St. Tammany farmer. [volume] (Covington, La.) 1874-current, 1904-07-02
DRILL OF THE WAR DOCS.
Excellent Results Of System Of Train
ing for Military Use in
Germany.

Excellent Results Of System Of Train.
ing for Military Use in
Germany.
Since 1883 the German army has beer
experimenting with dogs trained to dc
military duty, and now it is announced
officially that the results are excellent
says the Washington Post.
Perhaps one reason for the good be-
havior of the animals is to be found in
the rule for the guidance of their human
trainers, which reads:
Always before you punish a dog make
sure that you yourself are perfectly calm
and without anger. Never fail to praise
a dog for good work. Use every oppor-
tunity to speak to the dogs, either prais-
ing or censuring them, as the case may
demand. r. y - 8 sae % -
The first that is taught to the young
dog is to walk exactly at the proper dis
lance from the soldiers whom he &C.
companies, neither too far before nor
behind them, and when thus on the
march to be absolutely as grave and at
tentive as a man.
This training lasts till he is seven
months old. Then the puppy must turn
out every day and run races with the
older dogs to strengthen his muscle and
chest. After he has done this for about
five months, and when he is year old,
the real military work begins.
BY this time the dog knows his own
troop OF men pretty well. But he must
now learn to distinguish every man in
1t, even in the darkest night. so that
he shall know by scent if a soldier who
does not belong to his regiment tries to
approach the camp Then he must
learn to obey instantly. 50 that at the
word he stops as if frozen stiff. Thus
he learns to drop to the ground ana
crouch low with his head between hts
forelegs the moment he hears the COM
nand down" Then comes another
hard and long branch Of learning. He
must become so that he will carry arr
tlcleS in his mouth and hold on to them
no matter what happens The trainer
gives him cap glove at first and sends
him to carry it to some officer. The
men turn out when they see the dog, go
at him with shouts and make believe to
attack him. At first the new dog either
drops what he is carrying to bark and
snap at the pdrsuers, or he will stand
over it and prepare to fight. What is
in war is not that dog should
protect whatever he is CARRYING, by
fighting for it. In that case his fight.
would be short, for the enemy would
simply shoot him and then get the mes-
sage or the ammunition with which he
had been intrustedsA ~ )
2 So the trainer bends ali his efforts to
each the dog, first, that he must under
no circumstances drop the parcel from
his mouth, and, second, that he must
lodge an enemy, keep out of his sight
4 possible, and under any circumstances
run away from him without delay. 81
AS any dog, no matter how careful.
nay lose his parcel at times, the dog
must be taught to search for lost ar
icles. He is drilled in this until he gets
70 expert that most of the German dogs
IAN find a cap or a glove that has been
ost anywhere along line of march a
nile long. The dog must be taught to-
lie down alongside Of any object that
nay be pointed out by the soldier, wheth-s
+ it be button from coat or a cannon
md stay there without uttering whim~
Ter while his regiment moves on. Even |
1t be away for day and a night, the
log must stay where it is.
This has two important reasons: Ono
$ that the men may wish to creep on an
'nemy without being encumb ered by the
og;; the other is that they may wish him
o remain behind to guard a wounded
nan or some valuable part of the outfit
having learned this, he learns not to
ark under any circumstances; until
his branch of his education has been
nished he is unfit to accompany sol
iers. for his bark would betray then,
D the foe. ## 1S8 s
The war dog that has been graduate.iI
ever barks. When an enemy or a
tranger approaches he gcrawls close ~
is masters and utters low grow1. b.
his time he has learned also that the
My time to fight Is when his life is In
anger. At no other time will he al
ack anyone who approaches. Thus, If
curse, his masters are safe against be-
rayal through any act of his. He will
lie rs close and quiet as the human sol
iers.
Besides acting as sentry, the chief use
Or the war dog is to carry ammunition
r messages at q time when the fighting
, such that no human being could be
expected to pass through the line Of IRE.
% enable the dog to do it he is tauglt
o seek covered places whenever he
oes anywhere. He learns to run along
a trenches and sanken ways, to creep
ehind hedges and fences and to slip
asst bodies OF men, making himself rs
nconspicuons as possible. 49,
To Cheer Their Soldiers. T
The Russian military authorities
avs the Novosti, have sent out to
be far east number of popular poets
nd singers, whose duty 1t is to stimulate
he courage Of the soldiers with
oul-stirring ballads: Every Russian reg
ment possesses its party of singers, ut
be head Of whom are piper, a cymbnl
layer and tambourinist, who play the
copies songs according to the province
rom which they hail