Evening star., 1926-11-07

It is about time to buy the dogs
new shoes. This Is not an attempt at
acetiousness--it is fact. Recent
army regulations referring to dog
transportation stipulate that there
shall be provided two pairs of moe
casins specially fitted for each dog" )"
An officer who served in Alaska a
those days there were no specially
made moccasns for the dogs, and
tobacco bags were tied on the dogs
feet when it was necessary to protect
them from freezing.
1t is not often that Government
regulations are at all entertaining.
| usually being rather dull and heavy
reading for the layman. Technical
Regulations No. 13SO-2O. are unique
| in that they lay the foundation, If
touched up with a few strokes of the
readers imagination. for as romantic
a tale as may he told by many mas
! ters of dog lore.
First it is explained how these dogs
are used. and tells how they can pull
seds over difficult trails. through un-
broken snow, and over ice where
! horse and mule transportation is i'm
i possible. These dogs are indispen-
/ sable to the people of the far North.
! and the United States Army. fully
!
! regulations as carefully comprehen-
| sive as If they were to cover the treat
! ment Of men.
Dog transportation is divided into
! two ella asses, heavy and light, and the
! dogs are trained accordingly. Heavy
! transporta ton is used for transport
| ing personnel and supplies, while
| light transportation Is used for fast
travel when important messages are
to be carried to some distant point, or
! in cases of emergency when it is
necessary to rush surgical aid. In
both cases the dogs travel eight hours
a day as a rule. those used in heavy
| transportation making from two and
a half to three miles per hour and a
messenger team travelling at the rate
of FIVE to six miles an hour.
The regulations provide that the
! loads on the sleds used in heavy trans
! portation shall not exceed the weight
| of all the dogs, less the weight of the
! by dogs used in messenger service
! must not he greater than % pounds
! for each dog in the team
Dogs Are Differently Trained.
| Although the same type dog is used
| for both kinds of transportation, they
| are differently trained and cannot he
| used interchangeab A dog who
| has been trained for messenger serv-
ice would be ruined If he We're set to
| pulling a heavy load or allowed to
| take a slow pace.
| This training Of a dog s begun
when II is six months old. the first
| step being to Introduce him to the
| harness and to teach him to come to
it from the kennel. Next he is usually
hitched to a light log which he can
| pull around without Strain1ng. This
! accustoms him to pulling load. 1t
| is very important not to discourage
| him hv giving him too heavy load
at first. or by working him too long.
| When he is nine months old he may be
| hitched with a team. but he still must
| not be given too hard or too long
pulls. When assembling team only
! dogs that are gated alike should he
| selected, and in breaking in young
dogs it is very necessary to use a
quick. we'll trained leader.
A trainer must have infinite pa
tience in order to meet with any sue
cess. This point Is stressed in the
regulations which state that nothing
will ever be gained by injecting fear
| into a team" 1t is also said that
the most humane punishment Is the
use of tying chains over the rump.
| The old-fashioned whip is more
| likely to cut through the coat of the
dog than is the chain. The chain also
has an additional advantage. in that
usually once a dog has felt the cham
1t Is only necessary to rattle 1t In the
future in order to enforce obedience
With regard to the Furnishing of
these dogs. many interesting stories
are told of how the leader will main
tain discipline among the dogs of his
team, One Of these tales is vouched
| for by A minister who was long sta
toned in Alaska and who mushed his
own team. In his team was one dog
who was something Of a loafer and
had a way Of playing sick or tlred.
! If game appeared. however, he forgot
his lameness and was the keenest OF
the team. Also whe> nearing camp
he would forget how tired he was
and pull harder than any of the team
Leader Spots the Stacker.
Often while the team was doing a
particularly hard stretch, this dog
would look around at the driver. and
! if he thought ne was not noticing. lei
his traces slacken. Whereupon the
driver would give him light touch
of the whip. Even though he
his thick coat he'd yelp and pull with
renewed energy for time. Soon he
would again relax and the leader,
/ noticing that the pulling was heavier
and suspecting where the blame lay
would turn his head, show his teeth
and growl at the Stacker.
| Another burst Of speed and energy
from the delinquent one. and then an
other le,.down Finally after a third
time he leader W. usu decide to foo
no :oxger 'aAd would begin to swing
arnSr,, baug careful al the time not
ssa Snsfe tn hArnasR
TIE e<Aer De Es stand seiu and the
guilty 0nA pe1& on h:s back and howls