Sacramento daily record-union. [volume] (Sacramento [Calif.]) 1875-1891, 1889-01-26
LEARNING THE LURCHER.
TRAIN UP A PUPPY IN THE WAY
HE SHOULD GO.
Educating the Instinct of Blood
Misunderstanding the Clean
Shoe, and How Done.
Written for the RECORD UNION. !

written for the REcoRD-UNIoN.l
In former paper contributed to thi
journal on the subject of bloodhounds i
was pointed out how these animals nigh
be utilized in this State in the tracking O
fugitives and outlaws. 4 letter since re
ceived has convinced the author that hi
article has excited attention, thus prepar
ing the way for some further remarks OF
this topics, which, though of more tech
meal nature than the former, he trust.
will be equally well received.
No one can be SO ignorant of the habit:
of bloodhounds as to suppose that the
average lurcher puppy can be made to dc
good work without going through suita-
BILE course of training. In the bloodhound
whelp, as well as in most other sporting
dogs, the inherited instinct is not so strong
that the education necessary to develop il
can be dispensed with. In all cases cur
reulum is necessary, and it is to this
curriculum as applied to the lurcher puppy
that would invite attention.
Shortly stated, the problem is this :
Given well-bred bloodhound pup, what
Is the best way for educating his instinct
for man-tracking, so as to make it of
service in the practical hunting of Grim
inals? The ease with which the blood
hound will follow the scent of the naked
foot Is no criterion of that animals pow
ers to
HUNT THE CLEAN SHOE,
Which to unframed dogs presents diff
culties that are overwhelming. But it is
only in hunting the "clean shoe (" that we
have any use for the beast, and therefore
all his training should be undertaken with
the object of equipping him for that diff
cult task. The puppy's education may
commence any time after he is nine months
old, and is best undertaken by his master.
or some one to whom the animal is at
tached. To commence with: any fine
morning when the dog is between nine and
twelve months old, let the trainer give
him an experimental run up the wind, and
on grass, which retains the scent much
better than the bare ground. For the ex-
perimental trial it may be necessary to
rub the soles of the shoe with aniseed.
a plan however, which should be aban-
dored on second trial, by the substitution
of blood for the drug. The trainer, of
course, must act the quarry himself, though
in future trials, when the dog has become
more proficient, that Office may be IN
dertaken by a stranger Before setting out,
the trainer should spend some minutes in
fondling and stroking the puppy, and then
start hurrledly away in run up the wind.
When the trainer is out of sight, a con-
federate should unslip the animal, whose
first motion viii be
TO SNUFF THE TRACK
OF his lately-seen master If the soles of
the latter's shoes have been well drugged
the scent left on the grass is SO strong that
the hound will take it up Immediately,
and track the trainer to where he is hid
ing. The merit of following "doctored"
trail is hardly apparent, nevertheless it
should not go unrewarded, and the present
of tit-bit with which the quarry has pro-
yided himself on his first setting out,
should be made to the dog when the latter
finds him. The second trial ought to be
made with blood, smeared on the soles in
the puppy's presence To familiarize him
with it, it is good thing to let him lick
it off the leather previous to starting
which, if he has not had his breakfast, he
will eagerly do. Having by this means
acquainted the pupil with the odor of the
trail he is expected to follow, and his i'm
preston of it being fresh, for this reason
he is likely to get on to it the more readily.
In this case precisely the same pantomime
must be gone through as on the previous
occasion, but
AS THE SCENT OF BLOOD
Is necessarily less strong than that of ami
seed, the hound must have every benefit
of clear course and favorable wind.
The reward in every trial should follow
Immediately on the finding of the quarry,
who will accompany it with fondlings and
pattings to impress on the dog that he has
acquitted himself WELL After repeated
trials, the stimulus of a reward is I'M
necessary, for the former have by this time
awakened the dormant instinct in the dog,
who from henceforth will exhibit it in
tultively. In the course of a puppy's
training, it will repeatedly happen that
he will get off the scent; but usually a
short time viii suffice for him to make his
own least" and recover the trail. As point
ed out IN the previous paper, the blood
hound Is neither ferocious nor bloodthirsty,
and there Is no possible danger to the
hunted from the fangs of his pursuer. The
knowledge that the latter will not mangle,
may justify the use of his instinct to ends
which at first sight seem petty and ig-
noble. Tramps, however, and chicken
thieves are as much legitimate quarries to
the bloodhound as the red-handed outlaws,
for the detection of which latter it is only
necessary that trials with the former
should be made ST.. HuRERr.