Animal training

“ My doubts were bred from knowledge of the difficulty of judging the intelligence of an animal from a stage performance. So-called educated horses and even educated seals and fleas have made their appeal in large number to the credulity of the public. Can any animal below man be educated in the proper sense of the word? Or is the animal mind susceptible of nothing more than a mechanical training, and only given the specious counterfeit of an educated intelligence when under the direct control of the trainer? ”

“ Play, as a means of animal education, is varied, and has for its end all-round training of the animal mind in its sphere of operation. Although there are some specific propensities, certain observable trends of behaviour, as in hunting-play, courtship-play, and the like, we must not expect, nor do we find, anything like stereotyped definiteness of conative activity. We find that freedom and elasticity in animal education which is, perhaps, more often advocated than carried into practice in human education. ”

“ 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. ”

“ This training is very important, because wild life is a constant warfare, and their lives often depend upon their speed in flight. The [229] meat-eating animals, too, must be in good trim, as they are compelled to chase their game daily. ”

“ 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. ”

“ 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. ”

“ We can hardly doubt that long-continued training, as with the greyhound in coursing hares, as with water-dogs in swimming—and the want of exercise, in the case of lapdogs—must have produced some direct effect on their structure and instincts. ”

“ All of these mental qualities are brought into activity during every moment that a trainer is working his animals. And not for an instant may he safely slacken his courage or control. A stout heart is his only safety. To go into a cage in a state of fear is recognized among these men as a fool-hardy undertaking.
My observation is that trainers almost universally prefer captured animals to those born in captivity, so far as working purposes are concerned. This preference is founded on practical experience—for your animal trainer is little inclined to theorize or experiment in his work. ”

“ One blow, yell, jerk, or even a threatening motion will often obliterate all the work you have done. So the animal trainer must not lose his temper, especially with dogs and horses. The more intelligent the animal, the more kindness and gentleness are required. On one farm, you will see the calves trembling when coming for their food, trying to keep one eye out for sudden blows while drinking; the horses jerking timidly up as if expecting their tender mouths to be yanked; the cows kicking the milkers; the colts hard to toll in from pastures; the dog with tail between his legs ”

“ 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. ”

“ And the instant response of a well-trained dog is admirable. But in the whole proceeding he is merely the executant of his master’s orders. He originates no important step. And if you listen to the criticisms by other shepherds during a competition you will find that they are mainly passed on the judgment shown by the master, and only in palpable failures in obedience on the behaviour of the dog. The intelligent animal is what he is trained to be—one whose natural powers are under the complete control of his master with whom the whole plan of action lies. ”

“ The animal trainer is these days a person of constant experiments, of irrepressible inquiry. It is he who must go into the dens with jungle beasts, or command the elephants in the rings. If things go wrong, he is the one who is taken to the hospital as a result of it, and so he wants to know the why of every animal’s action. ”

“ 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. ”

“ 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. ”

“ This important distinction between developing and perfecting hygiene is well understood and observed by horse-trainers. They give colts nourishing food, free air, and room to gambol; and do not begin training them for work till they have acquired bodily growth and substance. ”

“ At school the men receive detailed instructions as to the care and treatment of dogs, after which they begin a rigorous drill, training each dog to run daily over a longer and longer course, accompanied by his masters ”

“ At this stage in his education the dog should be approaching his complete training. To teach him to come in front of the sheep, draw him to you by the call whistle. He will think at first that he is to come in to you, but when you see he is far enough past the sheep to give him plenty of room to work, give him the whistle to go to the sheep. He will then turn and face the sheep, and as he does so drop him there. ”

“ It requires no long period of training. They can begin performing all their useful functions as soon as their bodily development makes it possible. No one need teach them how to catch their prey, how to build their nests or shelters. ”

“ It is as if a huntsman should conduct a pack of ferocious dogs into a field occupied by a flock of sheep, quietly grazing, holding the dogs securely by very strong leashes. The quiet and repose of the field might not be seriously disturbed; but if, on the other hand, a child comes in, leading the dogs by threads which they can easily sunder, a scene of the greatest violence and confusion would ensue. ”

“ The propensities of 'pointing,' 'retrieving,' etc., in sporting dogs, which seem partly, at any rate, to be due to training, but which in well-bred stock are all but innate. It is in these breeds considered bad for a litter of young if its sire or dam have not been trained in the field. ”

“ Nowadays all that is changed, one man can with the assistance of a good sheep dog do the same work much more thoroughly and satisfactorily, and without hustling or distressing the sheep themselves.
The systematic training of sheep dogs has indeed accomplished for the sheep-rearing hill farmer almost as much in the way of labor-saving as the adoption of agricultural machinery has done for the farmer who cultivates the lowlands. ”

“ It takes genius to train fleas, for example, or geese, yet these animals are tamed. Every boy has a little spark of such genius and with use the spark would grow.
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Dogs are about the easiest animals to train. Teach a dog first to obey. He must learn to understand just as a baby does. How long does it take a baby to learn what "no, no" means? A bright dog will learn to "charge" about as quickly. When he knows what you mean and that you really do mean it and are not fooling, he will suit the action to the word or signal. A little training every day will do the business. ”

“ Teaching a collie to herd sheep or goats is a special sort of business; experienced shepherds can teach you how it is done. Training hunting dogs is also a work for experts. Anybody knows that a poorly trained dog makes the difference between real sport and disgusting failure. A young man with a real aptitude for training dogs for various forms of hunting can find opportunities to turn this genius into cash. ”

“ It may surprise many, whose knowledge of wild animals is gained from rare, fleeting glimpses of frightened hoof or wing in the woods, to consider that there can be such a thing as a school for the Wood Folk; or that instruction has any place in the life of the wild things. Nevertheless it is probably true that education among the higher order of animals has its distinct place and value. Their knowledge, however simple, is still the result of three factors: instinct, training, and experience. Instinct only begins the work; the mother’s training develops and supplements the instinct ”

“ The catching and harnessing of the dogs is a matter of pleasure or trouble, just as the dogs have been trained. Dogs kindly treated, and taught to obey, give no trouble, but with many, where their training was defective, there is constant annoyance and worry. ”

“ 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. ”

“ 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. ”

“ In fact, those peculiar combinations of instinct and training which we find in our hounds, pointers, setters, and other dogs which have been bred to serve the purposes of sportsmen, have been acquired but slowly, and are of no value except where the search for game is carried on under what we may term civilized conditions. The dog of the savage is in all countries much like his master—a creature with few arts and unaccustomed to subdue his rude native impulses. ”

“ The training of a fine sheep dog has become a science, and something that the shepherds take a deal of pride in. In order to encourage the breeding of finely trained dogs, each year in many parts of England and Scotland contests of sheep herding dogs are held. ”

“ 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. ”

“ 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. ”

“ 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. ”

“ Those who have seen a shepherd’s dog working sheep on a moorland fell, and have taken the trouble to ascertain how the results he sees have been attained, will appreciate, on the one hand, how well the dog knows and responds to the signals of his master, and, on the other hand, how completely all initiation is in the master’s mind, not that of the keenly intelligent dog. Those who merely witness such a performance without inquiry or investigation will probably misunderstand the whole matter. ”

“ Some people have imagined that it is a peculiar breed of dogs that are so trained, but this is an error which experience enables me to contradict; for I have seen several different kinds in charge of different flocks, the whole of their sagacity being the effect of their training. Whilst on the topic of the training of animals I cannot refrain from mentioning the ridiculous appearance of the capons, which are taught to rear broods of chickens. ”