Animal trainer

“ The first active step which a trainer takes in the education of an animal which has never been handled is to test its temper. I recall very distinctly watching an excellent trainer working a leopard and a jaguar from start to finish. No man had ever been into the cage along with these vicious brutes before "Frenchy," as we called this crack trainer, laughingly took up his tools and slipped gracefully through the iron door which closed behind him with a sharp bang. ”

“ Bright and Dull Individuals. Every wild animal species contains the same range of bright and dull individuals that are found in the various races of men. Naturally the animal trainer selects for training only those animals that are of amiable disposition, that mentally are alert, responsive and possessed of good memories. The worst mistakes they make are in taking on and forcing ill-natured and irritable animals, that hate training and performing. Often a trainer persists in retaining an animal that resolutely should be thrown out. ”

“ It is a long, patient progress, in which the trainer, if he is a good one, grits his teeth to hold his temper and smiles many and many a time when he would like to swear. He has three jobs which must be synchronized into one objective—to teach the animal that there is nothing to fear from this strange human who has suddenly made his entry into the beast’s life, to plant certain routines into the beast’s mind, and to place there at the same time the knowledge that, for doing these things, the animal is to be rewarded. ”

“ The animal already has learned three things, that the trainer will not hurt him unless the animal tries to hurt the trainer, that the whip is something that can sting and it is best to keep away from it, and that there will be a reward for doing what the trainer desires, and that, taken all in all, he’s a pretty good sort of a being after all. Therefore, the trainer selects one beast at a time and falls into a routine. He cracks his whip just behind the beast, not striking the animal, but close enough to make his charge move away from it. ”

“ The first thing to be eliminated is not fear on the part of the trainer, but on the part of the animal!... Sugar for dogs, carrots for elephants, fish for seals, stale bread for the polar bears, a bit of honey or candy for the ordinary species of bear, pieces of apple or lumps of sugar for horses; every animal has his reward for which he’ll work a hundred times harder than ever he did in the old and almost obsolete days of fear.” With lions, tigers and leopards the trainer, imitating their own sound that expresses satisfaction, can convey to them his satisfaction with their work. ”

“ Still any animal of ordinary capacity ought, with proper tuition, to be able to learn a sufficient variety to satisfy 15a reasonable trainer. Judicious management on the part of the exhibitor will often make a variety of tricks out of a single one which the animal has been taught; an example of this is afforded by the “educated hog.”
The first essential for success in training animals is patience. ”

“ Nor do I doubt that there are animal trainers with such a natural gift and love of beasts that the process of training becomes almost pleasurable to creatures who are not by nature intended to ape mankind.
I even believe that there may be animals, especially among dogs, who grow to appreciate the glamour of the footlights, and the sense of their own importance. ”

“ This applies particularly to sitting or lying down, for it usually happens that when you desire him to do so he feels least inclined; but it is the trainer’s business to bend the animal’s will to his own, and in this case it may be done thus: Taking your position with the dog in front of you, raise one hand over his head and make a motion with it as though about to strike him on the top of his head with your palm ”

“ He is hired because he has studied and knows animals—even to talking their various ‘languages.’ There are few real animal trainers who cannot gain an answer from their charges, talking to them as the ordinary person talks to a dog and receiving as intelligent attention. ”

“ With the aid of this contrivance the dog may be perfectly subdued, and made to obey all the commands of the trainer. He can be taught to “go away,” “come back,” “come in front,” “come behind,” “bark,” “lie down,” “be quiet,” “get over the fence,” “slop them,” “bring them back,” and every other evolution in the field exercise of the sheep dog. The training should commence when the pup is five or six months old. The older the animal is, the more difficult will it be to train him. ”

“ In all these cases the trainer needs to be experienced, patient, persevering, energetic, and positive, besides having a genuine affection for his pupil. No two horses are alike in conformation or morale, nor in the results of their first contact with man. The trainer needs, therefore, to diagnose his animal, to consider his strong and weak points, so as to pick the right place for the training to begin. If, for example, a horse is anxious and timid, before I do anything else, I give it confidence, by means of work on foot with the whip. If it is young and not strong. ”

“ With the animals the acquisitions do not extend very far, on account of their limitation in intelligent endowment; but in the training of the domestic animals and in the education of show-animals the trainer aids them and urges them on by making use of the associations of pleasure and pain spoken of above. He supplements the animal's feelings of pain and pleasure with the whip and with rewards of food, etc., so that each step of the animal's success or failure has acute associations with pain or pleasure. ”

“ And now, you are happy that I am approaching the end of the chapter, and I am happy to say a final word in behalf of my favorites among the circus folks, the animal trainers. To me, these patient, hard workers are the cream of the crop. Whenever I had time to spare I was a visitor in their schools. We marvel that we can communicate by telephone and radio, but animal trainers not only make themselves understood, but they must first teach their subjects the language in which they speak. ”

“ The unfailing brute instinct at once detects the fact that the trainer has let down the bars of his mind, and then comes the long-delayed attack!
Never do I tire of watching a good trainer work his animals, especially those fresh from their native wilds and full of snap and spirit. What sport more splendid and royal can man imagine than that of placing his life in imminent peril for the purpose of putting a wild beast—a creature far his superior in strength, in swiftness of movement, and in all-round fighting power—in complete subjection to his will! ”

“ The trainer at first takes his place a few feet from the dog in the direction in which the dog can most easily advance, and calls the dog; should he let go his tail to come, he is to be scolded, and the tail replaced in his mouth. When he comes without letting go, he should be rewarded. ”

“ In the first place, it must be acknowledged that unless the master has himself studied the subject with the utmost care and keen perception, success in teaching a dog to work sheep will not fall to his lot. Many a good dog has been spoiled in the hands of an unthinking and unsympathetic would-be trainer, and, conversely, many a vicious, timid, or “wild” dog has been converted by the master hand into a brainy, intelligent servant. ”

“ No two men follow precisely the same method in training, and a dog transferred from his trainer to another man is always a little at a loss; method, voice, gestures, personality, are all different; his new master must study him and in a way adapt himself to the dog. The dog is still more at a loss when transferred from one kind of country to another where the sheep are worked in a different manner, and one instance Caleb gave me of this is worth relating. ”

“ One is that his trainer is his friend and means to use him well. The other is that the man is master. The trainer begins by going up near the bars, talking to the lion kindly, and throwing him some meat. It isn't long before the lion learns to know and to watch for the man who feeds him. Next the trainer,while talking, puts a stout stick between the bars. With a terrible roar the lion springs on the stick and crushes it into splinters. But the trainer keeps right on putting sticks between the bars, talking kindly to the lion and feeding him. ”

“ WONDERFUL FEATS PERFORMED BY DOGS—MOST CELEBRATED DOGS OF THE WORLD—LEARNING THE ALPHABET—TO PLAY CARDS AND DOMINOES—TO SELECT ANY ARTICLE DESIRED AND PUT IT ANYWHERE DIRECTED. Our last chapter gave a wide range of tricks performed by dogs, most of which can be taught by the amateur trainer. There is another class of tricks, requiring great intelligence on the part of the dog, and rare skill and patience on the part of the trainer, for their successful mastery. ”

“ The strength that had always poured out from him to her was now flowering in his impassioned voice, his flashing eyes, and the vigor of life and intellect surging in him. And in that moment, and for the moment, she was aware of a rift that showed in her certitude—a rift through which she caught sight of the real Martin Eden, splendid and invincible; and as animal-trainers have their moments of doubt, so she, for the instant, seemed to doubt her power to tame this wild spirit of a man. ”

“ I have been told that while a trained sheep-dog is so valuable to his master, and can be so trusted by him, one that has been allowed to grow up without any teaching or training is of little worth. The training must begin while the collie is young, and an old hand at it says, "The first thing to learn your pup is to mind at the word." From this beginning the dog goes on until he seems almost to read his master's thoughts in his face, and to watch each movement of his hand and each glance of his eye. ”

“ All trainers make use of various little tit-bits as rewards for successful performance of tricks. These serve as a powerful incentive to the animal as well as to show him when he has done right. Withholding the accustomed reward when he fails or but imperfectly performs his duty is much more effective than any corporeal punishment. The repetition of the lesson until the animal will himself perform the required action, and the bestowal 16of these rewards whenever he obeys your order, is really the main secret of training. ”

“ The maneuvering of sheep at a distance is a feature in sheepdog trials for which more points than are now granted should be given, as it demonstrates unmistakably the excellence of the training and also the actual utility of a dog for field work. Many dogs are under perfect control as long as they are within reach of their master’s stick, but cannot be relied upon implicitly when far away; such a dog is obviously improperly trained. ”

“ He used to say that the art of training animals was the art of inspiring them with fear. One of his assistants told me a nasty one about him afterwards. They had an off month in Los Angeles, and Captain Roberts got it into his head he was going to make a dog balance a silver dollar on the neck of a champagne bottle. Now just think that over and try to see yourself loving a dog into doing it. The assistant said he wore out about as many sticks as dogs, and that he wore out half a dozen dogs. ”

“ Though these may be beyond the abilities of ordinary dogs and ordinary trainers—for such feats are very rare, even in public exhibitions, and when performed, are looked upon almost as miracles—they cannot fail to prove interesting to our readers, and it is barely possible that some reader of this book may yet astonish the world with some equally proficient animal, to rival those whose deeds are herein recorded. ”

“ Nearly every bad habit that a dog learns is usually the fault of the owner rather than of the dog. The training of a dog should be done as a puppy. Therefore we must secure our dog as young as possible.
In training hunting dogs the first step is called “yard-breaking.” With ordinary dogs a thorough course in yard-breaking by teaching the simple command is all that will be necessary. First of all, teach your dog to lie down and come to you at call. ”

“ Tigers will not submit like lions to the intrusion of idle strangers into the cages, but any professional trainer can ordinarily enter the cage and exhibit any properly broken tigers without special risk. There are men ready to accept engagements for performing with animals whom they may never have seen before the day of exhibition; fear being the controlling influence with the beasts, it is only requisite that the man shall show no timidity, and compel obedience by whatever severity may be necessary. ”

“ Art of Training Animals.—A complete guide for amateur or professional trainers, giving all the secrets and mysteries of the craft, and showing how all circus tricks, and all feats of all performing animals—from elephants to fleas—are accomplished. It also has an improved system of horse and colt breaking, breaking and training sporting dogs, care and tuition of song, talking and performing birds, snake charming, bee taming, and many other things, making a large, handsome volume of over 200 pages, and over 60 illustrations. ”

“ Though great firmness must be shown in working wild animals, and frequent and severe chastisements are called for, there is nothing essentially cruel in the method of training. This, however, cannot be said of the methods generally followed by the trainers of horses. ”