The Mitchell capital. (Mitchell, Dakota [S.D.]) 1879-1918, 1910-03-31
From the Philadelphia Ledger.

Fg4 very SAMlpl0 matter 10 Ie6CE
any ordinary dog to perform a sur
Drising number Of tricks. BY fol-
lowing q few simple rules any one car
train . dog. for instance. to bring ones
slippers or hide a handk erchief, to sit
0p or lie down at the word Of command.
: 1ane training OF q regular trick dog for
tho theater or public exhibitions IS, Of
course, q far more difficult task. An
education Of this kind makes a dog far
V 9 Interesting and valuable. Inciden-
Il tally 9 few minutes devoted to the
exercise daily will be enough to teach
n ordinary dog several new tricks in
NY In much less time.
The key to success in all animal
#8training Is patience. Dogs are very
quick to learn, and as a rule they are
Msnore than willing to be taught. In
inn0st cases he training Of a dog mere
Of your words. Successful
training Is a matter Of coaxing and per-
uastOn rather than Of driving. The
iiassgreat mistake the amateur trainer
lsssptlAkes IL to imagine that a dog can be
II nnished into obeying; a kind word or
= caress will be found far more eff
iiIssfecttve than q whip.
IA II u, Of course, prQverbial that one
,sHfcahnot teach an old dog new tricks. It
t;ssSAD much better to begin with q young
|5edog. but not q PUPPY. One Of the most
'Namportant rules to remember Is that
you must always have the dogs COM
8ssplete attention. It is best TO work with
dog In a room closed to ali intrusion,
sss0r in some quiet. secluded place. Any
saanterrupttOn which distracts the dogs
h ttenttOn. however slight, is to be
Il avoided. It will be found practically
@~Inpossible to make any Roadway IL the
2d0g,s mind is shifted from one Thought
another.
The dog again should be in a normal
scondttton. II It be excited or excess
iStvely sensitive 1t will be found much
lsvE1etter to fOrego the lesson for the day.
~ q general rule 1t Is better to give
1.-The lesson just before a meal. The
AFTER 9 meal the dog Is likely to be
lheavy and sleepy and will require too
much urging. Il is obviously import
mt that n dog should be trained at
l. time, for h presence of another dog
WI naturally distract attention.
Begin with the simplest tricks. A
regular trainer of animals in COM
8nencing with a new dog usually starts
with the sitting-up exercise. The word
Soks command to be used with the trick.
~ with all others. must be decided
A4anOn at the first, and never varied. An
80Shef important point is to use the
anne infection In giving the command.
AAAeSJ - AAS y kkkCISu 4
smeanings with different infections in
pronouncing the same word. One may
use Q sentence for the command. ffI
desired. but In this case the actual
word OF command must come at the
End and be spoken with special en-
phasis.
To teach the sitting-up trick take
a1rt1 hold Of the front paws and raise
The dog to the desired sitting position.
~ the same time repeat the word of
over and over again. After
elstew moments In this position let the
9 FALL into Its normal position and
!kshen after g slight rest repeat the
operation and the command. Never at
Tempt but one trick at a time. Elk
gellent results are obtained by giving
g dog an object lesson whenever pos
ssi0te. In this case AXE q position be-
Tore the dog similar to the one YOU are
eeachtng him to assume. BY constant
EopetitiOn the dog learns to associate
ene word OF command with this posi-
Zion n soon learns to take AZ with
put being raised.
The trick Of shaking hands Is very
readily taught. Grasp the dogs paw IN
your hand and repeat the word OF COM
tnand. whatever It may be. After the
9 learned what is expected OF
MIN II may be well to tap the paw. not
sharply. with q stick on giving the
N0rds Of command that he may learn to
TIT II quickly. It is a mistake. how
leyer. to strike the dog with a. whip
70 persuade him or even to have Al
whip In sight during the training hour.
The familiar dead dog trick may
IDe taught to any ordinary bright dog
N 2 few lessons. The dog should be
AHaErrNs&E.HF