The Saint Paul globe., 1900-05-25
AS TO TRAINING ANIMALS.
Prof. Gentry Tells Something About
the Clever Brutes He Has Handled.

Prof. Gentry Tells Something About
the Clever Brutes He Has Handled.
Dogs are the easiest of all animals to
train, said Prof Gentry, of the trained
animal show, in conversation yesterday.
Next to a dog, I would rather un-
dertake to train an elephant" he contin-
ued. AN elephant is big and clumsy, 1
know, but he has more good, hard sense
than any other kind Of dumb animal.
Not only that, but he is naturally a cow
only fight when cornered. The two we
have now are the only ones 1 ever at
tempted to train. We got them only for
street parade purposes, but 1 was curious
to see what 1 could do with them, and
began experimenting. To my surprise, |
found them very easy to train. One of
them is ten and the other is twelve years
old-mere babies. They live to be lbs to
What breed of dogs seems to be the
most intelligent and the easiest trained?"
asked the reporter.
They are about alike. I prefer the
poodle because they are usually the hard
lest. replied the professor. But, as I
said, they are practically all alike. A
the most aristocratic dog that lives. The
only reason we have well bred dogs is
because of their better appearance. Some
of the smartest dogs I ever handled were
ours of the commOnest kind
What breed are Mr.. and Mrs. Snyder
and the baby?"
They represent three breeds; Mr.,
! French poodle, and the baby is a Ger
man poodle. Barney my black clown
dog, is a French poodle. He is the clev-
crest dog I ever handled. 1t is seldom
you can get dumb animals to do their
tricks away from you. Usually they
must be right before you. In Barney s.
case it is different. He knows what is
or away from me- The trick where he
steals the meat was the hardest I ever
! taught an animal.
:. Rags, the little Scotch terrier who
climbs the ladder and jumps off, was
given to me by a little colored boy down
in Iowa. His name was Steve Brodie.'
! The thought struck me that on account
of his name I would make a diver of
him, and he is about the most daring
little high diver l ever saw. The grey
hound, Racket who makes a running
jump Of thirty-two feet, is a very in
telligent dog, as is also his brother, 'Dal-
mita, the bob-tailed high jumper, who
jumps a distance of twenty feet and
clears a height of over ten feet at the
i How many different breeds of dogs
have you in the show?' the reporter
asked. sas
III, have to stop and think" replied
! there's the greyhound ST. Bernard, Rus
| sian Great Dane, French. Russian and
! German poodle. fox terrier, Scotch ter
rler, water spaniel, English coach. spttz
Esquimaux, pug, black and tan, Havana
poodle. cocker spaniel, bull and several
! OF doubtful pedigree, commonly called
a cur. Eighty-five dogs and 1fty-six
ponies make up the show, not counting
! the elephants and monkeys. In all the
different parts I have 'understudies,' just
: as theatrfca! people have If one of the
! stars Is taken sick or hurt the under
/ study is made to do the trick.
BY the way how about training
monkeys?" asked the reporter.
They are the hardest of all dumb ami
mails to make perform unless you have a
! string around their neck" said the pro-
/ fessor; "They are too smart to begin
with. know pretty nearly as much as the
| average person. Ordinarily, when brought
into the show ring, instead of doing their
turn, the monkey climbs a pole and gets
out of reach. The set I now have are
about the best I ever saw, but it has
i taken me five years to break them in.
| They are vicious little fellows. and will
scrap at the drop of a hat. Monkey
! language? No, I don't take any stock
in it. 1 don't believe they have any Ian
guage, nor do | believe any other dumb
animal has. All of them have their own
peculiar way Of making a noise, but I
don't take any stock in the language
| theory - - .