once an art and a science. The 
trainer must be a lover of dogs, firm, kind and just. He must 
also know the ways and means of bringing his intelligent charge 
Dauntless in the face of great danger, “fear’ seems to be one word 
that isn’t in his vocabulary 
under control without cowing him, and of training him in his 
duties without breaking his spirit for the work. Few men com¬ 
bine the proper disposition with the necessary skill fitting them 
to train sheepdogs, and many dogs are sold that are but partly, 
or, what is even worse, wrongly trained. 
One should by all means get a trained dog, since training is 
necessary to develop their latent 
abilities and to bring them under 
proper control. But by no means 
get one that is badly trained. A 
partly trained police dog will have 
learned that it is commendable to 
hold his prisoner at bay until called 
off, but he may not appreciate that 
he should never make prisoners till 
commanded to do so. With such 
a dog about the place, you are apt 
to find a very much frightened 
friend squeezing himself into the 
corner of the vestibule held a 
prisoner. If he tries to escape he 
will be tripped and knocked down, 
his clothes are liable to be torn, and 
he may even receive an admonitory 
nip or two. Such a reception is 
exciting enough, but it is hardly 
hospitable, nor does it tend to 
cement friendships, and a dog with 
such half-baked ideas of duty 
will be regarded quite justly by 
vour friends and neighbors as a 
Early taught to “stay put,” nothing can drive him away from his appointed place. Once on 
the job he stays there until called off 
nuisance and a menace that had better be gotten rid of. 
On the other hand, a properly trained German Shepherd is a 
delightful companion and a very useful animal. His quick in¬ 
telligence and winning disposition make him a splendid pal, and 
his faithfulness and affection make him a fine playmate. His 
strength, his courage and his training fit him admirably to be 
the best of policemen. It has been said that “all dogs, from Toy 
Spaniels to Great Danes, are watch dogs,” and there is more 
or less truth in the saying, but the well-trained German Shepherd 
dog is the model of all watch dogs. Against the average dog 
he is like a modern steel time lock compared with an old- 
fashioned latchstring and 
wooden bolt. 
In selecting a sheepdog 
puppy pick out the bright, 
husky youngster with 
straight, heavily-boned 
legs, a broad skull and 
stout muzzle, shortish back 
and good depth of chest. 
Pay most attention, how¬ 
ever, to his soundness and 
his intelligence. The weak, 
shelly, sulky puppies do not 
develop into as desirable 
dogs as their stouter, bolder 
brothers and sisters. Make 
him a part of the house¬ 
hold, treat him kindly, feed 
him well, but never pamper or spoil him, for he is no coddled 
weakling. Then, when he is six or eight months old, turn him 
over to a reliable trainer and have him thoroughly trained. But 
be sure that he is left at school until his education is completed. 
Some sheepdog owners recommend leaving a youngster in the 
kennels until after he is trained. 
