The Dog Part 32

24. To perfect him in the "Down," that difficult part of his education,--difficult, because it is unnatural,--practise it in your walks. At very uncertain, unexpected times catch his eye, having previously stealthily taken hold of the checkcord--a long, light one, or a whistle to call his attention, and then hold up your left arm. If he does not _instantly_ drop, jerk the checkcord violently, and, as before, drag him back to the exact spot where he should have crouched down. Admit of no compromise. You must have _implicit_, _unhesitating_, _instant_ obedience.

When you quit him, he must not be allowed to crawl _an inch_ after you. If he attempt it, drive a spike into the ground, and attach the end of the checkcord to it, allowing the line to be slack; then leave him quickly, and on his running after you he will be brought up with a sudden jerk. So much the better; it will slightly alarm him. As before, take him back to the precise place he quitted--do this invariably, though he may have scarcely moved. There make him again "Drop"--always observing to jerk the cord at the moment you give the command. After a few trials of this tethering, say less than a dozen, he will be certain to lie down steadily, until you give the proper order or a signal--20--let you run away, or do what you may to excite him to move. One great advantage of frequently repeating this lesson, and thus teaching it _thoroughly_, is that your dog will hereafter always feel, more or less, in subjection whenever the cord is fastened to his collar. He must be brought to instantly obey the signal, even at the extreme limit of his beat.

25. Most probably he will not at first rise when he is desired. There is no harm in that--a due sense of the inutility of non-compliance with the order of "Drop," and a wholesome dread of the attendant penalty, will be advantageous. Go up to him--pat him--and lead him for some paces, "making much of him," as they say in the cavalry. Dogs which are over-headstrong and resolute can only be brought under satisfactory command by this lesson being indelibly implanted--and I think a master before he allows the keeper to take a pup into the field to show him game, should insist upon having ocular demonstration that he is perfect in the "Drop."

26. When he is well confirmed in this all-important lesson, obeying implicitly, yet cheerfully, you may, whilst he is lying down--in order to teach him the "down charge"--go through the motions of loading, on no account permitting him to stir until you give him the forward signal, or say, "On." After a few times you may fire off a copper cap, and then a little powder, but be very careful not to alarm him. Until your dog is quite reconciled to the report of a gun, never take him up to any one who may be firing. I have, however, known of puppies being familiarized to the sound, by being at first kept at a considerable distance from the party firing, and then gradually and by slow degrees brought nearer. This can easily be managed at a rifle or pigeon match, and the companionship of a made-dog would much expedite matters. Whenever, in the lessons, your young dog has behaved steadily and well, give him a reward. Do not throw it to him: let him take it from your hands. It will a.s.sist in making him tender-mouthed, and in attaching him to you.

27. In some cavalry regiments in India, the feeding-time is denoted by the firing off of a pistol. This soon changes a young horse's first dread of the report into eager, joyous expectation. You might, if you did not dislike the trouble, in a similar manner, soon make your pup regard the report of a gun as the gratifying summons to his dinner, but coupled with the understanding that, as a preliminary step, he is to crouch the instant he hears the sound. After a little perseverance you would so well succeed, that you would not be obliged even to raise your hand. If habituated to wait patiently at the "drop," however hungry he may be, before he is permitted to taste his food, it is reasonable to think he will remain at the "down charge," yet more patiently before he is allowed to "seek dead."

28. If your pupil is unusually timid, and you cannot banish his alarm on hearing the gun, couple him to another dog which has no such foolish fears, and will steadily "down charge." The confidence of the one will impart confidence to the other. Fear and joy are feelings yet more contagious in animals than in man. It is the visible, joyous animation of the old horses, that so quickly reconciles the cavalry colt to the sound of the "feeding-pistol."

29. A keeper who had several dogs to break, would find the advantage of pursuing the cavalry plan just noticed. Indeed, he might extend it still further, by having his princ.i.p.al in-door drill at feeding-time, and by enforcing, but in minuter details, that kennel discipline which has brought many a pack of hounds to marvellous obedience. He should place the food in different parts of the yard. He should have a short checkcord on all his pupils; and, after going slowly through the motions of loading (the dogs having regularly "down-charged" on the report of the gun), he should call each separately by name, and by signals of the hand send them successively to different, but designated feeding-troughs.[7] He might then call a dog to him which had commenced eating, and after a short abstinence, make him go to another trough. He might bring two to his heels and make them change troughs, and so vary the lesson, that, in a short time, with the aid of the checkcords, he would have them under such complete command that they would afterwards give him comparatively but little trouble in the field. As they became more and more submissive he would gradually retire further and further, so as, at length, to have his orders obeyed when at a considerable distance from his pupils. The small portion of time these lessons would occupy compared with their valuable results should warn him most forcibly not to neglect them.

FOOTNOTES:

[4] But from his very infancy you ought not to have allowed him to be disobedient. You should have made him know--which he will do nearly intuitively--that a whip can punish him, though he ought never to have _suffered_ from it. I have heard of pups only four months old being made quite _au fait_ to the preliminary drill here recommended. This early exercise of their intelligence and observation must have benefited them.

The questionable point is the unnecessary consumption of the instructor's time.

[5] This is one reason for giving initiatory lessons in the "Toho" before the "Drop." Another is that the dog may acquire the "Toho" before he has run the chance of being cowed in learning the "Drop." If the latter were taught first, he might confound the "Toho" with it.

[6] I know of a young man's reading the first edition of this book, and taking it into his head to teach his Terrier to point according to the method just recommended. He succeeded perfectly. Some Terriers have been made very useful for cover shooting.

[7] There is often such a similarity in the names of hounds, that a person cannot but be much struck, who for the first time sees them go to their meals, one by one as they are called.

CHAPTER III.

INITIATORY LESSONS CONTINUED. SPANIELS.

30. When your young dog is tolerably well advanced in the lessons which you have been advised to practise, hide a piece of bread or biscuit. Say "Dead, dead." Call him to you. (40.) Let him remain by you for nearly a minute or two. Then say "Find," or "Seek." Accompany him in his search. By your actions and gestures make him fancy you are yourself looking about for something, for dogs are observing, one might say, imitative, creatures.[8] Stoop and move your right hand to and fro near the ground.

Contrive that he shall come upon the bread, and reward him by permitting him to eat it.

31. After a little time--a few days I mean--he will show the greatest eagerness on your saying, at any unexpected moment, "Dead." He will connect the word with the idea that there is something very desirable concealed near him, and he will be all impatience to be off and find it; _but make him first come to you_--for reason, see 182.--Keep him half a minute.--Then say "Find," and, without your accompanying him, he will search for what you have previously hidden. Always let him be encouraged to perseverance by discovering something acceptable.

32. Unseen by him, place the rewards--one at a time--in different parts of the room,--under the rug or carpet, and more frequently on a chair, a table, or a low shelf. He will be at a loss in what part of the room to search. a.s.sist him by a motion of your arm and hand. A wave of the right arm and hand to the right, will soon show him that he is to hunt to the right, as he will find there. The corresponding wave of the left hand and arm to the left, will explain to him, that he is to make a cast to the left. The underhand bowler's swing of the right hand and arm, will show that he is to hunt in a forward direction.[9] Your occasionally throwing the delicacy--in the direction you wish him to take,--whilst waving your hand, will aid in making him comprehend the signal. You may have noticed how well, by watching the action of a boy's arm, his little cur judges towards what point to run for the expected stone.

33. When the hidden object is near you, but between you and the dog, make him come towards you to seek for it, beckoning him with your right hand.

When he is at a distance at the "Drop," if you are accustomed to recompense him for good behavior, you can employ this signal to make him rise and run towards you for his reward--and according to my judgment he should always join you after the "down charge,"--184. By these means you will thus familiarize him with a very useful signal; for that signal will cause him to approach you in the field, when you have made a circuit to head him at his point--knowing that birds will then be lying somewhere between you and him--and want him to draw nearer to the birds and you, to show you exactly where they are. This some may call a superfluous refinement, but I hope _you_ will consider it a very killing accomplishment, and, being easily taught, it were a pity to neglect it.

When a Setter is employed in c.o.c.k-shooting, the advantage of using this signal is very apparent. While the dog is steadily pointing, it enables the sportsman to look for a favorable opening, and, when he has posted himself to his satisfaction, to sign to the Setter--or if out of sight to tell him--to advance and flush the bird: when, should the sportsman have selected his position with judgment, he will generally get a shot. I have seen this method very successfully adopted in America, where the forests are usually so dense that c.o.c.ks are only found on the outskirts in the underwood.

34. After a little time he will regularly look to you for directions.

Encourage him to do so; it will make him hereafter, when he is in the field, desirous of hunting under your eye, and induce him to look to you, in a similar manner, for instructions in what direction he is to search for game. Observe how a child watches its mother's eye; so will a dog watch yours, when he becomes interested in your movements, and finds that you frequently notice him.

35. Occasionally, when he approaches any of the spots where the bread lies hidden, say "Care," and slightly raise your right hand. He will quickly consider this word, or signal, as an intimation that he is near the object of his search.

36. Never deceive him in any of these words and signs, and never disappoint him of the expected reward. Praise and caress him for good conduct; rate him for bad. Make it a rule throughout the whole course of his education, out of doors as fully as within, to act upon this system.

You will find that caresses and substantial rewards are far greater incentives to exertion than any fears of punishment.

37. Your pup having become a tolerable proficient in these lessons, you may beneficially extend them by employing the word "Up," as a command that he is to sniff high in the air to find the hidden bread or meat, lying, say on a shelf, or on the back of a sofa. He will, comparatively speaking, be some time in acquiring a knowledge of the meaning of the word, and many would probably term it an over-refinement in canine education; but I must own I think you will act judiciously if you teach it perfectly in the initiatory lessons; for the word "Up," if well understood, will frequently save your putting on the puzzle-peg. For this you might be tempted to employ, should your dog be acquiring the execrable habit of "raking," as it is termed, instead of searching for the delicious effluvia with his nose carried high in the air.

38. Whenever birds can be sought for in the wind, the dog should thus hunt the field--and the higher he carries his nose the better--for, independently of the far greater chance of finding them, they will allow the dog to come much nearer than when he approaches them by the foot: but of this more anon.

39. Setters and Pointers naturally hunt with their noses sufficiently close to the ground--they want elevating rather than depressing.

Notwithstanding, you will do well to show your pupil a few times out of doors how to work out a scent, by dragging a piece of bread unperceived by him _down wind_ through gra.s.s, and then letting him "foot" it out. Try him for a few yards at first; you can gradually increase the length of the drag. You must not, however, practise this initiatory lesson too frequently, lest you give him the wretched custom of pottering.

40. The word "Heel," and a backward low wave of the right hand and arm to the rear--the reverse of the underhand cricket-bowler's swing--will, after a few times, bring the dog close behind you. Keep him there a while and pat him, but do not otherwise reward him. The object of the order was to make him instantly give up hunting, and come to your heels. This signal cannot be subst.i.tuted for the "beckon." The one is an order always obeyed with reluctance--being a command to leave off hunting--whereas the "beckon" is merely an instruction in what direction to beat, and will be attended to with delight. The signal "heel," however, when given immediately after loading, is an exception; for the instructions about "Dead" in xi. of 141, will show that without your speaking it may be made to impart the gratifying intelligence of your having killed. See also 190.

41. To teach him to attach a meaning to the word "Gone," or "Away," or "Flown,"[10]--select which you will, but do not ring the changes--you may now rub a piece of meat--if you have no one but your servant to scold you--in some place where the dog is accustomed frequently to find, and when he is sniffing at the place say "Gone," or "Away." This he will, after some trials, perceive to be an intimation that it is of no use to continue hunting for it.

42. You will greatly facilitate his acquiring the meaning of the command "Fence," or "Ware-fence," if, from time to time, as he is quitting the room through the open door or garden window, you restrain him by calling out that word.

43. Whenever, indeed, you wish him to desist from doing anything, call out "Ware,"--p.r.o.nounced "War"--as it will expedite his hereafter understanding the terms "Ware sheep," "Ware chase," and "Ware lark." The last expression to be used when he is wasting his time upon the scent of anything but game--a fault best cured by plenty of birds being killed to him. However, the simple word "No," omitting "Chase" or "Fence," might be subst.i.tuted advantageously for "Ware." All you want him to do is to desist from a wrong action. That sharp sound--and when necessary it can be clearly thundered out--cannot be misunderstood.

44. That your young dog may not hereafter resist the couples, yoke him occasionally to a stronger dog, and for the sake of peace, and in the name of all that is gallant, let it be to the one of the other s.e.x who appears to be the greatest favorite.

45. When he is thus far advanced in his education, and tolerably obedient, which he will soon become if you are consistent, and _patient_, _yet strict_, you can, in further pursuance of Astley's plan, a.s.sociate him in his lessons with a companion. Should you be breaking in another youngster--though one at a time you will probably find quite enough, especially if it be your laudable wish to give him hereafter a well confirmed scientific range--they can now be brought together for instruction. You must expect to witness the same jealousy which they would exhibit on the stubble. Both will be anxious to hunt for the bread, and in restraining them alternately from so doing, you exact the obedience which you will require hereafter in the field, when in their natural eagerness they will endeavor, unless you properly control them, to take the point of birds from one another; or, in their rivalry, run over the taint of a wounded bird, instead of collectedly and perseveringly working out the scent. You can throw a bit of toast, and make them "Toho" it, and then let the dog you name take it. In the same way you can let each alternately search for a hidden piece, after both have come up to you, on your saying "Dead." I would also advise you to accustom each dog to "drop," without any command from you, the moment he sees that the other is down.

46. Those lessons will almost ensure their hereafter instantly obeying, and nearly instantly comprehending the object of the signal to "back" any dog which may be pointing game.

47. When you take out two youngsters for exercise, while they are romping about, suddenly call one into "heel." After a time again send him off on his gambols. Whistle to catch the eye of the other, and signal to him to join you. By working them thus alternately, while they are fresh and full of spirits, you will habituate them to implicit obedience. When the birds are wild, and you are anxious to send a basket of game to a friend, it is very satisfactory to be able merely by a sign, without uttering a word, to bring the other dogs into "heel," leaving the ground to the careful favorite. Teach the present lesson well, and you go far towards attaining the desired result.

48. I trust you will not object to the minutiae of these initiatory lessons, and fancy you have not time to attend to them. By teaching them well you will gain time,--much time,--and the time that is of most value to you as a sportsman; for when your dog is regularly hunting to your gun his every faculty ought to be solely devoted to finding birds, and his undisturbed intellects exclusively given to aid you in bagging them, instead of being bewildered by an endeavor to comprehend novel signals or words of command. I put it to you as a sportsman, whether he will not have the more delight and ardor in hunting, the more he feels that he understands your instructions? and, further, I ask you, whether he will not be the more sensitively alive to the faintest indication of a haunt, and more readily follow it up to a sure find, if he be unembarra.s.sed by any anxiety to make out what you mean, and be in no way alarmed at the consequences of not almost instinctively understanding your wishes?

49. In all these lessons, and those which follow in the field, the checkcord will wonderfully a.s.sist you. Indeed it may be regarded as the instructor's right hand. It can be employed so mildly as not to intimidate the most gentle, and it can, without the aid of any whip, be used with such severity, or I should rather say perseverance, as to conquer the most wild and headstrong, and these are sure to be dogs of the greatest travel and endurance. The cord may be from ten to twenty-five[11] yards long, according to the animal's disposition, and may be gradually shortened as he gets more and more under command. Even when it is first employed you can put on a shorter cord if you perceive that he is becoming tired. In thick stubble, especially if cut with a sickle, the drag will be greater, far greater than when the cord glides over heather. The cord may be of the thickness of what some call strong lay-cord, but made of twelve threads.

Sailors would know it by the name of log-line or cod-line. To save the end from fraying it can be whipped with thread, which is better than tying a knot, because it is thus less likely to become entangled.

FOOTNOTES:

[8] Imitative creatures! who can doubt it? If you make an old dog perform a trick several times in the sight of a young one who is watching the proceedings, you will be surprised to see how quickly the young one will learn the trick, especially if he has seen that the old dog was always rewarded for his obedience.

[9] Obedience to all such signals will hereafter be taught out of doors at gradually increased distances; and to confirm him in the habit of sniffing high in the air (37) for whatever you may then hide, put the bread or meat on a stick or bush, but never in a hedge. With the view to his some day retrieving, as instanced in 190, it will be your aim to get him not to seek immediately, but to watch your signals, until by obeying them you will have placed him close to where the object lies, at which precise moment you will say energetically "Find," and cease making any further signs.

[10] The least comprehensive and logical of the expressions, yet one often used. A dog being no critical grammarian, understands it to apply to fur as well as feather.

[11] With a resolute, reckless, dashing dog you may advantageously employ a _thinner_ cord of double that length,--whereas, the shortest line will sometimes prevent a timid animal from ranging freely. By-the-bye, the thinner the cord the more readily does it become entangled--as a rule, a checkcord cannot be too firmly twisted--a soft one quickly gets knotted and troublesome. (See note to 177.)

50. Hunted with such a cord, the most indomitable dog, when he is _perfectly obedient to the "drop,"_ is nearly as amenable to command as if the end of the line were in the breaker's hand. By no other means can

SPANIELS

be _quickly_ broken in. The general object of the trainer is to restrain them from ranging at a distance likely to spring game out of gun-shot, and to make them perfect to the "down charge." If one of these high-spirited animals will not range close when called to by whistle or name, the breaker gets hold of the cord and jerks it; this makes the dog come in a few paces; another jerk or two makes him approach closer, and then the breaker, by himself retiring with his face towards the spaniel, calling out his name--or whistling,--and occasionally jerking the cord, makes him quite submissive, and more disposed to obey on future occasions.

51. In training a large team it is of much advantage to the keeper to have a lad to rate, and, when necessary, give the skirters a taste of the lash--in short, to act as whipper-in. The keeper need not then carry a whip, or at least often use it, which will make his spaniels all the more willing to hunt close to him.