The Republican journal., 1884-04-10
Trick Dogs.
WHAT LEARNED PROFESSOR SAYS REGARD
ING CANINE EDUCATION.

lies IN here, a tralnin' 'em.' said the
call boy OF a well known theatre, showing
the reporter into small, dingy dressing
room behind the scenes.
The visitor had just managed to hold
his breath long enough to squeeze him
self through the half-closed door, when
suddenly what appeared to be a small
avalanche fell from the ceiling on the
back OF his neck, producing smarting
sensation as if he had been struck stimuli
taneously by four pin cushions.
"She's jumper, amt she Z" smilingly
said Professor Parker, as he disengaged
the claws Of a ten pound snow white
female cat from the reporters shoulder,
which he then shut up in little box
81 was just putting the finishing touches
on her. She's flyer from Flyvlle and
no mistake, but it's almost broken my
heart to train her. She can jump
twenty five feet without trying, and the
Lord only knows how much further if
she took notion. She's never appear
ed in public yet, but her mother here is
an old stager. 1t took me four solid
months to break the Old one. I've been
putting six months work on this one
She's exactly opposite in disposition to
her mamma. The old lady was always
holding back; the young 'un would
rather jump than eat. It's impossible to
keep her quiet.
GLOW are cats broken to go through a
hoop of fire? Why, pat the cat in a
small box open at one end, where the
hoop is held. The other end of the box
is movable, and when pushed in the cat
G prnW6a1 hot Ioc, tC II
goes through the fire She soon gets
used to it and don't mind the fire in the
least. Yes, 'cats are ten times harder to
break than dogs and unless perfectly
broken they are always acting mean and
uncertain. have only broken two"
DIFFICULTY IN SELECTING ANIMALS.
''Dogs," continued the Professor care
far more satisfactory to work with than
any other kind of animals. Since first
exhibited at the Tivoli have broken u
great number, some eighty dogs in all.
Sixty OF them were for my own use.
have now four troupes-one with Ross,
at savannah, Ca, valued at 81, lOU one
IN charge of Wingtield, with Doris circus
in Texas, and another with Charles j.
Gregory, in Michigan"
"a breaker of trick dogs must find it
difficult to make a proper selection of
stock ?"
"le es. In the first place, never touch
a dog until he is between one and two
years old. He has then had the distem-
per, and his body and mind have matur-
ed have tried all breeds. and nv
experience teaches me that the most
dlscouraglng dogs to teach are black and
tan terriers. Pugs are always idiots
Settlers and pointers are mean dogs to
rely upon, and so are Scotch and Skye
terriers. So no more Of these kinds for
me-"
''What are the easiest dogs to break ~
"Why, Russian poodles. caniche, span
lels, greyhounds and all cross breeds"
"Mongrels ~
"Certainly. | can almost always get
good work out of the cross bred dogs.
why" Simply because they are gen
orally very intelligent know mongrels
are despised, but it is wrongtullv They
have twice the brains and pluck of most
the pure bloods,' that are frequently
stupid and timld from inbreeding Take
a collie, for instance, the most intelligent
dog IN the world, and by inbreeding for
i've generations you produce an idiot
This has been demonstrated in ENGLAND
METHOD OF BREAKING.
"When | began to break dogs years
ago used a whip, but at once discard
ed it, for fear | might lose my temper
some day and ntimdate my pupil. One
thing can also say, never Gnce kicked
dog, as hundreds of dog owners do
Had | done so | could never have lifted
my foot to walk that the dog would not
have shrunk from me. do all my break
ing with light check cord fastened to
the dogs collar. 1t takes me from one
to SIX months to thoroughly break dog,
the length OF time depending entirely
upon the disposition of the dog in hand
Some dogs are wonderfully quick to learn
and immensely intelligent. | divide dogs
IN my business into two classes jumpers
and trick dogs. the former must have
short backs, good loins and long legs |
have found greyhound bitches easy to
break, even more so than the dogs Of the
same species, as the bitches seem to pos
sess better dispositions. The trick dogs
are selected for the act they are intended
to do.
''Dogs to walk en- their torelegs. for
instance, must possess natural balance
This IS not found in but one dog out of
three hundred. For clown dogs always
use poodles. They are always broken to
work simply by the sight Of certain OBJ
jects, not by any special routine of pro-
gramme. When my clown sees the
hurdle he knows he is to crawl under it :;
when he sees the wicker hoop he knows
he is to creep through it, and SO on.
Some tricks are very easy to teach, while
others are very laborious. Now, the
strange thing Of it is that the very hard :
est acts to teach a dog are those that are
least appreciated 10y the audience. For
instance, it takes a long time to perfect a
dog in putting on collar and taking it
OF. But the most difficult of all is to
break dog to jumping on its hind legs,
or walking on moving object like u
barrel. 1t has taken me months to put
a dog in show order for the jumping act.
1t IS far easier to break a dog to walk up
Broadway on two feet than to get one to
jump hurdle or skip a rope on its hind
legs. have spent whole weeks in
teaching dog TO jump hurdle standing
up. begin by making it stand on it's
hind legs and follow me walking everv-
where. | then place low hurdle be-
tween us and call the dog to me, holding
at the same time piece of food high in
the air. The dog will jump, but natural
ly tries to alight on all four feet. Before
it can do so | catch it under the chin
with one hand and give it the scrap of
food with the other. This is repeated
thousands of times, until the dog alights
in standing position"
REHEARSALS
''But one would think" said the re-
porter, 'that the noise and confusion
behind the scenes and the glare of the
footlights and applause of the audience
in front would distract the attention of
the dogs?'
$50 it would if did not accustom the
dogs to noise and the gas beforehand.
After have gotten dog perfect in his
business | take him on the stage. light
the footlights and have two men with big
drums and cymbals pounding away in the
orchestra. At each exit in the wings |
have a man stationed with whip.
Should the dog try to leave the stage he
has to confront man with whip. He
don't fancy this, and back he comes,
thinking | am his best friend in the
world. He never attempts to run away
again.
dogs can be taught anything if the