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Training Your Dog Unlike Cesar’s Gaul, all dogdom is divided into two parts:
o Trained Dogs, and
o The vast majority.

A cynical attitude? Well-perhaps; but do not misunderstand the word "trained" as it is here used. Many dogs are, it is true, taught to a certain extent. They will come when called… …if they feel like it. They will bark, or lie down, or jump over a stick, or sit up when told ~if they are hungry and feel confident of receiving some tidbit as a reward for performing the trick. But such dogs are not really trained: they have little or no conception of obedience for its own sake; they comply with their owners' commands only because they foresee some personal gain by doing so.

The most important thing that every dog must learn, providing he is to become a self-respecting and respected member of the household, is that what his master or mistress says is absolute law. Perhaps this may sound a bit obvious, but if it does, just stop and think of the few dog owners you know who have the slightest control over their pets. When the latter prefer to follow their own inclinations.

For example, Fido, or Roger or Bruce has his natural instinct for hunting aroused by a carriage which rattles along the street, and he proceeds to depart from the family group on your friend's piazza at the rate of three jumps to the second and five barks to the jump. A chorus of feminine shrieks and masculine roars, all with Fido's name as motif, is added to the tumult; but Fido happily continues his noisy career as unheeding and care-free as an English sparrow on a cornice, and he and the carriage vanish up the street in a cloud of dust. After the family ire has had time to cool down, Fido returns, for he is a knowing dog and abhors punishment.

This is not an agreeable picture, although a tiresomely common one; and the worst of it is the blame is seldom placed where it really belongs-on the person or persons who have had charge of the dog's upbringing. Ninety per cent of the worry, annoyance and damage caused by dogs in the average community is directly attributable to the ignorance, indifference or what you will of their owners, who permit the formation of bad habits and then, when the trouble has gone too far to be easily remedied, either give it up 8S 8 bad job or else, considering the dog an utterly unreasonable and unreasoning brute, adopt the unfair method of trying to beat it out-of him by main strength.

Successful dog training is an art which, while it requires certain innate qualities in the trainer who would attain the highest proficiency, can to a great extent be acquired by any normal person. It is not a thing to be gone into hit-or-miss, nor followed out assiduously for two days and then neglected for a month. In some ways a dog is extremely like a child, and he is quick to estimate the temperament of his owner and be guided accordingly. Treat him wisely and with due regard for his limitations, and he will respond with the best that is in him; be unreasonable or neglectful, and do-not blame him if he goes wrong.

Whether you wish a dog for a guardian, a companion or merely a playmate, he should have an adequate education, 80 fix firmly, definitely and ineradicably in your mind these three words, which are as guide-posts on the path to success as a trainer: patience, firmness and common sense. Too great stress cannot be laid on the absolute essentialness of these qualities. I wish that their prime importance could be drummed into the heads of dog owners in general for the sake of the trained as well as the trainer, because their application constitutes the underlying principle, the very foundation and bedrock of success in the handling of dogs. Let us briefly consider each in turn.

Patience is just as necessary here as in the teaching of a child-perhaps more so, for the pupil's' mental qualities are less highly developed than are the child's. There will be many times in the training of even the most willing dog when your self-control will be taxed to the utmost. The temptation to lose your temper will be almost irresistible, but believe me - you must never yield to it.

Once evident to the dog (and they will be astonishingly quick to realize such things) that you cannot always control yourself - your hold over them will be gone. Never shout at your dog, and never be angrily rough with him. Repetition, repetition, and more repetition and only then are the lessons taught.

Absolute firmness in enforcing commands does not imply harshness. It means simply that when an order is given and understood, obedience to it must be insisted upon. There must be no dallying, no hesitating on the part of the teacher, any halfway measures or compromises. The dog must learn that prompt and strict measures from which there is no escape will be employed if he seeks to shirk obedience.

Common sense is perhaps less obviously necessary than the other two qualities mentioned, but it is of great importance nevertheless. Do' not expect unreasonable things of your dog, and do not try to force him to do what is beyond his power. Do not act on impulse during the training period; take no step until you are sure where it will lead you.

Make it a point to be with your dog personally as much as possible, and if it can be arranged, always feed him yourself; for from the very first he should be trained by and look up to as master or mistress one person only. Too often all the members of the family wish to have a finger-or perhaps both hands-in 'bringing up a dog in the way he should go, with the result that a subject which is none too easy at best is made doubly hard and puzzling to him. After all the lessons are thoroughly learned it is well enough to allow someone else to put him through his paces at times; but until then, remember, one teacher and one only.

Another frequently misunderstood point is the matter of suitably rewarding the dog for going through his accomplishments. It is a common - I might almost say usual - custom for an inexperienced trainer to reward the successful efforts of his pupil by tidbits that appeal strongly to the latter's love for his own digestive organization. While this method often secures satisfactory results while the food is in immediate prospect and the dog hungry enough to work for• it, yet the whole principle on which such a means of inducing obedience depends is faulty. Instead of the dog doing as he is ordered from a sense of duty, he obeys simply from personal gastronomic reasons. Let him lose his appetite or the prospect of being fed with dainties for the slight trouble of coming when 'called or heeding the command to “beg,” and your control of his actions will probably be extremely conspicuous by its absence.

Never make food an offered reward for obedience. A kindly pat and a few words of praise will be keenly appreciated by the dog which is sensibly handled, and in the long run they are by far the best.

The question of proper methods of punishing for disobedience may well be mentioned here, although it will be treated more definitely in connection with the various lessons. In general, it is hopeless to try and train a dog solely by persuasion. Force must at times be resorted to, and pain inflicted in order that the penalty for wrong-doing may be sufficient in the dog's mind to deter him from leaving the straight and narrow path of rectitude. Do not for a moment think, however, that I recommend a frequent resort to the whip or other harsh means of punishment. On the contrary, that should be employed only as a last resort. If the dog has been brought up to realize that a sharp reprimand means something, a solid “talking to” will usually be all that is required. And when you do have to use the whip, be very sure that the culprit realizes why you are punishing him, else you will do far more harm than good. Watch, too, that your temper does not rise unduly - many a dog is spoiled in that way.

And now just a few words as to the best age at which to obtain a dog. In general, it is advisable to get a puppy of between six weeks and six months, the exact age being determined largely by your opportunities and desires. Puppies of from six to twelve weeks are more susceptible to sickness than when older, yet no one should hesitate on this account, for a normally sound dog of any age is seldom afflicted with any serious malady if proper care is given. Furthermore, there are very distinct advantages in securing a pup' soon after he is weaned and before he has had an opportunity to contract any bad habits. There is more than a modicum of truth in the old saw about the difficulty of teaching an old dog new tricks, and the beginner will do well not to start with that handicap.