The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1895-11-10
EDUCATING DOGS.
An OId-Timer Gives a Few Point,
on Training CANNES.
From the Hartford Times,


From the Hartford Times.
1t requires a great deal of skill and
patience to teach a dog to perform one
or a series Of tricks. An old dog trainer
gives an explanation of how to teach
several
To begin with the simpler tricks, fetch
ing. carrying. etc. Many puppies will
fetch naturally, but if they viii not
they are taught as follows: The article
whatever IL may be, Is first shown 10
the dog, and then put into his mouth
If he is inclined to drop it, the Jaws
must be held together until the dog
understands that he must Keep the ar
ucle in his mouth. He is then led car
rying the article; then it is put down
on the ground, and he is told to PICK
1T up, which he soon understands, after
which the dog is called, and Will then
carry the article to his master.
Nearly every dog takes to the water
of its own accord, and after being
taught to carry and fetch. it will bring
a piece of wood out of the water. You
then teach II to dive. This Is more diff
cult. You must have clear water to be-
gin with. Take the dog out in a boat
and fasten a stone to piece Of light
wood. so that it will sink gradually Put
the dog in the water and show him the
stick; then drop il in. He will see it
slowly sinking and try to get it. To
do this he must put his paws beneath the
surface. Gradually Increase the weight
and consequently the rapidity with which
it sinks and the dog win finally get all
his head under. When once this is
done, the difficulty is past for the dog
has confidence and will gradually go
deeper and deeper for the stone, until he
can reach a depth of twelve or fourteen
feet.
To teach a dog to beg is easy enough.
Just stand him up in corner SO that
he can lean. against the wall, and hold
him there until he can sit up without
assistance. Then bring him to the middle
of the room and repeat in couple OF
days
From begging we come TO walking up.
right, and this takes much longer. 1t is
accomplished in the same way. as the
above, only the dog must be led by the
paw, after he has learned to stand up
Then comes another difficult thing to
teach-turning head over heels. To &C
complish this the trainer must get be-
hind the dog, and grasp the forelegs
in his two hands. Then he must grad
ually draw them back, until the dos
loses their support. The dog will then
put his head between his legs, and the
father back they are drawn the farther
he will put it. At last it will be right
on the floor. and then the trainer just
turns him over. This performance VIII
have to be gone through dozens of times
before the dog will do ii of his own accord,
and even then 1t will take weeks Of prac-
tice and reward before he viii do it prop
erly to order.
This is also the first step toward teach
ing him to turn somersault. When 10
can turn head over heels properly, the
hand must be placed on the shoulders
and just as he is turning he must DC
given a smart lift the result of this VIII
be to turn him completely over while in
the air. He will be sure to come down
on his feet somehow, and will in Tins
learn to give himself his own impetus
with his hind legs, and so turn clean
over without touching the floor with MS
head.
A back somersault is taught in the same
way only to begin with the support of the
hind legs is Withdrawn. But very few dogs
ever learn to Go this, as most Of the take
off must be from the forelegs, ana some
dogs never seem to catch the knack On a
trapeze.
Teaching dogs to swing on a trapeze,
to see-saW, and to run along, trundhng
q barrel with their hind legs, are all RAM
iticatcns of standing upright and walking
on the hind legs; it is merely question
Of balance and can only be acquired by
the dog by long practice he soon knows
what ne has to do, however, If he is 5000
at walking upright and been put through
the motions Of the trick
All other tricks. ringing the bell. pre-
tending to die, reading the paper or smut
ting the door, etc, are taught by putting
the animal through the different acts just
in the same way as a child is taught 10
write by having his hand guided. P0odle5
are the best learners. mongrel poodles
particularly, but if a dogs father Or
mother was a trick dog, he will inherit
their talent in nine cases out of ten, ana
indeed will often do several tricks Of the
simpler kind without any teaching a all