Title: Hunting Dogs - Describes in a Practical Manner the Training, Handling, - Treatment, Breeds, Etc., Best Adapted for Night Hunting - as Well as Gun Dogs for Daylight Sport
Author: Hartley, Oliver
Language: English
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Hunting Dogs

Describes in a Practical Manner
the Training, Handling,
Treatment, Breeds, Etc.,
Best Adapted for Night
Hunting as Well as
Gun Dogs for
Daylight
Sport

BY
OLIVER HARTLEY

Published by
A. R. HARDING PUBLISHING CO.
Columbus, Ohio

Copyright 1909
By A. R. Harding Pub. Co.



CONTENTS.

  PART I--HUNTING DOGS.
   I. Night Hunting
   II. The Night Hunting Dog--His Ancestry
   III. Training the Hunting Dog
   IV. Training the Coon Dog
   V. Training for Skunk, Opossum and Mink
   VI. Wolf and Coyote Hunting
   VII. Training for Squirrels and Rabbits
   VIII. Training the Deer Hound
   IX. Training--Specific Things to Teach
   X. Training--Random Suggestions from Many Sources

  PART II--BREEDING AND CARE OF DOGS.
   XI. Selecting the Dog
   XII. Care and Breeding
   XIII. Breeding (Continued)
   XIV. Breeding (Continued)
   XV. Peculiarities of Dogs and Practical Hints
   XVI. Ailments of the Dog

  PART III--DOG LORE.
   XVII. Still Trailers vs. Tonguers--Music
   XVIII. The Dog on the Trap Line
   XIX. Sledge Dogs of the North

  PART IV--THE HUNTING DOG FAMILY.
   XX. American Fox Hounds
   XXI. The Beagle, Dachshund and Basset Hounds
   XXII. Pointers and Setters. Spaniels
   XXIII. Terriers--Airedales
   XXIV. Scotch Collies. House and Watch Dogs
   XXV. A Farmer Hunter--His Views
   XXVI. Table of Technical Terms



LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.

  The Fruits of Night Hunting
  The Court Jester of the Nocturnal Tribe
  A Pure and a Cross-bred Coon Dog
  Veteran Coon Detectives
  Descendants from Jamestown Imported Hounds
  A Lover of Good Dogs
  "The Fox Hound is a Composite Animal"
  Fox Hounds--Graduates From the Training School
  Typical Coon Hounds
  Capable Cross-bred Cooners
  Good Catch in Which the Shepherd Dog Figured Prominently
  Opossums are Easily Caught Alive for Training Purposes
  North Dakota Wolf Hounds
  Typical Western Wolf Hounds
  Termination of a Successful Chase
  Good Dogs Make Good Luck
  The Fair Sex are More and More Becoming Practical Nimrods
  The Deer Seeks Refuge in Deep Water
  Well Trained Hounds
  Good Friends Get Along Best
  Co-operation Between the Man and His Dogs Brings Results
  Some Ideals
  Embryo Trailers
  A Versatile Ontario, Canada, Dog Family
  One-half English Bloodhound Pups
  Fox Hounds
  Some Young Hunters
  He Was Here a Moment Ago
  Here He Is
  A Group of Typical Sledge Dogs
  Sledge Dog--Photo from Life
  Rough and Ready Sledge Dog
  Worthy of the Name, Foxhounds
  Good Specimens
  Bloodhound
  "As Pretty As a Picture" (Beagles)
  True Dachshund Specimens
  A Pure Pointer
  Royal Sports--Pointers in Action
  Setter
  The Fox Terrier--Useful in Many Ways
  Airedale
  Collie
  Shepherd Puppies
  Outline Figure Diagram

[Illustration: Oliver Hartley.]



INTRODUCTION.

As if hunting for profit, night hunting for either pleasure or gain
and professional hunting generally had no importance, writers of
books have contented themselves with dwelling on the study and
presentation of matters relating solely to the men who hunt for sport
only. Even then the Fox Chase and Bird Hunting has been the burden of
the greater percent of such books.

It remained for the A. R. Harding Publishing Co. (publishers of the
Hunter-Trader-Trapper magazine and a number of helpful and practical
books on hunting topics), to appreciate the demand for books and
reading matter adapted especially to the tens of thousands of hunters
who make, or partially make, their livelihood from hunting and
trapping, as well as a million casual hunters and farmers of the
United States and Canada.

The keynote of success was struck in this direction by obtaining
articles and letters from these very men themselves, written and
printed in their own language, depending for favor on their
explicitness and practical value, borne of actual experience, rather
than flowing language, high sounding conventionalities and impressive
technicalities so dear to the hearts of the Bench Show enthusiasts.

The title of this book quotes its object. To tell something of night
hunting, and especially to suggest how the ever necessary dog can
best be selected, trained, maintained and utilized, is the
consideration of first importance. To round out the subject all forms
of hunting will receive some notice, and the various breeds of dogs
will be so far dealt with, that their value and usefulness in their
given fields may be determined. Best of all, the contents of this
volume are based on the opinions and declarations of men who have had
years of experience in the matters on which they presume to write.
The Compiler does not assume authorship, the matter herein being very
largely from articles which have appeared in Hunter-Trader-Trapper
and elsewhere. Credit is hereby extended and our thanks offered to
all writers whose efforts contribute to the sum total of this volume.

If this book contributes to the success in handling of dogs or opens
new avenues of recreation, sport and profit for any of its readers,
we shall consider its mission has been fulfilled.

  Oliver Hartley.

  [Illustration: The Fruits of Night Hunting.]



HUNTING DOGS.



CHAPTER I.

NIGHT HUNTING.

Night hunting is a favorite form of hunting sport the continent over.
Prime factor of the joyous, though strenuous night quest is the
'coon, the court jester and wit of the nocturnal tribe of small fur
bearers.

Owing to the scarcity of other game and general distribution of
raccoon the country over, 'coon hunting is gaining in popular favor,
winning over many of the wealthy, city-dwelling red-bloods who
formerly were content with more or less pleasant and successful
sallies to the fields in the day-time.

Consequently there is an increased demand for properly bred and
trained dogs to afford the maximum of success and pleasure in this
pursuit. With the ownership of dogs go the care, maintenance and
proper methods of handling these willing helpers. Surprising is the
meagerness of the information available to the average hunter, though
night hunting is an institution as old as the settlement of
Jamestown.

The craft of developing dogs and using them to the best advantage in
this connection, has been by precept and example handed down from
generation to generation. Much has been lost in this way and not so
much accomplished as might have been attained by aid of the printed
and pictured methods of today. Most certainly more attention will
hereafter be paid to night hunting, and more painstaking records made
and kept for the up-growing practical sportsmen, in which direction
the present volume is a long and definite step.

  [Illustration: The Court Jester of the Nocturnal Tribe.]

Our task is to offer guidance and advice as to the dogs. Yet to do
this clearly, the reader must know something of the nature and habits
of the animals to be hunted and the effort involved.

A southern gentleman of experience and training has the following to
say about 'coon hunting:

The 'coon is a wily little animal, and his habits are very
interesting to note. He is a veritable trickster, compared with which
the proverbial cunning fox must take a back seat. One of the 'coon's
most common tricks employed to fool the hound is known among hunters
as "tapping the tree," and which he accomplishes in this way: When he
hears the hound's first note baying on trail, he climbs up a large
tree, runs to the furthest extremity of one of the largest branches
and doubling himself up into a ball, leaps as far as possible out
from the tree. This he repeats several times on different trees, then
makes a long run, only to go thru the same performances in another
place. Onward comes the hound, till he reaches the first tree the
'coon went up, and if it is a young and inexperienced hound, he will
give the "tree bark" until the hunters reach the tree, fell it, and
find the game not there.

  [Illustration: A Pure and A Cross Bred Coon Dog.]

All this time Mr. 'Coon is quietly fishing and laughing in his
sleeve, perhaps a mile away. But not so with the wise old coon hound.
The old, experienced cooner, with seemingly human intelligence, no
sooner reaches the tree Mr. 'Coon has "tapped" than he begins
circling around the tree, never opening his mouth--circling wider and
wider until he strikes the trail again. This he repeats every time
the 'coon takes a tree, until finally, when he has to take a tree to
keep from being caught on the ground, the hound circles as before
and, finding no trail leading away, he goes back to the tree, and
with a triumphant cry proclaims the fact that he is victorious. He is
not the least bit doubtful. He knows the coon went up the tree and he
knows he has never come down so he reasons (?) that the coon is
there, and with every breath he calls his master to come and bag his
game. When the tree is felled the fun begins. The 'coon is game to
death. He dies fighting--and such a magnificent fight it is! The
uninformed might suppose there would not be much of a fight between a
50-pound 'coon hound and a 20-pound 'coon. Well, there is not, if the
'coon hound is experienced and knows his business. Of course, the
'coon will put up a masterly fight, and some time is required to put
him out of business; but the old 'coon dog  will finally kill any
'coon. But if the fight is between a young or inexperienced dog and a
full grown 'coon the chances are that you will suffer the
mortification of seeing your dog tuck his tail between his legs and
make for home at a very rapid and unbecoming rate of speed.

To prove this, get a good 'coon hound and let him tree a 'coon; have
along your Bull-dogs, Bull Terriers, Pointers, Setters, Collies, or
any other breed you believe can kill a 'coon; tie your 'coon hound,
cut the tree, and let your fighters on to the 'coon, one at a time or
in a bunch, and see them clay him. You will see the old 'coon slap
the faces off your dogs, and the shortest route home will be all too
long for them.

Killing a 'coon appears to be an art with a dog, and, of course, much
more easily acquired by a natural born 'coon hound than by a dog of
any other breed. A year-old hound of good breeding and from good
'coon hound parents, can kill a 'coon with less ado about it than
half a dozen of any other breed. It is in swimming that the 'coon is
most difficult to handle. I have known several hounds to be drowned
by 'coons in deep water. The dog goes for the 'coon, and the 'coon
gets on top of the dog's head. Down they both go, and, of course, the
dog and 'coon both let go their hold on each other. Again the dog
grabs the 'coon, and under the water they both go. This is repeated,
until the dog becomes exhausted, his lungs fill with water, and old
Mr. 'Coon seems to understand the situation exactly and seats himself
firmly on top of the dog's head, holding him under the water, till
outside assistance is all that will save him from a watery grave.

As there is but little chance--practically none--to kill a 'coon
while he is swimming, the wise old 'cooner, on to his job, will seize
the 'coon, strike a bee line to the bank, and kill him on terra
firma.

I once saw a big old boar 'coon completely outdo and nearly drown a
half dozen young hounds in Hatchie River, when an old crippled hound,
with not a tooth in his head, arrived on the scene, plunged into the
river and brought Mr. 'Coon to the bank, where the young hounds soon
killed him.

Another of the tricks Mr. 'Coon uses to advantage when closely
followed by the hounds, is to follow the meanderings of a stream
until he comes to a log reaching across to the other bank; then he
runs to the middle of the log and leaps as far as he can out into the
water, usually swimming down stream, as if he is not making for a den
or a tree in some other direction. This ruse invariably delays even
the best of 'coon hounds, as, being at about full speed, they will
run on across the log, and if the dogs know their job they will
circle out until they again find the trail; but during this momentary
bother, the 'coon is not waiting to see what they are going to do
about it. He keeps moving and I want to say that a 'coon is a much
swifter traveler than many persons suppose. He delays no time, but
keeps everlastingly at it, and it takes a speedy hound to force him
up a tree.

The 'coon may be defined as being a dwarf bear. They have many points
in common. The 'coon can lie up in his den for weeks at a time during
severely cold weather, without food or water. The only difference
between the foot prints of the 'coon and those of the bear is the
size. In shape and appearance they are exactly alike. The flesh, when
cooked, tastes similar, and not one in a thousand could tell any
difference between cooked 'coon and cooked bear, if served in same
size pieces.

By nature the 'coon is a very selfish individual. He deserts Mrs.
'Coon when his children are a day old and lets her provide for them
as best she can. The young 'coons grow rapidly, and at the tender age
of from six to eight weeks old they begin to accompany their faithful
mother in search of food. Fishes, birds, rabbits, nuts, acorns,
berries and green corn are the principal dishes on the 'coon family's
bill of fare.

At first the little 'coons stay close to their mother's heels, but
they grow more venturesome as they grow older, and soon begin to make
little journeys on their own account. This often proves their undoing
when dogs are about. Any sort of an old dog can tree or catch on the
ground a baby 'coon, but this is an advantage no true sportsman will
knowingly take.

That a mother 'coon will even brave death herself to save her babies
is evident to one who has studied the habits of the 'coon. When
closely pursued by the hounds and she and her young are all compelled
to go up the same tree, as soon as the hounds begin to bark fiercely
and the hunters arrive and begin to chop on the tree or to try to
shine their eyes, old mother 'coon picks an opening and jumps out of
the tree and is usually caught, or run up another tree close by and
then caught. But she has again saved her young, as in all likelihood
the hunters will not go back to the tree where the little coons are
serenely sitting on the leafy boughs, or never think of there being
any more coons there.

There are many reasons why the 'coon hunt is fast becoming one of the
most popular of the manly sports. The 'coon is found in many sections
of the United States. Other game is becoming very scarce. The wealthy
business man, the man of affairs who is tied to his desk six days out
of the week, can own a 'coon hound and in the stilly hours of the
night, after the day's turmoil of business, can enjoy a few hours of
the most strenuous sport now left to us and witness a battle royal
between his faithful hound and the monarch of the forest, the wily
'coon. Nothing that I can contemplate is more exhilarating or more
soothing to the nerves than the excitement of the 'coon hunt. From
the first long drawn note when the trail is struck until the hound's
victorious cry at the tree, it is one round of excitement and
anticipation. What or whose hound is leading? What direction will Mr.
Coon take? What dog will be first to tree? And then the fight! It is
simply great! And then showing the hide to the boys who didn't go,
and telling them about it for days to come.

The 'coon hunt calls for manhood. Tender weaklings cannot endure the
exertions necessary to enjoy this sport. It is too strenuous for the
lazy man or the effeminate man to enjoy. They shudder at the thoughts
of donning a pair of heavy hip boots and tramping thru swamps and
slashes, crossing creeks and barbed wire fences, thru briars and
thickets, maybe for several miles, and the probability of getting
lost and having to stay all night. But to the man with nerve and
backbone this is one of the enjoyable features. It affords great fun
to get a tenderfoot to go out for the first time and initiate him
into the "'coon hunters' club." The tenderfoot will use every cuss
word ever invented and will coin new ones when the supply of old ones
becomes worn out and ineffective. He will cuss the briars, cuss the
ditches, cuss the creek, cuss the fences, cuss the swamps, cuss the
slashes, cuss the man who persuaded him to go, and finally cuss
himself for going. But when the excitement of the chase is on and
when the fight commences he becomes reconciled; and if good luck is
had he is very likely to be the next man to propose another "'coon
hunt."

A half dozen hunts will make an enthusiastic 'coon hunter of any able
bodied man--and I might suggest that a half a thousand 'coon hunts
will make an able bodied man out of any man. It will throw off the
waste matter and dead tissues of the body, cause deep breathing,
arouse torpid and sluggish livers, promote digestion, and is a
general panacea for all human ailments of both mind and body.

(The foregoing contains much of value but is overdrawn even tho from
the pen of a "Southern Gentleman" who should be well versed in 'coon
hunting. Now and then a 'coon will go up a tree and come down or even
run out on a limb and jump off or may leap from a log across a stream
into the water. Such instances, however, are rarely done to fool the
dog. Generally when such happens, the 'coon has been feeding, going
up and down trees, etc. When a 'coon does go up a tree, jump to
another and similar tricks to fool a dog, that animal has been
trailed before and is apt to be an "old timer.")

  [Illustration: Veteran Coon Detectives.]

Added to this is the promise of other game, if the hunter is desirous
of combining sport and profit. The skunk and opossum are common to
many sections of this country. They are less resourceful and gritty
than the 'coon, and their taking is simply a matter of choice and
method, rather than concern for opportunities. A dog trained to hunt
'coon will have no trouble attending to opossum and skunk, if his
owner desires it. Very frequently the trainer does not desire that
his dog pay attention to anything save 'coon.

Still another profitable animal taken by night hunters is the mink.
There is not so much sport in this branch, however, as the dogs
simply trail or locate them in their dens, and are captured by
digging or frightening them out, when they are dispatched by the
dogs.

A good mink dog will often locate a mink in the den during the day.
If the den has more than one entrance, is not very deep in the
ground, the animal will often run out by stamping or striking a few
licks with a mattock. The mink generally comes out at the entrance
nearest the water (quite often under water) when it can be shot, if
you are quick enough, or if the dog is an active one, caught.

When hunting at night along streams, or places frequented by both
mink and 'coon, it is sometimes difficult to tell, at first, which
your dog is after. These two animals travel about the same along
streams. Some dogs will not run mink unless especially trained while
others take naturally to mink hunting. Unless a dog is not afraid of
water, he will never make a good mink dog (or 'coon dog either for
that matter), as mink go into a great many dens both on the bank and
in the water.

Where the hunting is done in woods, considerable distance from
streams or ponds and mink seldom travel, your dog may "pass them by"
but if you should catch one in a trap and let him kill it, the
chances are that you will have a mink dog.

Again by hunting certain stretches of creek where mink frequent, your
dog will soon learn that you wish him to hunt these animals. A mink
holed is far from caught, especially after night. If holed in the
creek bank, the chances are that the animal will dart out into the
water and escape to another den.

The most successful mink hunting is done during the day by having
your dog along and following the banks of creeks, lakes, ponds, etc.
The dog locates the game and the animal is gotten out by methods
already described.

  [Illustration: Descendants From Jamestown Imported Hounds.]



CHAPTER II.

THE NIGHT HUNTING DOG--HIS ANCESTRY.

Dogs of almost any breed, from the nondescript mongrel to the bred
and developed hound may be taught to hunt in the woods at night.
However, their success is, in a general way, in proportion to their
adaptability for the work and the plentifulness of game. For
instance, take a country raised dog of hound parentage, and he is as
apt to make as good a night dog as a pedigreed, handsome hound which
has grown up in the city, without opportunity to verify by experience
his instinctive notion of things. Everything else being equal, the
well bred hound should prove by far the better raw material for a
good night hunter.

The ideal coon dogs of most experienced night hunters are the half
bred fox hounds. Thus is enlisted the training of centuries to match
the wits of the 'coon which was born wily, and develops stratagem
from experience and necessity, affording as exciting and pretty a
contest (dog vs. coon) as sport provides.

The more one knows of the hound he follows, the greater will be his
enjoyment and success. He will avoid blaming the dog with his own
mistakes, and wisely refrain from trying to exact from the dog what
by physique and breeding he was not intended by nature to do.

How the modern fox hound descended from the blood hound and the coon
hound from the fox hound is an interesting study of more or less
importance in striking an estimate of the coon dog's prowess and
abilities. It is not such a far cry from the exciting man hunt of
other days to the coon hunt of the present.

What we call the native American fox-hounds are descended from dogs
brought over from England, Ireland and France. The settlers at
Jamestown imported the hounds that spread out over the southern
frontier, originating the superb packs to be found throughout the
South to-day.

The imported dog has never proven a good performer in the chase,
owing to very widely different conditions encountered. His value has
been in cross breeding to give bone and substance to native breeds.

Says one authority: By selection and a different character of work,
we have produced a lighter, faster hound than the ancestral type. Our
hounds are required to go and search for a fox. That quality has
become instinctive in them and it is an extremely necessary natural
quality.

What we have really done in this country with the fox-hound is, we
have created a new type. Our native hounds which are without any near
English or Irish hound crosses are not only faster than their
ancestors, but they get about in rough country, quicker and with
greater ease. The American bred dog, long accustomed to hunting, may
be readily developed to night hunting.

There are some strains of native hounds that train easier than
others. Hounds that have come down through an ancestry which have
long been in large packs have certain fixed notions or instincts
about hunting that are more difficult to change than are hounds which
have grown up singly or in couples.

Whatever manner of hound the trainer may undertake to develop it is
well for him to consider the dog's ancestry and the way in which they
have been hunted. He will find if his hound is well bred that the
ancestral influence will tend to assert itself. Knowing what is in
his hound, the trainer will know better how to handle him to bring
him up to the highest possible degree of efficiency.

There were many different breeds of the hound family existing in
England, when the fox hound, the great grandfather of the typical
night hunter under consideration, began to assume a fixed type and
receive recognition.

"A popular error" writes another authority, "into which many writers
have fallen is to associate the fox hound with any one or two breeds
of hounds for his common ancestry, for the fact is that both the
English and American fox hound is a composite animal, descended from
many different varieties of hounds which have existed in the past."

There are a number of breeds of hounds in France to-day that cannot
be intelligently traced to any peculiar origin and there have been a
greater variety of hounds in the past, which have found the way into
the kingdom by different roads.

It will never be known exactly what hunting qualities the hounds of
our crude forefathers possessed or with what melody of tongue,
accuracy of scent, or fleetness of foot they pursued game, which
consisted, with now and then an exception, of the stag, wild boar and
wolf, until the gradual advance of civilization drove the larger
animals from denuded forest and left the cunning fox as the logical
object of especial attention to huntsmen, who have spared neither
time nor expense to accomplish his death legitimately for nearly two
centuries.

Summing up we are impressed with the fact that the perfect fox or
coon hound is a superb physical being of most versatile and capable
properties, subject to our beck and call, if we learn the language of
the chase, before we attempt to tell him what is wanted.

Let us go to the next important topic. Training the Night Hunter,
with due respect and humility. Success in training a fine performer
is a credit to a man; failure is a discredit. Heed well the advice of
experienced men, and profit by their mistakes.

  [Illustration: A Lover of Good Dogs.]



CHAPTER III.

TRAINING THE HUNTING DOG.

In training hounds, one should remember that they will always have a
hobby for the first game they learn to hunt; therefore, we should be
careful to start them first at the right kind as for instance: If you
desire to have an all around hound that will hunt coon, fox and
rabbit and to hunt each game well, and in order to succeed you must
break him in on coon first, then when he knows the "A, B, C," of Mr.
Coon, you can break him on foxes and then on rabbits in the day time
and when you will hunt coon he will pay no attention to the fox or
rabbit even if he would see one in front of him, providing there are
coons in that bush.

If you desire to have a true deer hound, train him first on deer,
then on foxes, but you must in all cases train them well on one kind
before you start on another; therefore, a hound thus trained will
always hunt deer in preference to fox. The same would exist if the
dog was first trained on the fox.

Some people claim that it takes from three to five years to train a
hound right. Well, this is not always the case. Young hounds twelve
to fifteen months old are often taken from the city into the bush and
in three days would hunt deer as well as other dogs of five and six
years' training. The reason for this is that these dogs take as
naturally to hunting as ducks do to water. These dogs are born with
the hunting instinct in them and being very intelligent, will start
at once to beat a bush as well as an old timer, as soon as they have
seen the game once they will remember it all their life and you can
train them to hunt any kind whether it is a bear, deer, fox, etc.

Of a necessity in treating on the general subject of training hunting
dogs, some suggestions are applicable to all kinds, while others have
individual bearing. Under the subject of this chapter will be given
subdivisions relating to specific training for specific hunting in so
far as required.

There are some fundamental lessons that all hunting dogs should be
taught to do and some things which he is not to do.

Let him begin to follow you when he is three or four months old; take
him through herds of sheep and cattle, and if he starts after them,
scold him; if he continues chasing them, whip him. I do not believe
in whipping where it can be avoided, but if compelled to, do not take
a club or a No. 10 boot, but a switch; and I never correct a dog by
pulling his ears for fear of hurting his hearing, as a dog that is
hard of hearing is not an A No. 1 dog. Never set your dog on stock of
any kind nor allow him to run after other dogs or house-cats.

  [Illustration: "The Fox Hound is a Composite Animal."]

By the time he is four months old, he will likely begin to run
rabbits, but some do not commence until older. Let him run them as it
will teach him to trail and harden his muscles, and, should you have
more than one, it will teach them to depend on each other, and they
will soon learn to go to other dogs when they start a trail or pick
up a loss. If you have a fox or coon hide to drag or a pet to lead,
it will not do any harm, though I do not think it of much value as
they soon learn to associate your tracks with those of the fox or
coon, and I greatly prefer letting them run rabbits as a mode of
training them.

By the time they are eight months old, take them out with a slow dog
that runs and barks a great deal, both trailing and running, and as
soon as the fox is running, let your pup go, but do not let him go
until the old dog has passed with the fox. Should you let him go
meeting the old dog he may take the back track, but if you wait until
the old dog has passed your pup, he will come in behind, and, if he
is bred right, will go in and stay as long as he can find a trail to
follow.

If he should come out after a short run, keep him until the fox is
tired; then let him go again, and if he still continues to come out
after a few times, don't fool with him, but try him for something
else. If your pup has been in good trim, and has come out three times
on fair trials, there is very little chance of making a fox dog out
of him.

I have had pups of this kind which I kept until they were two years
old; have bought pet foxes, and let them catch and kill them, but
never yet made a runner out of a dog that it was not born in.

  [Illustration: Fox Hounds.--Graduates From the Training
School.]

Should your pup go in and stay, don't run him too often unless he is
near a year old. Never take him out unless he is well fed, and in
good shape to run. After a race or two let him go as soon as the
trail is struck, and after a few races, catch the old dog, after the
fox is going, and see what the pup will do alone. Then take them out
on a good day, let the old dog pick up the trail, and after the pups
have started, catch the old dog and let the pups go alone, and if
they trail, start and run that fox to a finish, that is all the
pedigree they will ever need.

When you turn your dog loose, don't run and yell and get him so
excited that he doesn't know what to do, just unbuckle his collar and
let him go. If he does not understand going into a race, it will not
help matters to excite him, just walk to where the fox has passed and
he will likely take the trail, and will know better what to do the
next time.

When your dogs are running and happen to lose the trail near you, do
not run and call, trying to help them get started, for if let alone
they are far more apt to pick it up and go on in good shape; by
getting them excited and running wild the chase would likely end
right there.

My rule is this: Whenever I pull a dog's collar, he must look out for
No. 1 without my going to show him.

Should you not have an old dog to help train your pup, you can train
him alone, but it is more trouble.

If you have snow, lead your dog until you find a fox trail, then
follow it, still leading your dog; if there happens to be
considerable scent in the trail, he may want to follow it, if so turn
him loose, but follow him up and help him to start his fox. If there
is no scent in the trail, lead your dog until you start the fox, then
let him go and let him work for himself.

Should you have neither snow nor trained dog, you will have more
trouble, but I have made No. 1 dogs without either.

If you know where foxes stay, go there, turn your dog loose, and he
will start to running rabbits; this will scare the fox up and your
dog will likely cross its track; if he is a born fox dog, he will
leave the rabbit for the fox every time. You may have to make several
trips, but after you get one race, your dog will be looking for a fox
chase, and will soon take a cold fox trail in preference to a rabbit.

After you have trained your dog to running foxes or coon, you will
wish to break him of running rabbits; this is generally an easy
matter, for a genuine dog prefers the fox or coon and some will quit
it of their own accord. If not, try scolding him when he starts a
rabbit. If that fails, whip him, but where foxes are plentiful, you
will seldom have to do this.

My pups are accustomed to the crack of a 22 rifle, as I shoot near
them while young, so never have any gun-shy dogs.

There is just as much in feeding a running dog, as a running horse.
Some say a light feed just before starting and I have heard some say,
don't feed at all. Now for a grey fox, it does not make so much
difference, as the chase will only last an hour or two, and sometimes
not ten minutes, but where it comes to an old red fox,--one that you
start Saturday night and return just in time to accompany your wife
to church next morning, it is quite different.

A dog to do his best should be used to running. He should have a few
days' rest, and if his feet are sore, grease once each day with salty
grease. At least three days before the race, drop all sloppy food and
give rye or corn-bread with scraps from the butcher shop mixed in
before baking. Feed liberally twice each day and if your race
promises to be a hard one, feed extra before starting, some food that
will give the greatest amount of strength, with the least possible
bulk. Then arrange to give your dog a good heavy feed as soon as he
returns home, and he will be ready for the next race sooner than if
compelled to go to rest hungry.

Before closing, I will say something more with regard to
breeding:--We often see where someone has pure bred Walker, Williams,
Redbone or Buckfield Blues. Now to my understanding, these are
strains of dogs, bred by southern fox hunters, 50 or 75 years ago,
and to keep them pure, there must have been a lot of inbreeding, a
thing I do not approve of. Now why would it not have been better for
Mr. Walker to have selected one of his very best bitches and bred her
to one of Mr. Williams' best dogs, then called the pups the "American
Fox Hounds"--as grand a dog as ever put his nose to a trail?

  [Illustration: Typical Coon Hounds.]



CHAPTER IV.

TRAINING THE COON DOG.

In training, we have been told to drag a 'coon hide, lead a pet
'coon, etc., but your pup soon learns to associate your tracks with
the trail of the drag, and when you carry the 'coon hide he simply
follows your track to where you start the drag again. Should you have
a 'coon so tame that it will follow you, start out and tramp through
the woods, along streams and just such places as 'coons frequent.
Your 'coon will run logs, go up on the side of trees, in and out of
the water, in fact will do just about as a wild 'coon would. After
you have been gone for some time, have someone turn your pup on the
trail and if he runs it, keep him a little later each time, and you
will soon have a trailer out of him anyway. Should you have neither
'coon nor old dog, you can train your pup without.

In nearly all places where there are 'coons, squirrels and woodchucks
(groundhogs) may be found also. Teach your dog to lead and when he is
about eight months old, attach a light cord to his collar; then some
good morning for squirrels, take him to the woods. Keep him until he
gets sight of a squirrel, then drop the cord and let him go; he will
likely see it run up a tree, and perhaps he will bark, but if not, do
not urge him, but give him plenty of time; then take him to find
another and if he does not get to barking, get one in small timber,
where you can make it jump from tree to tree; if he does not bark
then, he will never be much of a 'coon dog.

If he barks after he has learned to tree squirrels, take him to a
woodchuck country. He will soon get to working after woodchucks and
while they won't all tree, some of them will. Should he get one in a
hole, hollow log or tree, get it for him if possible and let him kill
it, and see that he doesn't get hurt much. If he trees one, shoot it
out for him, and after he has gotten a few, and trees another, go to
where you can see him, but do not let him see you, and watch until he
starts to leave; then go to him and by so doing, he will learn to
stay and wait for you.

After you have a good dog for woodchucks, you may rest assured that
he will tree a 'coon if he finds a trail. If it happens to be summer
time, take him where 'coons abide and turn him loose. He will likely
run rabbits, but when he strikes a 'coon trail, he will take it. As
soon as you know he is after a 'coon, keep after him as near as
possible, but let him have his own way. If he trees it and barks, get
to him as soon as you can, but do not urge him, for he will get to
lying as soon as you want him to without any help from you.

After he has barked awhile, encircle the tree with him; then if the
'coon has been up and gone on again, he will strike his trail, and,
after a few times, he will learn to circle before barking. If the
'coon is up and it is summer time or early fall, when 'coon hides are
not prime, take your dog back from the tree, keep still, and unless
it is a den tree, you won't have long to wait, for another 'coon
chase, and by keeping your dog longer each time, you will soon have a
cold trailer out of him.

This may seem considerable work for some, but it takes work and time
to make even a fair 'coon dog. Should you have a good dog to train
with, it saves lots of work, but even then it is a good plan to work
early in the season, and tree your 'coon several times in one night,
as you do not have far to go after the first tree.

In breeding 'coon dogs, the same rule applies as in fox dogs--if your
dog is bred from a line of 'cooners, he will take to it naturally.
Some one will say, I will take a house cat to teach my dog to tree.
Well I have done that myself, but after cutting several good trees,
only to get a house cat, I learned better. It is just as easy to
break a dog from running cats, as rabbits, and more so. I do not
consider a dog that will run and tree every house cat he strikes the
trail of, a No. 1 'coon dog, no matter what his other good qualities
may be.

Years ago, when timber was more plentiful than now, I always trained
my dog to take care of himself, when a tree was cut for 'coons, and I
never had a dog get hurt, nor had many 'coons to get very far from
the tree.

They are easily taught by cutting small trees in the day time and
making them keep back until the tree is down; but now, timber is
getting rather scarce and valuable to cut for 'coons.

When a dog is trained for 'coon so that he is first class, he is
valuable in dollars and cents as well as satisfaction. One of our
good friends sets the value in this way, and we agree with him,
except that where one is training a dog for his own use, love of the
pursuit and woods repays him in a measure for his trouble:

"A man ought not to expect to get a first class 'coon dog for five or
ten dollars. In fact, one can't be trained for that price, not saying
anything about his feed. In the first place stop and consider how
many nights one has to be taken out to get him to understand running
them, and to learn their tricks and to tree and stay treed. They may
do this in a reasonably short time with another older, well trained
dog to show them how to find the tree and keep them out there, but
then take him out by himself and when Mr. 'Coon goes in the creek or
around an old pond or bog your young dog lacks experience and a
year's work or more.

Then there is the rabbit which he must be broken not to run, and a
dog can always find their tracks before he can a 'coon. Now here is
where the right kind of judgment must be used, as all dogs cannot be
handled alike, and one may spoil a pup in trying to break him from
rabbits. So taking everything into consideration, it is worth far
more to train a dog for a first class 'coon dog than most people
consider,--what it requires to train a dog, and what he should be
worth when properly broken.

Of course, it is not so much work to train a dog to run fox, as there
is generally a lot of fox dogs one can turn in with, and that way get
a young dog started and he will take to running them naturally."

I think a good dog, either a fox hound, or one that has never run
foxes, makes the best dog, altho curs or 'coon dogs are not to be
kicked out, that is if they are good, true hunters. I wouldn't advise
trying to train a hound with a cur unless he is an old 'coon dog. Try
and get your dog on a 'coon right in the start, and do not let him
fight too much the first time, unless he is an extra fighter. Do not
let your dog stay out hunting when the other dogs have treed a 'coon;
make him come in and bark up the tree. Always climb the tree for your
dog and get what he has, no matter if it takes until daylight.

When I own young dogs, I always train them myself. I never permit a
stranger to handle them. It is all right for strangers to handle the
old dogs once they are trained but the hunter who wishes to have good
dogs should train them himself or have a man who thoroughly
understands the proper way to use young dogs. It is a very easy
matter to spoil a dog when you do not know exactly how to proceed.

  [Illustration: Capable Cross-bred Cooners.]

On the question of the proper age at which to begin training a hound,
a successful Minnesota trainer takes issue with those who advise
taking the pup to field at eight or ten months of age. He writes in
part: "I disagree with those who advise the early initiation of the
pup. Any kind of fairly well bred pup will run, not only at 10
months, but at 5, 6 or 7 months, but the point to consider is, will a
dog put at hard work at such age, become a hardy one? Will he develop
himself as well as if he had been given a chance to grow some bones?
I say no; put a colt at hard work at 2 or 3 years old, will he ever
be the horse which he would have been, if he had only been broken at
4 or 5 years old? Every horse breeder knows that if he wants a good
roadster, he must give him a chance to grow, then he will not be
afraid to cover 60 or more miles in a day with that horse; not only
this but he will get many times the price for that horse as for his
brother which was put to work two years earlier. I have bred horses
and know of what I speak.

There are many reasons why a sportsman should not start to train his
dog to hunt before he is full grown, that is at least not until he is
12 to 15 months old. Before that age, a pup may have the will but he
has not the strength to cover the ground of an old dog. A man who has
a valuable pup should wait until he is capable to stand hardships,
and until he has also a good knowledge box. In allowing a pup of 6,
7, 8 or 10 months to hunt, he will learn more bad tricks than good
ones, such as to remain in the bush longer than necessary, and soon
become a long record dog. The risk is great that he will get lost, or
if not, will return with swollen feet and legs if he ran at all, also
be chilled and be rewarded with a fine dose of distemper. This is
often the cause why so many young dogs die with distemper or of some
other lingering death, but if a man gives time to his dog to develop
and get strong, the chance is, should he ever get distemper, it would
be but a slight attack from which he will soon recover."

We take it, however, that our well informed friend does not mean to
imply that a pup should not be taken afield and given a kindergarten
course earlier than a year old. His contention is, no doubt, that the
pup should not be permitted to over exert himself or to be thrown too
much on his own resources.

  [Illustration: Good Catch in Which the Shepherd Dog Figured
Prominently.]



CHAPTER V.

TRAINING FOR SKUNK, OPOSSUM AND MINK.

All the foregoing has more or less application to the present topic.
We are still dealing with the nocturnal wanderers. Occasionally any
of the above may be discovered abroad in the full glare of day. Some
hunters successfully locate them, by the aid of dogs, in their dens
or burrows and capture them in the day-time. This is a cut and dried
operation that requires none of the resourceful tactics of man and
dog in the chase, and is, therefore, dismissed from the discussion.
Now, what are the dog's duties? The matter of still hunters vs.
tonguers, being of such variance of opinion, it will be discussed in
a subsequent and separate chapter.

Having impressed your dog with the fact that you want him to look out
for skunk, possum and mink, as well as 'coon, the next point of
importance is to insist on the dog staying with the quarry and
barking until you arrive; also not to take hold until the word is
given as the hide is apt to be all chewed up and full of holes if the
dog is too long and too vigorous in the task. Many hunters pick up
many of the skunk on the field, without even being touched by the
dogs.

In this connection a contributor writes: "We walk right up to the
skunks and pick them up by the tails; then hit them on the head with
a club and kill them or put them in the bag and take them home alive,
as the occasion may suit."

"Now I won't tell that I can catch skunks without getting scented,
but will say this, we have caught hundreds by the tail, and after
lifting them clear off the ground, never have been scented by them.
As I said before, I go for the business end of it, and am not afraid
to get some scent on me as long as I don't get it in my eyes. If you
get it in your eyes, it feels about as if you had horse-radish or hot
water in them for the next ten minutes, which is not altogether
pleasant."

The skunk is a foolish, unresourceful animal and were it not for its
natural, unique means of defense, would be utterly at the mercy of
dogs and hunters. Many dogs object to the scent and will trail and
bring to bay a skunk only with reluctance. Only those who hunt for
profit, care to take the skunk, and he must needs learn the finer
points by experience.

The Scotch Terrier and Beagle should be mink dog. The steel trap is
more generally relied upon to bag the sly mink and his capture with
dog and gun is oft-times very unproductive.

  [Illustration: Opossums Are Easily Caught Alive for Training
Purposes.]

A Pennsylvania hunter contributes the following to the general fund:
a good cross for mink as well as rabbit. This combination gives the
requisite agility needed in coping with mink. Some even advise a
strain of water Spaniel with the above breed for ideal.

"Before taking him out you can teach the young dog when 8 or 10
months old, what to do by catching an animal that you wish to train
your dog on and leading it around. If it is a 'coon or opossum, then
put up a tree or on a fence. Loose your dog and let him trail until
he finds it. Teach the dog to bark by hissing him on and clapping,
whooping to him and such like.

If for skunk, kill one and drag it around, place it out of pup's
reach, and teach him to bark when he comes upon his game. You can
teach the habit of tongueing after night or silence on the trail as
you prefer. Let your young dog shake and chew at the game you are
training him to hunt for. After he has found it and he fails to bark
by hissing him, tie a rope three feet long to it and keep throwing it
toward him and pulling it quickly away to teach him to grab at it and
hold on, and also bark. A live skunk generally gives a young dog such
a lesson the first time that he is always afraid of one afterwards,
unless he is an Irish terrier or bull dog or beagle crossed. These
two breeds are good ones for any kind of night hunting.

Take a live animal, a 'coon or something, and lead it past your young
dog's box where he is tied and let him see it and take notice how he
will want it, but all you want is to teach him the scent and how to
tongue when he comes up on the game. I believe what I have told will
generally break any dog.

A good dog, well broken to hunt 'coon, skunk or opossum is worth
scores of traps. Don't be afraid to switch a young dog some, to make
him learn good from bad, like tonguing track and rabbit. Always pet
him and be friendly after chastising him, and a good scolding with a
couple of light smacks with open hand will take the place of a
whipping. Don't use a stick unless necessary. Use judgment, the same
as you would want some one to use you, and in a few nights' training
your dog will be catching game. It is easy sailing after a few are
caught, and your dog is your greatest friend you have. He will make
you from $5.00 to $15.00 a night, where if you were trapping for the
same game, you would be lucky if you got a dollar's worth of fur, and
besides what is finer sport than a day's gunning, to hear your old
dog up on yonder hill or in some woods talking to you to come his
way?"

  [Illustration: North Dakota Wolf Hounds.]



CHAPTER VI.

WOLF AND COYOTE HUNTING.

In training a dog to run wolves, it is unsafe to allow a young dog to
go alone, as some wolves prefer fighting to running, and if a young
dog is whipped back a few times, he will become afraid, or will be
perhaps, spoiled altogether. Training a dog to hunt young wolves is a
harder task, and unless your dog is born for it, you will fail to
make anything like a first class dog out of him. Almost any good fox
dog will hunt old wolves, but very few will hunt pups, and my
experience has been that a bitch will hunt quicker than a dog. There
are a great many dogs that will trail and hunt a wolf to a finish,
but will pay no attention to the pups whatever; but if you succeed in
finding one that is inclined to hunt them, remember that practice
makes perfect.

Speaking of brush wolves: The kind of dog needed is a good ranger,
extra good cold trailer and an everlasting stayer. Then if he will
only run a short distance after starting the wolf and come back and
hunt the pups, and then bark at them when found, you have a good,
valuable dog. There are plenty of dogs that will hunt and trail
wolves all right, but very few that will hunt the pups.

Sometimes when your dog trails in near the pups you will get a fight,
and sometimes they will jump out and run for it. Sometimes if the
pups are quite young you will find the mother in with them and for
the first few days she will be found near them, but as they grow
older she will be found farther away.

A Minnesota wolfer who averages 35 wolves a year pins his faith in
the long eared variety of hounds, with features of strength,
endurance, good tonguers and stayers.

From another source we are advised that the best dogs ever for
coyotes, are part English blue and Russian stag. English blue are
very fast and the stag are long winded and have the grit to make a
good fight.

Another admired and capable dog is the one-half Scotch stag hound and
one-half grey hound.

A Wisconsin hunter writes that the best breed to catch and kill
coyotes are one-half shepherd and one-half hound. They are faster
than a hound and trail just as well on a hot trail.

Another fast breed for coyotes is a one-fourth English bull,
one-fourth blood hound and one-half fox hound.

  [Illustration: Typical Western Wolf Hounds.]

A Kansas hunter contributes some first hand discussion of wolf
hunting as follows: I have been hunting wolves with dogs for eight or
nine years and have caught my share. I only hunt in spring and late
in fall, but any time is good when you can find them. But don't take
your dogs out in summer, as it will be sure to be the time when you
will find a hard race, and there is where you will hurt some of your
best dogs. I use a pack of from three to five, but the more the
better.

I have tried most all kinds of dogs and have found a cross with stag
hound and English greyhound suits me the best. I don't have any use
for a full blood English greyhound--they cannot stand the cold
weather and are too easily hurt in a fight.

I want a dog that will weigh 75 pounds, with long legs and short back
so he can gather himself up quickly. I don't think foxhounds are any
good for wolves. I have seen thirty-five of them start after the same
wolf, in good weather and four hours afterward there were only two,
the smallest of the pack, still in the race. I have no doubt but that
they could have taken the wolf several times in the race, but all
they could do was to bark.

I will not say a full blood stag hound is not all right, in a level,
unobstructed country, but in many parts of the country many large
dogs would not be able to get thru the fences or over the rough
ground with the ease that the smaller ones do.

I have never seen the big dog that could catch and kill a wolf by
himself. I have killed them with two, but would rather have four or
five.

I always hunt on a horse, and they should be the best of horses, well
broken and not afraid of wire. I never carry a gun of any kind, but
always have a hammer, and if I want to succor the dogs in the race, I
will ride up to the dogs and kill the wolf for them.

THE IRISH WOLFHOUND.

The Irish wolfhound of history is no more, the breed having become
extinct years ago. There has been a determined effort, however, to
approximate him with a present day breed. The modern Irish wolfhound
is a cross between the Scottish deerhound and the Great Dane. Other
combinations have also been tried, with more or less good effect.

According to the idea of the American-Irish Wolfhound Club, the Irish
wolfhound should be "not quite so heavy or massive as the Great Dane,
but more so than the deerhound, which in general type be should
resemble. Of great size and commanding appearance, very muscular,
strongly though gracefully built; movements easy and active, head and
neck carried high; the tail carried with an upward sweep, with a
slight curve toward the extremity.

The minimum height and weight of dogs should be 31 inches and 120
pounds; bitches 28 inches and 90 pounds. Anything below this should
be debarred from competition. Great size, including height and
shoulder and proportionate length of body is the desideratum to be
aimed at, and it is desired to firmly establish a race that shall
average from 32 to 34 inches in dogs, showing the requisite power,
activity, courage and symmetry."

"The coat should be rough and hard on body, legs and head; especially
wiry and long over the eyes and under the jaws. The recognized colors
are gray, brindle, red, black, pure white, fawn or any color that
appears in the deerhound."

THE RUSSIAN WOLFHOUND.

The Russian wolfhound has a reputation for being a most capable
wolf-catcher in his native country, but so far the pure bred hound of
that family has not held his own with the American wolf. He has the
speed and capacity for catching the wolf, but is unable to cope with
him or detain him long enough for the hunter to arrive. Admirers of
the dog say he lacks training and adaption and that he will with a
generation or two of careful training and practice become the most
available dog for the purpose.

  [Illustration: Termination of a Successful Chase.]

Others get good results by crossing in some fiercer and stronger
blood.

The Russian Wolfer has somewhat the clean cut appearance of the
greyhound, though more stockily built, and has a long, silky coat of
wavy or curly hair.

"In general appearance" says an authority, "he is an elegant,
graceful aristocrat among dogs, possessing courage and combining
great muscular power with extreme speed, weighing from 75 to 105
pounds."

  [Illustration: Good Dogs Make Good Luck.]



CHAPTER VII.

TRAINING--FOR SQUIRRELS AND RABBITS.

Here is my way for training squirrel and coon hounds, which I think
is best, writes a Texas Hunter. First, select good healthy pups,
raise them up friendly and don't whip or cow them in any way until
about ten or twelve months old, for if pups get cowed when young they
will never get over it. When about ten months old, take them out
hunting with one or two squirrel dogs and then when the old dogs tree
in small trees or any place where you can make them jump out, jump
the squirrel out and get your pups after them.

Then if the squirrel gets up another tree your pups will bark up the
tree at him. Then when they bark well up the tree at the squirrel,
pet, sick and yell to let the pups know that you are trying to help
them catch the squirrel. Keep jumping the squirrel out until they
catch him, and if they don't catch him and it gets away up a big tree
where you can't jump him, then shoot him and they will wool him when
he falls out.

Clean the squirrel and give the pups some of it to eat, and you won't
be but a few times out hunting squirrels and jumping them out for the
pups and trying to help them catch the squirrel until they will start
out hunting and treeing squirrels as good as any old dog. If the dogs
won't bark up the tree when you get through all of this and they see
the squirrel run back up the tree, you might as well kill them or
take them and run deer, for they will never make tree dogs.

The following directions for perfecting the rabbit dog, are from the
pen of an experienced and successful Ohio hunter.

Get your pup some day while young, if possible, keep him by you, and
when you see a sparrow or something alive, shoot it, pick it up and
show him what you shot at; do this at home. Shoot all you please
while he is young, so when you go hunting with him and shoot at game
he won't be afraid and make a bee line for home.

Most dogs will soon take a liking to guns. Now to training a beagle
dog to be a good one on rabbits, I warn you never to take another dog
along, but for a common hound you may use your own way.

I have seen good beagle dogs spoiled by other dogs. Now, some frosty
morning take your pup to where you most think there are rabbits;
scare one out, and then if he is not near, give three good sharp
whistles which you ought to keep as your signal for him to come. If
you train your pup to a regular code of whistles, he will know what
you want. So here is a good code, which if kept in rule, will become
very handy. When you have scared up game let three sharp whistles be
the calling; if you only want him to come to go another way, give
three long ones. Motion your hand in what direction you want to go
and he will soon learn to understand.

I have often let the dog decide the way to go. Now to go back to the
old subject, when he comes you must be all excited and showing him
that you are greatly in need of him. Then show him three of four
places where the rabbit hopped; when he gets a start you go and stand
where you most think he will come around, but again I warn you never
to jump and run away while your pup is near enough to see or even
hear you, for if you do, he will leave the track and follow you.
Also, you will do a fine piece of work to shoot the first rabbit he
brings around.

Now when you shoot the game, pick it up and wait until your dog
comes, then show it to him, but never let him eat one, for if you
only cripple one he will catch and eat it. Teach him in the start to
hold game until you come to him. Now to get him to start to hunt
another rabbit may be your trouble. He may want to stay with you and
try to steal your rabbit. The best way to start him out is to start
walking through the brush and stamping on brush piles, at the same
time telling him to "hunt 'em up." Keep a piece away from him and he
will soon start to hunt again. Now if he runs one into a den, what
should you do? Dig 'im out and be a "Johnny-dig-'em-out" or let him
go.

Better examine the first den, and if not over 2 or 3 feet deep and
only a small hole, you may dig it out, if it is one of your dog's
first hunts, but don't dig very big dens, for by the time you dig one
out, you may get a shot at another. The way to get your pup away from
a den is to look the situation over and then give up, telling him to
give it up; we can't get it; he will soon come away.

There are other things to be careful of; first you should never hurry
your dog; walk slow and when he gets used to hunting let him scare up
the most of the game or he will get lazy and want you to be the dog.
Never whip your dog for a mistake, or you may spoil him. Then when
you come home you may give him the rabbit heads. Let him in the
house, and when you eat your rabbit, give him all the bones. This
will teach him why and for what you take your game home. One great
thing is, if your dog scares up game and is following on the trail,
don't change your standing place too often; judge the point where the
game will come around and stay there until it does come.

Some fellows will run, jump and halloo after his dog while running a
rabbit; there is where you spoil him, for you must be cool in mind.
Then when your dog is running a rabbit and night is coming on, don't
go home until your dog comes to you, or right there is where your dog
will be discouraged. So when the day's hunt is over you can go home
with your dog by your side.

While you are showing him what good he did for you, if he is wet and
cold call him near the stove and dry him. For if a dog must lay
outside all wet, he will soon become stiff in his limbs, and
rheumatism will be seen at an early age. Always after the day's hunt,
give him all he wants to eat. Don't have him too fat in hunting
season, because he will tire out too easily.

  [Illustration: The Fair Sex are More and More Becoming
Practical Nimrods.]



CHAPTER VIII.

TRAINING THE DEER HOUND.

On all things there is a main point, also certain rules which should
never be forgotten in training hounds, especially the age and the way
to train them. My experience has taught me that it is a big mistake
to allow a young deer hound to go in the woods before he is 12 to 15
months old, says a Canadian hunter.

At a year old a hound should know how to lead well, that is not to
pull on the chain for all he is worth ahead of his master but to
follow behind him through every place he passes, if between, under or
over logs as well as fences, to follow exactly the same trail as his
master. A dog or a pair coupled together, so trained, can be easily
led in any bush without any bother whatever. It is not at all
necessary that a dog should lead in front of his master to find a
trail. A dog with a keen nose can pick a trail from the air several
yards before reaching it. He will then pull you in the direction of
the same and if the scent is fresh, he will be anxious to follow it,
then if the hunter is a man who understands his business, he will
examine the track by following  it 100 yards or so and if suitable
and going (if it is a deer) in the right direction and if the wind is
also right, will then allow his hound to go.

A dog which knows his business will not open the minute he gets the
scent but will cover the ground fast and save his steam until he has
jumped the deer or fox, then open his value and if he is a flyer he
will water more deer in five hours than another which gives tongue as
soon as he takes the scent in five days for the reason that a dog
which opens the very instant he finds a trail will have to cover 20
times more ground to bring his deer to water, than the one which does
not.

  [Illustration: The Deer Seeks Refuge in Deep Water.]

A hound should not be gun or water shy but should be shy of
strangers, traps and of poisoned baits. He should know how to swim
across a river or lake and where to land. He should have but one
master and obey him to the word and this without the use of the whip.
He should know how to ride in a canoe. All this can be taught to him
in about 3 months and he should know all these things before he is
broken to hunt.

The next thing is to accustom your dog to the gun. This is easily
done. All you have to do is to take your gun and dog into a field and
once there to tie your dog say five or six feet from you, then to
shoot the gun and after every shot to speak kindly to your dog and
make him smell the gun. In a day or so repeat as before and the
moment you see that your dog is not afraid let him loose and shoot
again and always pet him. He will then know what a gun is. So when
your young hound knows the gun, the canoe and water, he may be taught
to be shy of strangers, traps and of poisoned baits.

To break a dog to hunt, you must not allow him to go in the bush
whenever he likes. A dog that hunts without being in the company of
his master will never be a well trained dog. Therefore, you must lead
him in the bush and if you have a well trained dog, you may couple
him with the young one and walk until you find a good trail then
follow it with the dogs till you see that the young one has caught
scent right, then let go the young hound first and the "old timer"
last. If the hound comes from hunting stock, he will hang to the
trail with the other dog and he will only turn up with him but for
some reason or another, should the young hound come back to you,
"don't get mad and kick or beat him." No, this is a great error and
many are the dogs which have been spoiled that way. Instead of
beating, speak kindly to him and pet him a few seconds and keep
moving towards where the chase is going.

Don't excite your dog, pay no attention to him. If he wants to follow
you at your heels, let him do so and once you reach a place where
likely the other dog is going to pass, stay there and when the old
dog comes along, the young one will again join and may stay this time
with him, as the scent will be hot and the chances are ten to one
that the young hound will take a hand in the music. But if after ten,
or twenty minutes, he should again return, treat him as before. Be
always kind to him. If you have no old dog to train your young one,
go with your dog and show him the game you want him to hunt, lead him
until you kill one, then blood him. The blooding is the "A, B, C" of
training. Allow him to smell the game all he likes, speak kindly to
him even if he bites the game, don't kick him off or use a stick on
him, as I have often seen done by some fellows who pretend that to
teach a hound you must abuse him. If you want a foolish dog, that is
the way to use him but if you desire an intelligent one, you must
encourage him.

After a dog has been well blooded (the blooding is done by rubbing
the hot blood of the game on the front legs, as well as on the sides
of the dog), you may turn him loose or you may lead him until you
find another trail. He will at once be anxious to follow. Let him
lead for a hundred yards and once you are sure that he has the scent
in the right direction, let him go and if that hound comes from
trained stock, he will run that scent immediately and should he only
be away for five, ten or more minutes and come back to you, speak
kindly to him and tell him to hunt. Always mention his name and keep
moving in the direction where you suppose the game is.

It is a good thing that a young dog backs his own tracks at first, as
it teaches him that he can find you when he likes and a hound that
does this after each chase will never get lost no matter where you
may go. In deer hunting, it has many advantages in so far, that when
you are several miles from camp, after your dog has a start you keep
moving and if you find where a deer has just passed, you can just sit
there and wait for the return of the dog and as soon as he returns,
you just tie him and allow him to rest for fifteen or twenty minutes
and then you start him again. I have often had two and sometimes four
chases in one forenoon and this without bother. Hounds thus trained,
will always return to camp every night for their feed and will be
ready for the next day.

  [Illustration: Well Trained Hounds.]

Some hunters say that their dogs are so good that when they turn them
loose, they always stay away for three or four days and they even go
so far as to say, that they hunt night and day during the whole time
they are away. Well, this is not the case at all. The reason is that
they will chase a deer or fox for three or four hours or more and
when they have watered the deer or holed their fox, will then start
to ramble around and start after another and after watering their
second deer, they will be so far away that they are unable to find
their way back, and they will walk until they can go no more. They
will then lie down for a long time and walk around and howl until
they find somebody's trail, which they will follow to the end or
until they land at a settler's house or at some shanty and will
remain there.

Now how many dogs like these will a party of ten or twelve men
require to hunt, during ten or fifteen days in a strange country?
When a hound has been away three or four days, is he in condition to
run the next day after his return? No, it will take him as many days
to recover and often he will be of no use for the remainder of the
hunt.

Dogs like these may suit men living in the country where there is
game. Their dogs after having been lost several times will, through
time, know the lay of the country and be fairly good dogs at home,
but take these hounds in a strange country, of what use and how many
will a hunting party require to hunt every day of their outing? Well,
they will require a car-load and besides several men to hunt the
dogs. Such dogs as these don't stay with me, as I consider them a
nuisance, especially for city sportsmen, who are so busy during the
whole year that they can only take a few weeks holiday every year,
they require a strain of hounds on which they can depend every day of
their hunt. I want a dog to be a flyer and to back track after every
chase and to find me in the bush and not make for camp after his
chase or wait at the shore until some "Johnny Sneakum" comes along
with his canoe and says, "Get in Jack," and that Jack is only too
glad to jump in and the next thing is that you don't see Jack for the
balance of the season, but you will learn later on that Jack has been
half starved that it will cost you $5.00 to $10.00 for the board if
you desire to get Jack.

I will say here that I owe my life to two of my hounds. I was lost
once in the woods in a blinding snow storm. This was in Western
Ontario amongst a range of sappy pine hills. I was about five miles
from camp. In the morning when I left the weather was very fine but
it soon started to snow and the storm lasted until about 9 P. M. I
was soaking wet and I had left my compass at camp, my matches were
all wet and I slept in the bush. At 10 A. M. I had started my two
hounds and about 11 A. M. they came back to me. It was just
commencing to snow heavily but thinking it would not last long, I
made for another hill where I was aware, if any deer started from
there it was a sure run for our men, so I arrived there in due time
and got a start. It was still snowing very heavily. I then pointed
for home. I had about five miles more to reach our camp when I came
to a place where a deer had just left his nest, so I thought that I
could get a shot at him but after having followed him for about an
hour, I gave him up and I tried to make for camp.

Well, instead of making for camp, I made a circle and came back to
the same place where I had left the deer's track. It was 4 P. M.,
when my dogs came back to me. I knew then that I was completely
turned so I decided to spend the night right there. I looked for a
sheltered place and after removing all the snow I could I lay down
with my back against a big flat stone and with my two dogs lying near
me. We were quite comfortable and early in the morning, I pointed for
camp. Now if these dogs had not returned to me, I really believe that
I would not be able to write this, as their heat preserved me from
freezing to death.



CHAPTER IX.

TRAINING--SPECIFIC THINGS TO TEACH.

To teach the dog to bark treed, it is best, of course, to take him
out with an old dog, but if you have no old dog, you can train him
without one. This can be done by catching a live ground hog, 'coon or
opossum. Take the animal you have to some small tree, a dogwood for
instance, and let it climb from the ground up. It would be better if
you could lead it or even drag it a short distance--ten feet, say, at
first, to a tree.

Don't let your dog look on while doing this. After you have your
animal treed, get your dog and bring him to the tree and give him the
scent on the ground. If he is new at the business, he will not likely
look up the tree, but will hunt for trail. If he finds where the
animal is himself, try to get him to bark, but if he doesn't find it,
then show him. Try to make him bark. That is one of the objects at
this point as well as to find where the animal is.

Have your gun along, and as soon as you get your dog to bark, shoot
into the air and at the same time, pull the animal out of the tree by
the string by which he is tied. But whatever you do, don't let the
animal get the best of your young dog or you will have a spoiled dog.
I always liked a possum for this work because they are easy to handle
and don't fight your dog.

  [Illustration: Good Friends Get Along Best.]

You must remember that, at this point, you are not training your dog
to fight. The object is first to find where the animal goes and
second to get your dog to "bark up." Continue this practice for some
time; then put your animal in a larger tree out of sight but don't
put in the same tree each time, After you have your dog trained so he
will trail and bark up in the manner just described, the chances are
that he will tree 'coon, if he gets a fresh trail. Of course, he will
not be a good 'coon dog at once; that comes by experience.

Next to a good dog in the 'coon hunting business, is a good gun and
lantern. Don't try to hunt 'coon with a common open lantern. A good
kind of lantern to find their eyes with is a dark or police lantern,
as you don't have to put them on your head to find their eyes. But
whatever kind you use, have one with a good bulls-eye and a
reflector. Use a good shot gun. I generally use No. 2 shot.

Having prepared ourselves with a good dog, gun and lantern, we are
now ready for business. We will go out first on a cloudy night. We
will go into the woods and walk slowly, giving the dog plenty of time
to hunt and if we don't see him pretty soon, we will sit down on a
log and wait a while.

Don't go thru the woods as if some one were after you or as if you
were in a hurry and then call your dog as soon as you get thru the
woods. You will never have a good 'coon dog if you do so, especially
if he is new at the business. If you want a dog that will stay by the
trail, you want to stay with him. If you use your dog properly that
is, if you hunt slow and sit down on a log or wait for your dog until
he comes in and then move on as soon as he does come in, you will
find that your dog will soon "catch on" to this and will always come
in as soon as he has a woods or a portion of a woods hunted over,
unless he "trees."

Another brother offers the following suggestions: "Let me give you a
few pointers in regard to breaking them to hunt 'coon. When the pup
is five or six months old, teach him to speak or bark by holding up a
piece of meat or bread, and when you get him so he will bark, take
him into the woods where there are squirrels. Be sure and take your
gun along and chase every squirrel or cat up a tree and shoot the
squirrel. Be sure and make the dog help to chase the squirrel then
skin the squirrel. Cut it up in small pieces and feed it to your dog.
Do this as often as possible and you will be surprised how quickly he
will learn. Commence early in the fall to hunt 'coon, and keep away
as much as possible from the haunts of the rabbit with your dog, but
if he gets after a rabbit, get him off as soon as possible and scold
him. I wouldn't advise anyone to hunt rabbits with dog until
thoroughly broken to hunt 'coon."

TEACHING THE DOG HOW TO SWIM.

As for swimming, we are aware that all dogs when thrown in the water
can swim, but the question is, will they swim right and take to water
at once. I say no, they all need training before they will take to
water when told, swim and float right and remain in the water for
hours when necessary, and also return game from water when required
whether it be for fur or feathers.

To teach a dog to swim, take him often to a nice shore and let him
play at the edge of the water and say nothing to him. After you have
done this during three or four days, tie him and row about thirty
yards from shore. Use a flat bottom boat or a good safe one and place
him gently in the water, hold his head above the water till he
floats, then row to the shore. He will follow and as soon as you
land, get out of the boat and call him to the shore. This will teach
him to land because should you stay in the boat, he will try to get
in the boat with you.

Now allow him to play for five or ten minutes, then repeat the same
tactics but row a little further.  After two or three days lessons
such as these, the dog will take the water. To make him do this, row
a few yards from the shore and call him. He will at once follow you.
Row slowly away and the moment you see he is getting tired, pull him
on board or row to shore. Never train your dog to swim during cold
weather but when it is warm and sunny. A nice sunny morning is the
best time to teach them to swim. Once he knows how to swim right,
take him across a small river or lake and then come back and make him
swim back. He will then never be afraid of water.

To teach a hound to properly ride in a canoe, tie him and have a whip
or a small switch and make him lie down. Always speak to him kindly.
Mention the dog's name and say lie down. If he does not obey, whip
but do so carefully. "Avoid whipping," because there has been many
dogs that would have been good hunters that have been completely
spoiled by the whip. Always speak to your dog, then give one single
stroke; if he does not obey give another stroke and so on until he
does so. As soon as he lies down, you can allow him to put up his
head and look above the boat and row across the river or lake. Once
on the other side, order him off and hold your rope which must be a
long one. If he goes to jump, give him a good check and make him walk
off easily. Once he is landed, hold him and pet him. Stay there five
minutes or so, then get in the boat again, hold the boat and order
your dog to get in the boat. I use the word "Board." Mention the
dog's name and say "board" and to order him out, say "move."

As soon as the dog gets in the boat say, "Lie down" or just "down"
and if he does not obey, show him the whip and command him, then
whip. As soon as he is down, get in and row a few hundred yards
further and repeat the same a dozen of times. The moment the dog
obeys, you must pet him so as to make him understand that what he
does is right. If you will repeat the same tactics for three or four
days, the dog will soon know how to balance himself and will be very
steady--you will never have any bother with him. Thus a dog trained
to water and canoe is a very handy thing for you as well as for the
dog. Should you have no room in the canoe, he will swim. If you have
room, just for him he will be as safe for you to take on board as a
stone. A pair of hounds so trained will just balance your canoe
right. It is a good thing to put some hay, straw or a bag in the
bottom of the boat or canoe for the dog to lie down on. They will
soon know their place to lay.

A QUICK METHOD.

Having many years of experience in the breeding and training of
hounds to hunt nearly all kind of game, a Canadian brother hunter
tells how to train dogs for 'coon when he has no old dog to teach the
young one.

1st. Set a trap where you see 'coon signs as follows: Take the skin
or part of a good sized green codfish, tie it to a string and drag it
along the bank of a creek or place where you see their signs, to the
place you wish to set your trap.

2nd. Take a good sized stick about 4 feet long, drive it well on a
nice flat piece of land, then tie what you have dragged to this stick
about 20 inches from the ground. Have the bait well tied so that Mr.
'Coon will have a hard job to pull a piece off.

3rd. Take three No. 1 1/2 or larger size steel traps, but not very
stiff spring, set them 8 inches from the stick and arrange in such a
way as to form a triangle. Have the chains well secured so that Mr.
'Coon will only be caught in one of the traps. Dig holes for four
traps and cover chain and traps with dry grass or leaves. Be careful
not to put anything to interfere with the jaws of your traps and make
things look as natural as possible. Visit your traps the next morning
and the chances will be that you will have one or two 'coons waiting
you. I have often found three waiting me in one setting as above.
When you have a coon or two, take one at a time to an open field
about 400 yards from the bush, then tie a long clothes line to the
ring of the chain in such a way that it will not slip off. At the
other end of the line, tie something white, and allow Mr. 'Coon to
make for the bush. Have a friend with you that will keep an eye on
Mr. 'Coon. Then take your dog to the spot in the field where the coon
started from, and make him take the scent, and once he has it in the
right direction and commences to pull, turn him loose and follow him.

If the hound comes from good stock, he will soon find Mr. 'Coon and
will bark at him. Encourage him and have your friend pull on the line
in order to make the 'coon move. The dog will then catch him; after
the hound has pinched the 'coon a couple of times, throw the line
over a branch of some good sized tree and help the 'coon to climb.
Allow the dog to bark for a while. Shoot the coon, open him at once
and blood your dog well by rubbing the blood on his front legs and
over his body.

If you have another coon, repeat the same with the second as you have
done with the first, but in another direction of the field and bush.
Always allow the 'coon to go far enough so that your dog will not see
him. When you take him where the coon scent is, after the 'coon is
dead and your dog well blooded, go home with your dog and 'coon.
Chain your dog and put the 'coon near him for three or four hours
before skinning and while doing this, have your dog near you. The
next day, take your dog where 'coons are moving and he will soon have
one for you. Repeat the blooding every time and you will soon have a
No. 1 'coon dog.

  [Illustration: Co-operation Between the Man and His Dogs Brings
Results.]



CHAPTER X.

TRAINING--RANDOM SUGGESTIONS FROM MANY SOURCES.

Summing up we find much pointed and valuable information relating to
the training of dogs omitted thru lack of space. From this we present
a chapter of "nuggets" in paragraph form, which will no doubt prove
interesting and beneficial to those interested in training hunting
dogs. Here are a few things not to do:

Don't allow your dogs to run into every farmyard as you pass along
the road.

Don't allow them to be used with which to run stock.

Don't let them get into the habit of running other dogs.

Don't let them run house-cats.

Don't teach him to be called by shooting.

Don't, when out hunting, keep urging him all the time.

Don't let every one have him to hunt with or he will soon be
everybody's dog.

Don't allow them to come into the house and get into every pan and
kettle, if your wife is good-natured.

Don't correct him by pulling his ears, for a fox dog needs his
hearing.

Don't feed but twice a day, and don't stint him on his feed before
starting on a race.

Don't allow him to run loose when you are not using him.

  * * *

Did you ever try using a sheep bell on a still trailer on windy,
stormy nights? It's a such bells on sheep and disregard them until
the dog but 'coon usually become accustomed to sheep bells on sheep
and disregards them until the dog gets too close for them to escape.
Then, where not accustomed to the bell, their curiosity overcomes
their fear. The best pair of 'coon dogs I ever owned was Sport, a fox
hound and collie, half and half, a slow semi-mute trailer, and Simon,
a full blood fox terrier, a fast mute trailer. I used a bell on
Sport. This and his occasional barks on the trail kept the attention
of the 'coon while Simon cut across lots and invariably took him
unawares.

I have learned at considerable expense that the best at most any
price is the cheapest. If you want a good, cheap 'coon dog, get a
half pup collie and half fox hound. Never give him a taste of nor let
him see a rabbit, teach him a few tricks (to make him pay for his
meals), such as jumping over a stick, then a pole, then a fence. This
is to teach him to obey every word.

Never scold or whip him, gain his confidence, teach him to speak for
bits of meat so when the time comes to hunt 'coon you can get  him to
bark up; get him to catch and carry and he will often catch an
opossum or maybe a mink or 'coon and kill it when away from you, and
if you teach him to bring everything (rats, woodchucks) home to you,
he will do the same in the woods after night. Never let him get
whipped by another dog or woodchuck, 'coon or even a big rat. Always
help him kill or whip everything he jumps on to or that jumps on to
him. A defeat will discourage him.

When your young dog is ready for a night hunt in the woods or
cornfield, choose the best and most favorable night for the first
trip. Feed no meat nor milk for 24 hours previous to the first or any
subsequent trip, for that matter, for the best dogs, full of meat or
milk, cannot do good work on the most favorable night. Feed him a
good dinner of vegetables, but no supper until you return from the
hunt, then give him anything. Choose a dark and cloudy night, the
darker the better, not too still, as usually on very still nights the
atmosphere is heavy and smoke settles to the earth, so likewise does
the scent of the 'coon trail, and many a fine dog has been condemned
for failing to locate his 'coon when started under such a condition
as this.

  * * *

Do not return home and leave your hounds in the woods, rather walk a
mile or two to catch them and they will be in better shape to hunt
the next day than if you had allowed them to run all night.

  * * *

I notice so many of the boys in telling of their 'coon hunting say
when Old Jack or Trailer, or whatever his name might be, strikes a
trail they follow him as fast as they can run until out of wind, then
as soon as he barks treed, they go to him on the double quick, over
logs, brush, barb wire fences, thru brier patches, swamps and so on.
Now, this may be all right, I am not condemning any one else's method
of hunting, but just want to exchange ideas. When my dog strikes a
trail or I have reason to think there is anything doing, I just wait
right where I am until they tree or come back to me. If they bark
treed, I just take my time and if I know of a way around that will
save going thru some thicket or up some very steep hill, I just go
around and save those hardships. And another thing I never do is
whoop and hallo at my dogs when they are working. I think that has
spoiled many a good dog, and never run to a dog as soon as he barks
up, but give him time to think it over and circle the tree a few
times; then, when he settles down again you can go to him and depend
upon the 'coon being there.



PART II.

BREEDING AND CARE OF DOGS.

  [Illustration: Some Ideals.]



CHAPTER XI.

SELECTING THE DOG.

Different hunters have different ideas as to the style of dog best
suited to their purposes. We can only approach the subject, by giving
views of experienced breeders, and the reader may choose as he is
inclined.

From a Canadian Hunter comes the following:

This question of the right kind of dogs to select is a matter on
which many sportsmen differ in opinion. Some prefer the small, some
the medium and others the large hound. For me I like a hound to be
from 24 to 27 inches high at the shoulder and well put together, with
a lot of bones, straight front legs with strong and compact feet,
"but not too large" with good strong nails well set in, the body to
be long and not short of flank with a wide chest and a moderate deep
chest and with a strong broad back, hind legs with the right kind of
bend, that is neither straight or too much curved in, with well
furnished thighs.

Dogs with straight hind legs cannot run and jump over logs and fences
with the same ease as those having a marked bend. These dogs can
buckle and unbuckle with more quickness and power, such as is
required in the gallop than dogs having a round barrel shaped chest,
with both the front and hind legs straight. Dogs having a nearly
round chest cannot stand any length of hard running, such as those
having a narrow chest because a dog with a moderate deep and narrow
chest has better wind as he is able to alter the cubic contents of
his chest more rapidly and thus inhale and expire a larger volume of
air. Therefore, a dog with a deep or flat chest will always have a
greater speed than one with a round one. This is a well known fact in
all animals remarkable for their speed, such as deer, wolf and
greyhound.

I like dogs with good muscular thighs with a fine long tapering and
graceful wavering stern, ears to be well set and not too long and not
thick and slabby, neck to be long and well set between the shoulders,
the head and muzzle, this is only a matter of taste. Those I prefer
are those having a long and narrow forehead and a fairly square
muzzle, ears from 7 to 9 inches long, lips loose but not hanging low,
throat loose and roomy in the skin and a good coat of hair so they
can stand cold and water, and with a good loud tongue and keen nose.
The color has nothing to do, the main point is the staying quality,
the speed, scent and endurance; the intelligence and the particular
style of ranging or beating the ground for trail as well as to run it
once found, with great speed.

Some say a fine looking hound should be a good hunter. Well, any
hunter of experience in the handling of hounds is fully aware that it
is not always the dog which carries the prizes at the shows that is
the best dog in the field. The same thing exists with the horse. Some
people claim that it all depends on the breeding, others on the
training. The fact is that both are required as well as the right
shape the dog should have to be able to stand hard work day after
day.

  * * *

The most essential thing to the value and working capabilities of fox
hounds is purity of blood, declares another. Too much care,
therefore, cannot be taken in selecting and breeding fox hounds.
Hounds for running the red fox should be selected from the best
possible blood that can be obtained. I like a hound with a long clear
voice--one that can be heard at least two miles away on an ordinary
calm day--and one that gives tongue freely when running and trailing
but not one that gives tongue when he has run over the trail and lost
scent.

  * * *

In selecting a night hunting dog I prefer one that is three-quarters
or at least one-half fox hound. The reason is, the fox hound has a
good nose, also a good voice and speed. While I do not condemn a dog
that is bred in any other way, I prefer one bred as I have stated for
the reasons given above.

Some prefer a dog that is part beagle, but if any reader of this book
has ever tried to train a dog with good beagle blood in his veins to
hunt coon, he has been up against the real thing. The trouble is, the
beagle has it bred right in him to run rabbits, and blood will tell.
The only point in favor of the beagle is his nose. With the exception
of the bird dog the beagle has the finest scent of the whole dog
family. I know this to be true by observation. A fox gives off more
scent than a rabbit, so does a coon and all the other animals.

During the "nesting season" birds give scarcely any. This is a wise
provision of Nature to protect them from their enemies during this
important period.

One day I saw a fine English setter almost step on a grouse that was
sitting on her nest. He never scented her until she went whirling out
the ridge right in front of his nose. That dog's actions told more
plainly than words could have done, how deeply he regretted the
incident. I have also seen a beagle run a rabbit after a heavy rain,
the rabbit, to my knowledge, having run before the rain fell.

  * * *

Many writers say that a dog's pedigree and his being registered, does
not amount to the paper it is written on. Now I do not wish to
criticize any of my brother sportsmen, but I think it is the only way
to know if one's dog is well bred, and to have a well bred dog means
much less trouble in training him. Do not get discouraged if your dog
does not train as easily as he should, and always remember that much
depends upon you. Stay with your dog if you want him to be a good
sticker. Many a dog has been spoiled by leaving him to run for
nothing.

In selecting a dog to hunt all kinds of game, get a good bred hound.
I have no use for mongrels or curs. They are dear at any price. Get a
thick, hard, round-footed, long ears coming out of head low down,
well developed chest, shortish tail, large at root or next to body,
long from hip to gamble joint, with broad strong back, wide nostrils
and long pendant lip. Now this is my idea of a good all around
hunting dog. I don't expect you to find all of these qualifications
in any one dog.

  * * *

Have decided that for my use, a full blooded hound. That is a good,
fast and reliable trailer, one that will stay with the trail, cold or
hot, and never think of giving up until asked to. One that will bark
treed on a cold trail just the same as if he had run him up a sight
chase. One that should he in cold trailing run across a hot trail and
tree, will after catching go and take up cold trail again and tree.

  * * *

When it comes to large hounds for coon, fox, etc., a cross of the
right kind of American fox hounds and the right kind of blood hounds
fills the bill to perfection. The blood hound has the keenest scent
of any dog living. The American fox hound has the speed. If a man has
a combination of the two he is starting on the right trail. I prefer
a fox hound bitch bred to bloodhound dog. How many ever saw a
thoroughbred bloodhound? They are a heavy built hound, medium size
heavy head, long ears, square deep muzzle, with heavy rolls of
wrinkles on head just over the eyes, which gives him a surly look. I
have seen what were called and sold for bloodhounds to a sheriff to
trail man. They would trail fairly well, but they came a long ways
from being thoroughbred bloodhounds. Any hound trained when young can
be taught to trail man or beast.

Hunters differ as to the kind of dog to use for coon hunting. The
best coon dog I ever had (and I've had a good many) was a half Scotch
terrier and I don't know what the other half was. He was black and
white spotted with curly hair and weighed but thirty-two pounds.

Some hunters prefer the shepherd dog and again some would hunt with
nothing else but a hound. I don't know as it makes much difference
what kind of a dog one uses, just so it is one of the hunting kind, a
good trailer and thoroughly well trained. Of course, not every dog,
even of the hunting kind, will make a good coon dog; about the only
way to tell is to try.

  * * *

As to picking a pup for a coon hound, it is very hard to do, but I
want a full bloodhound, one that tongues on trail and a free barker
at tree. I want the old style hound, as the modern fox hounds are too
nervous for good coon hounds, although you may get one once in a
while that will work a cold trail very well.

A cross between the old style, long eared hound and the fast trailing
hound with large, heavy shoulders, deep chest, a large fore leg,
large broad head, long ears, rather short coupled back, slightly
roached back, with a good square nose, rather large neck, set well
down in the shoulders. While this is my kind of hound for coon, do
not understand me to say that I want an extra slow trailer, for I do
not, but I want him to be steady, and when he has a trail he can work
it fast. This is my kind of a dog for coon, but he would not be in it
with an up to date fox hound on a fox chase, but running fox and coon
are different, and I want a different kind of a hound.

  * * *

We have made a success in raising bear hounds, and find the only way
to get a good pup with the hunting habit, is to have it bred in them
first, says a California Brother. One has to have good parent hounds,
and while the mother dog is carrying the pups she must be worked on
whatever you want your pups to run. For instance, we have a black and
tan long eared bitch, bred her to a good hound, one quarter stag.
Before she had these puppies we caught three bears with others,
letting her get in and fight hard.

These puppies when a month old would crawl on a bear hide rug, chew
and shake at it, and when three months old, would track, bark and
fight. Now they are five months old and know considerable about it.
We treed an old bear, and these pups kept right on and treed two
cubs, and barked up and stayed until we found them after we had the
old one skinned and cut up. They have the instinct in them, and are
beauties with just enough stag in them to have a good crop of
whiskers.

  [Illustration: Embryo Trailers.]



CHAPTER XII.

CARE AND BREEDING.

As we must raise the dog before concerning ourselves with his
culture, let us begin with the pup.

I commence to care for the pups by giving the bitch plenty of
exercise before they are born. Then as soon as they are born, put
them in a clean, dry place, where they will be comfortable,--if in
winter, where cold winds cannot reach them; if in summer, in a cool
place out of the hot sun. Feed the bitch well on good food of
different varieties; do not chain her, but rather shut her up in a
park of something of the kind, where she can exercise but not get out
to run, for if she should run she gets hot and you may loose some if
not all of your puppies.

By the time the pups are three weeks old, you will need to commence
feeding some milk twice each day, gradually increasing the amount as
the bitch becomes dry, and when she weans them, feed three times a
day, until about six months old; after which I only feed twice a day.

In this connection we quote from an article in a current magazine,
the truth of the contentions being borne out to a greater or less
extent by our own observations:

After her puppies are about five weeks of age a bitch will begin to
vomit the contents of her stomach for the puppies. I have known many
breeders of experience argue that but few bitches do so. Over and
over again have I been able to convince persons who, having immediate
care of the bitch and her litter, deny that the bitch ever vomits to
her puppies, that they are wrong. Many bitches never vomit when the
attendant is about, and only appear to do so at night; hence the
belief that they do not do so at all. It is the natural manner in
which the bitch feeds her whelp with partially digested food, after
her milk supply ceases to suffice for their requirements. If the
bitch is of good constitution and in good health, the puppies
flourish remarkably on the diet thus provided, and in such cases my
experience leads me to believe that puppies left with their dams do
better than when separated from them and, strange to say, bitches who
are in the habit of picking up all sorts of apparently undesirable
odds and ends do not seem to do their puppies less well under these
circumstances than cleaner feeders do.

Many bitches eat the young soon as they come if not closely watched,
especially the first time. There should be an attendant at time of
whelping. Whelps must be removed to a basket of warm cloths and kept
away till all have come and then place to matron for nursing. There
is no danger of her devouring them thereafter.

To resume: This is what I feed pups: grind rye without bolting and
sometimes oats ground very fine; then run through a coarse sieve, and
bake into bread without soda or baking powder, or make into a thick
mush and feed it with plenty of milk if convenient. As they grow
older add cornmeal and scraps from the butcher shop to the feed, and
give them enough to keep them nice and sleek, but do not overfeed.

By the time they are three weeks old they will be running everywhere,
and let them have plenty of room to run and play. Change their beds
as often as needed, which is a good way to prevent fleas. Should
fleas get on them as they are sure to do, put a tablespoonful of oil
of tar in a quart of warm water, take a fine tooth comb, dip in tar
water, and comb them until the hair is thoroughly saturated;
repeating as often as needed.

For bedding, the best is leaves from the woods; straw will answer,
but I prefer the leaves to anything I have ever tried, but whatever
is used it should be changed often and kept dry. For the dog with a
damp place to sleep, will soon have the mange, and it is far easier
to keep a dog healthy than to cure him after he has become diseased.
In warm weather I use no bedding as it is only a harbor for vermin.

The best place by far, to keep your dogs, is in a park, where there
is shade in summer, with running water, and slope enough to the land,
to allow it to be well washed whenever it rains. Then provide dry,
comfortable quarters to sleep, and you have an ideal home for dogs.
In case you cannot have a place of this kind nor even a small park,
and must keep your dog chained, attach a good heavy wire to the dog
house and the other end to a tree, where your dog can get to a shade
if possible; then attach a chain to the wire so your dog can travel
along the wire; but be sure that he cannot get tangled up and have to
lay out some wet night.

Some are situated far better than others for taking care of dogs and
I am sorry to say there is an occasional sportsman (or at least he
owns a dog or two), who is inclined to let his dogs shift for
themselves. I pity the dog that is unfortunate enough to have such an
owner.

My experience is that too much meat is not good for the foxhound, and
if they get a mess of old stale meat just before you want to run
them, the chances are that they can't make the race. I have seen good
dogs that couldn't run an hour, simply because they were filled up
with old dead hog or horse. If you want to make a good race with your
dog, keep him tied two or three days before you intend to run him,
feed him corn bread (well baked) and sweet milk. If you run at night,
give your dog a good feed at noon and very little at night when you
start, and if your hound has the "stuff" in him he is good for all
night.

I think rotten meat will affect the smelling of a dog as well as heat
them up, so they can't make a good race. To let your dog run loose
until you are ready for a chase, where he can find slop and such
stuff to be filled up on, and have your friend meet you with his
hounds in fine shape and lead your hound all the time, well you know
how you would feel.

Some say you must have it bred in a hound to run. That is all true
enough, but a well bred hound with all grit can't make a good race if
he isn't in shape to do it.

The foregoing is borne out and added detail given in the following
contribution from New York State:

I find that fox hounds which I feed on old stinking pork or stinking
meat of any kind are quite stupid and very careless about hunting.
They cannot keep on the trail, neither do they wish to run fast or
continue running long. Old stinking pork seems to be the worst I
could feed to a fox hound, and corn bread and some milk on it seems
to be the best.

When my dogs are fed on cornbread and milk they display the most
activity, and can follow a fox or rabbit more accurately and
accordingly run faster. When I want to make my hound run slow I feed
him some meat, and the more it stinks the less he can smell anything
but the fumes of this in his stomach. I can easily tell by the smell
of my dog's breath whether he has eaten fresh mutton or rotten horse
recently, and I think any healthy person  can easily.

Here are another hunter's views on this same subject:

In rearing hounds, to have them hardy and intelligent you must feed
them right and provide them with a lot of good fresh water as well as
to give them daily exercise. When I feed beef, I have a small axe
with which I chop all the bones into fine pieces. They also get
scraps from the table with some vegetables mixed with cooked rolled
oats. I feed the old ones once a day with raw meat and once with
porridge. I see that they get just enough to keep them always in good
running condition, that is neither fat nor thin. I like a dog with a
good rolling skin. I never take a skeleton dog in the woods as I have
often seen hunters going deer hunting with dogs which you could read
a newspaper through.

Now of what use are such animals as these? Some say that a thin dog
will run better than a fat one. Yes, if the fat one is hog fat; but a
dog with about one-half inch of hard fat on the ribs will out-do a
dozen of these starved dogs of which you can count the bones at one
hundred yards from them. No, a dog with just the skin and bones
cannot stand any work for the reason that he has no bottom.

Young pups should be fed at the very least three times daily, four
times is still better. Never give them more than what they can eat,
and in the meantime see that they just get enough so as to clean the
dish well at every meal and in no case should the pan containing the
food be left in the intervals with the puppies if they have not
cleaned it out as they will become disgusted with it and next time
refuse to feed. Keep everything clean and dry and always feed at the
same hour daily. It is much easier to rear a pair of pups than a
single one.

Before weaning the dew-claw should always be removed. These are of no
use but only serve to bother the dogs and hounds should always have
them cut off.

Worm medicine should always be given to all young dogs and kennels
should be lime washed at least three times a year and never allow
your dogs to sleep near the stove and then turn them out in the cold.
If you desire a lazy hound allow him to burn himself at the stove,
but if on the contrary you wish a lively dog, provide him with a good
dry kennel and if you keep several dogs see that each one has his own
stall. This has the advantage of preventing them from fighting and
from the risk of taking cold by lying out of the kennel.

When your dogs return from the hunt always examine their feet and
legs and if you find any sore spots attend to them at once. If the
dogs return wet to camp always allow them to dry near a stove before
turning them to their kennel which should be a good dry one.

If you desire your dogs to stand hard work day after day you must
look after them with as much care as a jockey attends to his horse.

The very moment you notice your dog is looking dull ascertain at once
what is the cause, and if you are of the opinion that it is a cold or
distemper, don't wait until you see his eyes and nose running, to
doctor him, but attend to him immediately.

  [Illustration: A Versatile Ontario, Canada, Dog Family.]



CHAPTER XIII.

BREEDING.

The main and most important question in breeding race horses as well
as hounds is to get always the very best and to do this, one has to
be on the move and watch the hunting and staying quality as well as
the style of looking for trails, etc.; and a breeder should always be
ready to pay the price for a good sire or dam. And he should always
bear in mind that there is no more trouble or bother and that it does
not cost more to raise a pair of dogs from well known hunting stock
than from unknown stock but where it tells is when the dogs are of
age for training. It is here where the great difference exists and
where a sportsman is willing to look at the right side of the matter
finds his mistake and where he regrets not having paid a few dollars
more for the right stock.

Some say that if pedigreed dogs were trained they would beat the
other dogs. The question is to train them. Hounds which come from
untrained or from partly or badly trained stock will always be poor
hunters. They will never be the dogs that they would have been had
they come from highly trained stock, that is that their sire and dam
and grand sire and grand dam were all trained by persons who
thoroughly understood the way of breeding and rearing as well as the
age and proper way of training. A hound coming from such selected
stock will learn and pick up in a day what will take others months
and probably a whole season to learn. I never kept a hound which
after having shown him the game and also blooded him once or twice
would not at once start to hunt because I consider that the sooner a
sportsman will shoot such dogs the better.

There are plenty of fox dogs that are good coon dogs, and a great
many coon dogs will run a fox to a finish, but the fox and coon dogs
are two very different dogs. There is also a greater difference in
the opinions of hunters, in regard to the coon dog than in any other
dogs.

Some want the full blooded hound, and some a cross with a foxhound;
here they differ again as to what dog to cross with; others want no
hound blood at all, but a shepherd; one wants a collie and another
just a dog. Then here is a hunter who insists on a silent dog; and
the next one says the silent trailer doesn't camp with him.

Now as I am not looking for trouble, I will agree with all of you.
Where coons are plentiful and you are likely to strike a coon track
in every cornfield, the half hound or even a cur dog, will get coons;
but where they are scarce and you may tramp until near morning, and
then strike a trail five or six hours old, if you get that coon, you
will need a dog with a good nose and one that tongues on a trail. But
there is one point on which you will all agree--if your dog does not
stay at a tree and bark good and plenty, he isn't much of a coon dog.
Consequently in breeding for coon dogs, this is the most important
point. Get as many other coon points as you can, but be sure his
ancestors have been good tree dogs, as far back as you can trace
them.

The very reason that there are so many culls in this country, is
because many hunters think a dog is a dog, and that any dog with long
ears is a hound. Ears count for nothing but looks; bent legs, ditto;
the only way that you can perfect the breed, which in your
estimation, is the ideal, is by choosing the dogs of the best
particular kind which you prefer. For instance, how could a hunter
expect to produce a strain of dogs with good, loud voices, if he
chooses as his breeders the poorest squallers in the lot? Nature is
nature, and it is only by studying her laws that we are able to
produce our ideal of any kind; also, if he wants an intelligent dog,
he must pick out the one with the most desired good points, and then
he is on the fair way to success.

In short, in order to have a hound that will repay you for his
training, he must be bred right in every detail or the hunter is
doomed to disappointment. If the hunter does not own a first class
pair to breed from and cannot secure a good strain in his locality,
he should buy from a reliable dealer, one whom he knows has made a
success of breeding this class of dogs. It is also advisable to buy a
young pup as the chances of securing the best are alike to all, or
even though the parent dogs are No. 1 in every respect, there will be
some in the litter that will be weak in points before they have
reached the age of eight months, the breeder himself will have
difficulty in choosing any one as the best.

There is a standard for judging the so-called high class pedigree
show dogs but which does not cut much ice with a fox and coon hunter.
Regardless of color, the qualities most desirable in an all around
fox hound are: 1st, staying qualities and powers of endurance. 2d,
voice, feet and general make up.

  [Illustration: One-half English Bloodhound Pups.]

Personally, I like a hound that stands from 20 to 24 inches at
shoulder, long in body, deep chested, heavy boned with a coat of
rather long hair, the feet should be round in shape with a good
covering of hair to protect the soles or pads. A foxhound should not
have a second claw on the hind leg for this shows a cross in his
breeding. A dog that has these claws will not stand much hard running
in crust for by rubbing against trees, etc., they will gradually
become sore and bleeding, and the hound although willing enough is
handicapped with a pair of sore legs. Some hunters cut these claws
off while young. In the pure strain of fox dogs this would be
unnecessary as they would not have them on.

The first cost of a young hound is nothing compared with the time and
trouble it takes to bring him to a hunting age. Therefore, it is
advisable to buy the best obtainable for even though the price be
high at first cost, the hunter will be better satisfied for his time
and money when the dog has fully developed for the chase. In making a
choice for breeding, select a pair that has been thoroughly tried and
are known to have no weak points, such as poor voice, quitters, back
trackers, etc. It is also advisable to hunt with the bitch as much as
possible up to the very time the pups are whelped. The pups will be
stronger and better in every way than if the mother had been housed
in all the time, and a hunter will find that a pup so bred will take
to hunting almost as soon as he can run.

Do not breed a pair of young dogs, rather select if possible, an old
dog for a young bitch for by breeding two young dogs their pups are
apt to be hot-headed, over-anxious and these qualities are not wanted
in a foxhound.

To be sure of a strain of dogs the breeder must know their ancestors
three generations back for it is surprising how far back a pup will
breed from, not only in color but in characteristics, habits, etc.

  [Illustration: Fox Hounds.]

  [Illustration: Some Young Hunters.]



CHAPTER XIV--BREEDING (Continued).

Crossing for Coon Dogs.

My experience has been that the crossing of an English pointer dog
and American fox hound slut for 'coon dogs, are the best I ever saw,
writes an Ohio night hunter of rare judgment and experience, and I
will illustrate by relating the accomplishments of a certain dog of
the breeding. I will say further that the sire of this dog I mention
was the most remarkable I ever heard of--a fine large pointer, and
often when hunting quails or pheasants in the woods he would bark up
and had done it many times before they found out the cause.

One day while hunting pheasants he began to bark up a hollow beech
stub, and when called, refused to leave his post, and his hair was
slightly raised, which excited the hunter's curiosity and they
procured an axe and felled the stub. To their surprise, two large
'coons came rolling out and were dispatched. This solved the problem,
and after that, he was the cause of many 'coons losing their life, as
he located them in the den and trees where they had not stepped a
foot on the ground. I for one can surely recommend this cross to make
good 'coon dogs.

  * * *

A few points in regard to a stud dog for fox. Pick a dog with a deep
chest, good strong loin, long head and stands with his feet well
under him. About the feet--take the foot in your hand, press gently,
and if it feels firm and springy like a piece of rubber, that dog has
a good foot, which is very necessary in a fox dog, but if he has a
soft, mushy foot, let that dog alone, no matter how good he looks,
for he will not stand long chases, and the old adage that like begets
like, will surely show itself in this case.

  * * *

There are a great many worthless dogs, but the dogs are not to blame.
I am writing on fox dogs, but it holds good on all dogs. There is
always a worthless bitch, and sometimes several of them to be had for
nothing, and some fellow who wants a dog but don't want to pay a fair
price says, "I'll get that bitch and breed her to that dog down at
Graysville. They say he's a crackerjack, and I'll get some good dogs
and they won't cost me anything either."

Well, when the time comes to breed it's five miles to Graysville, and
the roads are awful muddy, and he concluded to breed to Jim Jones'
dog just over the way, saying he ain't much of a dog, and a cousin to
the bitch, but his great-grandmother got more foxes than any dog over
in these parts, and some of the pups will breed back. He gets eight
or ten pups, which he gets perhaps $1.00 a piece for, and it costs
just as much to raise a poor one as a good one. The owners spend a
lot of time trying to make dogs of them and have nothing at last.

In a running dog these are the qualities I think are needed. First,
endurance, because no dog can make a race after a red fox without it.
Then speed, a good nose, lots of ambition, good sense and the more of
that the better; and will need to be able to hear well to enable him
to cut corners if he happens to get behind, as any dog is liable to
do.

After the pups are born, don't let the bitch run until they are
weaned, for it will hurt both mother and puppies. Should she get very
hot and then get to her pups you would likely lose some or perhaps
all of them.

Here we have still another favorite breed for 'coon hunting, advanced
by an old and tried hunter. Says he: My choice of a breed of coon dog
is a grade hound crossed on a bull or one-half hound, one-fourth rat
terrier and one-fourth Scotch collie or shepherd or fox hound and
beagle.

Says another: A hound to be a fine ranger does not require many years
of training if he comes from a sire and dam that were both good
rangers and which their own sire and dam and grand sire and grand dam
were all good and highly trained dogs. He is sure to hang from them
and any sportsman having dogs of that strain will enjoy the use of
his dog at once, but where it takes three or five seasons and
sometimes more to make a good dog, is when they come from exhibition
stock or from stock that have never been broken right. If a hound is
wrongly taught to hunt he will always be a crazy dog and will, if
bred, give poor hunters exactly like himself.

An Ohio Fox Hunter goes on record thus: In breeding hounds some seem
to expect great work on any line they wish to see the hound, not
stopping to think everything to its kind and everything to be perfect
must be true to his nature. The bloodhound is true to his nature with
reasonable opportunity. He is a man trailer, a large, strong dog,
built for strength and endurance but not for fleetness which all
breeders concede the 'coon dog should be built upon. Strong in my
opinion with strong jaws, good size and a good muzzle, a good scent
with as much speed and determination as you can inject into their
blood.

I am now speaking of coon dogs. They may be bred almost any way and
yet be good coon dogs but I find it is just as necessary to have them
bred from coon hunting stock as for any dog or animal to be trained
for any specific or especial purpose. It must be bred with that
object in view and as much of that blood and disposition injected
into the veins as is possible to get.

The fox hound is a special or specific type or breed of dog. He is
bred for it, built for it, trained for it and if a true type of
hound, is it. Not all well bred dogs are fox dogs nor are all well
bred horses fast. Only one in many. But in order to have grounds to
expect speed, we must have breeding, as the saying goes, "Blood will
tell." Some are daffy on pedigree, others must have everything
registered, others ask only for the swing and staying qualities of
their ancestors, etc.

All breeds of hounds have some worthless, yet some may be fairly good
along some particular line and very much at fault in others. Some
have speed but cannot be got to use it, will not get in with a pack
and run to a finish. Some will run with a slow pack all right but put
them in with a fast pack and they will have their gallop out in from
one to two hours. They seem to have all the courage necessary but not
the speed. Some will go after the first fox trail they ever smell of
and others you have to train to follow.

I think this difference largely between the dog that is allowed to
run at large and one raised in a corral. One is fearful of
everything, the other fearless and full of self-confidence.
Confidence is worth much in both dog and man. So many cannot run
unless they have their noses directly over the trail and have no
driving instinct. If they lose the trail, go back and get it and
bring it up to where they lost it before. So for several times,
perhaps, before getting away, the dog running all the time, Mr. Fox
sitting down waiting, resting. You never hear of such dogs catching
or holding a fox. They seem to be willing but lack the tact and fox
sense.

I would say to breeders there are only a few characteristics
necessary for good foxhounds and every breeder should see to this
with careful study and tests. First--Courage. Do not breed a dog on
either side that has not got it. It will crop out to make you ashamed
of your dog some time. Second--Speed. It is just as natural for the
lover of a chase to want to be ahead, as for the lover of the horse
race, but we cannot all be so; often we find it easy to beat our slow
packs in the neighborhood and how we swell up and think we can best
anybody until we get away from home and get that bubble pricked.

Other qualifications as to form and shape. A dog should be compact
enough to be strong. He should be just as long as he can be to gather
quickly. A dog too long turning on all kinds of ground is like a
horse with a very long stride trying to go fast on a short track. His
stride is too long for the lay of the ground. Another qualification
and not in the least,--is voice. The dog that has no voice holds not
the highest place in his owner's pride. A good hound, one prized by
his owner and loved by the lover of the chase must do three things at
once, run fast, carry the trail and tongue well. These requisitions
make a good fox dog and if his shape and symmetry is good, he is a
valued dog.

Breeders should look to it that these qualities are bred for at the
sacrifice of everything else. There may be places, especially in very
hilly country, that a small hound is best. In this section, give me a
good, medium large dog, say from 22 to 24 inches at shoulder and
built in proportion with from 16 to 18 inches earage. Color is a
matter of taste. I believe that our English cousins breed them so
straight that the spots and marks are stamped on all alike. I have
heard it said so much that a stranger could hardly see any difference
in a pack and when the American breeder gets to giving so much
attention to their breeding, then we will soon have a true type of
hound.

Then I will say courage, driving with courage goes largely, speed and
voice, good sound chest and body, good wide head and long muzzle,
good bone and heavy forearm, good long back, good sound feet, well
padded, with black upper mouth, a hazel eye, a strong loin and not
too much flank. Regardless of color you have my ideal fox hound.



CHAPTER XV.

PECULIARITIES OF DOGS AND PRACTICAL HINTS.

Never purchase a dog from an unknown party unless the said party can
supply good references and testimonials regarding the square dealing
and the merits of his strain of dogs. If a man cannot give you this,
wait until you find one who can.

Some people are inclined to believe that a big dog cannot compete
with a smaller one. Most of them have to come to this conclusion
because they have seen some big sloppy and lazy hound, but take a
big, well built, lively, fleet and nervous hound, and full of grit
and he will hold his own and more. It is just like trying to make a
pony cover the same ground as a roadster, declares a lover of hounds.

A pup of most any large breed of dogs will make a good watch dog if
properly brought up. If fondled and played with while young by
everybody that happened to come to the house, then the dog will be
playful and friendly with people always later on. If to be made cross
and shun strangers, the pup should be reared in a lot with high board
fence to prevent him seeing what goes on outside. The owner, in
disguise, or better still some other person, should now and then
pound against the fence, look over the top so the dog gets a glimpse
at supposed intruders; partly open the gate and peek in, let the dog
make a rush towards him but slam gate shut before quite coming up,
etc. Such practice will make any dog watchful and cross towards all
strangers, and will never make friends with any but his master. For
an imposing, powerful and the best of watch dogs get a Mastiff or a
Great Dane.

It is not wise to expect too much of a new dog. Some of them will
fret and worry after their friends and home for a long time, will
hardly eat or drink, and it takes the best of care and attention to
bring good results. Eventually they will become acquainted and regain
their old form, if properly encouraged.

I never pet my dogs while hunting except after killing game which in
my opinion is pretty good policy as a dog like a man likes to have
credit for what he had done. Remember also, though contrary to the
old fashioned theory that it is just as unreasonable to ask a dog to
hunt without food as it would be to hitch up a horse and drive him
all day without either hay or grain, there has been many a good dog
called a "quitter" simply because he was weak from the lack of food.
As for a quitter, in my opinion a vast majority of them have never
commenced, not because they had a "yellow streak," as most hunters
say, but because like the Irishman's pig, they have too many streaks
of lean. As your dog is a better friend to you than most people of
the J. Sneakum caliber, why not treat him right?

In some journals there is considerable criticism and complaints, and
sometimes one feels like steering shy of many advertisements of fox
hounds. One publication invites all persons to inform its editor
where any dog has been misrepresented and sold through its columns.
No doubt in many instances it may be the fault of the purchaser
handling a strange dog. I purchased a dog that followed at my heels
for several trips and would not leave me until one day he put his
nose in a fresh trail. The other dog was out of hearing when he went
out in a good race, tongueing in good shape, and was a No. 1 fox
hound.

When a sportsman wishes to purchase a strange hound if he desires to
get a good one he must pay the price and the way for him to not be
fooled is to deposit his money at the express office and then have
the dog sent on trial and if not satisfactory, he returns the dog and
pays the express charges one way. This is the only safe way to get a
good dog, as a man that will accept these conditions will most
certainly send you the right stuff at once and not a "cull", that he
has scraped somewhere for $5.00 and sells you from $15 to $30.

It's detrimental to allow a bird dog to roam and go self-hunting. Not
being restricted he gets in all sorts of mischief. Keeping at home is
the only remedy. To give ample exercise arrange a trolley in the yard
by driving two stakes into ground without projecting; fasten a strong
wire to top of posts and on this slip a ring to slide on; to this
snap the chain and the dog can run up and down the full length of
wire. Within a few days he will learn the extent of run and chase up
and down the full length for hours at a time, then be content and
restful.

By nature dogs are cleanly and will not soil their bed or kennel if
to be avoided. Being shut up in a small place may cause them to be
uncleanly and soil the floor, making it disagreeable, as by rolling
in play all the dogs will constantly present soiled appearance.
However, even in a small kennel this can be regulated as follows:
Thoroughly clean out the place and scrub; in one corner bore some
holes into floor and spread sawdust over this part only; litter the
rest of space with clean straw and besprinkle this with some strong
disinfectant. Turn in the dogs. At once one or more will go to
sawdust portion,--this done the ice is broken and henceforth all the
dogs will use this part only as retiring place, leaving the remainder
perfectly clean.

Teach your hound not to be afraid of water, and to circle the tree
and to keep an eye on the coon and to bark treed, but never allow him
to get whipped by any coon at first as this will discourage him. Not
only this, but the coon may blind him should he strike him in the
eye. It is better always to hold or tie the dog before shooting the
coon, and when he drops to make sure that he cannot fight much more
before allowing the dog near him.



CHAPTER XVI.

AILMENTS OF THE DOG.

Dogs as well as people sometimes fall ill. Proper care and sanitary
lodgings will reduce the danger, but sickness will occasionally
occur, no matter how great the precautions.

Dog owners should therefore acquaint themselves with the commoner
forms of ailment to which dogs are subject and thus be in a position
to quickly administer such relief as is possible, thereby frequently
stopping a sick spell promptly that might otherwise result seriously
if not fatally.

The dog is very similar to man in his ailments as well as in his
susceptibility to drugs. As a general thing medicine that is good for
a human being is good for a dog under similar circumstances. "While
no definite rule can be laid down" says an eminent authority, "it may
be said that a dose suitable for an adult person is correct for the
largest dogs, such as St. Bernards; for dogs from forty to fifty
pounds the dose should correspond with that given to a child twelve
to fourteen years of age, and so on down."

Few veterinarians make a study of the dog, and they rarely are of any
use when called. However, those who have made a special study may be
consulted with advantage and saving.

We have not the space here to go into an exhaustive recitation of dog
diseases, symptoms, treatment and remedies. If you are at a loss
concerning your dog, write to one of the Dog Doctors, whose
advertisements appear in sporting magazines, and he can no doubt
diagnose the case and forward the medicine you require at a minimum
cost. In nearly all cases he will forward you a free booklet
describing the prevalent diseases and his remedies applicable to
same.

The following from the pen of H. Clay Glover, V. S., will no doubt
give many readers some light on one of the common afflictions that
prove so troublesome.

INDIGESTION IN DOGS.

Eczema is a frequent symptom, and let me state right here that I find
more cases of eczematous eruptions arising from a disordered
condition of the digestion than any other cause. Doubtless many who
will read this will recognize the fact that at some time some certain
dog has had some obstinate skin trouble, all kinds of which are by
the layman diagnosed as "mange", and that, after trying various mange
cures to which the trouble has not yielded, the blood has been
treated with no better results.

To any one who have, or may have in the future, indigestion cases,
let me advise the following treatment, viz.: Feed rather sparingly
three times a day on raw or scraped beef, this being the most readily
accepted and most easily digested of all foods when the digestion is
disordered, allowing no other diet, and giving immediately after each
meal one of the digestive pills. Add to the drinking water lime water
in the proportion of one to thirty.

By following this treatment as laid down, many cases of eczema will
disappear. Some probably, may be accelerated by the use of a skin
lotion in conjunction. Eczema in these cases is merely a symptom
appearing in evidence of disordered digestion. Indigestion may be
considered as a mild form of gastritis, which if not corrected, will
be followed by true gastritis, the stomach then being in such
condition that nothing is retained, even water being returned
immediately after drinking. This will be accompanied by fever, colic,
emaciation and only too often followed by death.

DISTEMPER.

We quote further from Dr. Glover's booklet, some practical
information on another of the more common dog ailments:

The term distemper is particularly applied to animals of the brute
creation; to the dog when afflicted with that disease somewhat
resembling typhus fever in the human race. We have now become quite
familiar with the nature of the disease and the remedies indicated;
consequently the loss by death is comparatively small when proper
treatment and attention are employed. In early days, those dogs that
were fortunate enough to survive this disease did so merely through
strength of constitution and not from the assistance of any remedial
agent, as utter ignorance of the subject then prevailed. The disease
doubtless then appeared in a much milder form than that with which
our present highly bred animals are afflicted.

Owing to more or less inbreeding that has been indulged in to
intensify certain forms and characteristics in dogs of most all
breeds, constitution has to some extent been sacrificed. Animals bred
in this way are in consequence less able to resist or combat disease
than those with less pretentious claims to family distinction.

CAUSES--Bad sanitary conditions, crowded or poorly drained kennels,
exposure to dampness, insufficient or over feeding, improper diet,
lack of fresh air and exercise, all conduce to the development of
distemper. It is contagious, infectious, and will frequently appear
spontaneously without any apparent cause in certain localities,
assuming an epidemic form. Age is no exemption from distemper, though
it more frequently attacks young animals than adults. Very few dogs
pass through life without having it at some period.

SYMPTOMS--In early stages, dullness, loss of appetite, sneezing,
chills, fever, undue moisture of the nose, congestion of the eyes,
nausea, a gagging cough accompanied by the act of vomition, though
rarely anything is voided (if anything, it will be a little mucous),
thirst, a desire to lie in a warm place, and rapid emaciation. This
is quickly followed by mucopurulent discharge from the eyes and nose;
later, perhaps, ulceration of either eyes or eyelids. Labored
respiration, constipation or obstinate diarrhoea, usually the latter,
which frequently runs into inflammation of the bowels.

In some cases many of the above symptoms will be absent, the bowels
being the first parts attacked. The following, which sometimes, but
not necessarily, occur with distemper, I classify as complications,
viz.: Fits, Chorea, Paralysis, Pneumonia or Bronco-Pneumonia,
Jaundice, and Inflammation of the Bowels, and will require treatment
independent of any one remedy that may be given.

TREATMENT--The animal should be placed in warm, dry quarters, and
hygienic conditions strictly observed. With puppies, at the start
give vermifuge, as nearly all have worms which add greatly to the
irritation of stomach, bowels and nervous system.

The bedding should be changed daily and the apartment disinfected
twice a week.

Feed frequently on easily digested, nutritious diet, such as beef tea
or mutton broth, thickened with rice. Let all food be slightly cool,
and keep fresh cold water at all times within reach of the animal. If
constipation be present give warm water and glycerine enemas, and an
occasional dose of castor oil if necessary. Should the bowels become
too much relaxed with any tendency to inflammation, feed entirely
upon food, such as arrowroot, farina or corn starch with well boiled
milk, as even beef tea is somewhat of an irritation to the stomach
and bowels.

In the treatment of distemper, one great object is to keep up the
general strength, so in case of extreme debility a little whisky in
milk or milk punches may be allowed.

If your efforts are not successful and you are in danger of losing
one or more good dogs, write a specialist. It would require fifty
pages of this book to go into the subject fully.

RHEUMATISM.

Acute rheumatism in the dog is similar to that in the human body,
effecting the joints. Muscular rheumatism settles in the muscles. If
given early 5 to 15 grains, twice a day, of salicate of sodium is a
most excellent preventative measure. A severe case demands more
elaborate care.

RICKETS.

Those accustomed to dogs have seen cases of rickets. It is a
constitutional or inherited affliction, and attacks puppies most
frequently. Nothing can be done save kill the sufferer if the attack
is severe, or build up the health generally, toward outgrowing the
trouble, if mild.

These are only a few of the ailments the faithful dog is heir to; yet
in a general way, a healthy dog is no more subject to disease than a
healthy person, and in many cases the old family watch dog will pass
a long and useful life with no more serious trouble than he can
readily cope with, with the assistance of nature.

We add some practical advice from Mr. Amer Braley of Dade Co.,
Florida, as to what will cure canker in the ears of dogs, a prevalent
and aggravating trouble: Will say I have cured cases of it of long
standing by working boracic acid well into their ears, usually a few
applications does the work.

There is a disease that kills more dogs in Florida than all the other
causes put together. It is called sore mouth, black tongue, new
disease and other names. I lost some fine hounds of this disease,
usually dying from six to eight days from the time of showing
disease. Symptoms of it are generally languor, dullness about the
eyes, little or no appetite, sometimes feverish and a dryness about
the mouth and at other times slobbers hang down from the mouth.

They seem anxious to drink water but are unable to swallow it. Their
tongues seem to be somewhat paralyzed, they can hardly pick up
anything. They usually want to roam around where they will not be
molested. I will give a remedy that I have which has cured several
cases of this disease with the only ones I ever knew to survive it. I
will give it for it may be the means of saving the lives of some good
dogs.

"A gelatin coated pill or capsule of quinine containing five grains
twice a day for two days, then one each day for a week." Also swab
out their mouth with the following: "Chlorate potassium half ounce,
murvate tincture iron half ounce. Put into one pint of water and
shake well. Tie rag or cotton to stick, letting it protrude over the
end, and swab out the mouth two or three times a day."

You want to go right at once to giving the remedy for if the disease
runs 36 hours I don't think there is any cure for it. The size doses
mentioned here are for good-sized dogs as grown hounds. Smaller ones
and pups reduce accordingly.

There is another disease that dogs are sometimes taken with in this
country. Some say it is caused by ticks. It is called "staggers" as
the dog that is affected with it staggers as he walks. It seems as
though they can't manage their hind parts. Sometimes they break down
and have to drag their hind parts (sled fashion.)

A remedy that I have never known to fail yet for that is: Lard and
spirits of turpentine about equal parts mixed and bathe in well
across the kidneys and also across the back of head where it joins to
neck. Usually two or three applications makes a cure.



PART III.

DOG LORE.



CHAPTER XVII.

STILL TRAILERS VS. TONGUERS. MUSIC.

Perhaps no more mooted question enters in for so widely separated
opinion as the comparative superiority of the Still Trailing dog and
the Tonguers.

The still or mute trailer is the deer, rabbit or night dog which does
not give tongue on the trail. He keeps his silence, until his game is
treed or in sight and about to tree.

The tonguer gives forth a joyous and lusty cry as soon as he makes a
strike, and continues to do so until the chase terminates. When treed
he changes his bark, so that usually the hunter can distinguish
between the signals.

We shall withhold personal opinion as to the preferable style, and
present the arguments of a number of adherents on both sides of the
question, allowing the reader to come to his own conclusion.

A West Virginia 'coon expert says, in favor of the tonguer: I have
had several good 'coon dogs, both tonguers and silent trailers. This
is a hilly, brushy country, with lots of deep hollows. The best 'coon
dog I ever had was a three-fourths fox hound, one-fourth bull dog. He
was very fast with a good nose and a wide hunter. He never struck a
cold trail and went straight ahead all the time. He has started a
'coon half a mile away from me and would go right out of hearing of
me, and I would follow the way I would judge the 'coon to travel and
would be hours finding him barking treed. If he had been a mute
trailer I would have left him in the woods without the slightest idea
where he was and that is no fun when you have gone three or four
miles walk from home to get a 'coon chase.

Another brother puts it this way: Some hunters prefer a still trailer
on a cold trail. I have handled both kinds but it is an advantage to
the hunter in keeping in touch with his hound if the hound will "wind
his horn" occasionally on a cold trail for very often a wide hound
will travel a couple of miles on a cold trail before starting the
game. In windy weather, the hunters might be at a loss to know in
which direction his dog was working, if he did not hear him. I like a
dog with a loud, clear voice and one that keeps the music going
steady once the game is afoot.

Still another gives voice to his sentiment thus: I want a good
tonguer, one that will give me no trouble in keeping the direction
they are going. One that is a courser, that is, that never foots
around trying to find every track a 'coon makes, but keeps on finding
ahead anywhere from a hundred yards to a quarter of a mile. That kind
of a dog keeps you awake when cold trailing, and is apt to warm up at
any time.

A Western tonguer adherent says: For 'coon I like the cold trailer
that lets you know where he is going, and don't believe they will
hole any sooner for him than a still trailer, and I never saw a full
blooded hound still track. My hounds give a long whoop every few rods
on cold trail, and will "back brush" a 'coon or wolf that is many
hours old but will find him, and you can follow up so as to keep in
hearing. My dogs are quite fast but I do not go back on a moderately
slow dog to shoot after. I think they circle better.

From Indian Territory comes this addition to the testimony: The
thoroughbred hound for 'coon is my view after 40 years' experience. A
good many are giving their idea as to which is best, the still
trailer or the dog that gives tongue. I have never known a
thoroughbred hound fail to give tongue on trail. The thoroughbred has
the greatest powers of scent and this is very important as you do not
have to travel so much ground to find a trail that he can run. What
we want when we go after 'coon is to start and catch all we can. If
we cannot start one we cannot catch him, sure. I have followed behind
over the same ground with my hound that another party had been over
with their still trailers and caught more 'coon than they.

And again if you are out on a windy night and your still trailer gets
a 'coon treed to the windward of you, you might as well go home as
there will be no more fun for you if he is a good tree dog.

Now just one thing more in regard to still trailers catching 'coon on
the ground. That has not been my experience, for you all know when
you go a rabbit hunting with a still trailer, how soon the rabbit
will hole. He has no warning where the dog is, so in trailing 'coon,
the 'coon will wait and listen to the hound and if he is a fast
runner, Mr. 'Coon has waited too long. He must make for the nearest
tree or get caught. With the still trailer, the 'coon hears the
leaves and brush snapping and without any more warning makes for his
home tree.

Hundreds of hunters take this view, that is, favor the dog which
barks from the time he takes up the trail. The principal advantage as
has been pointed out, is that the hound and hunter may thus keep in
closer touch, and that the hunter is treated to "music," so sweet to
the ear of the average enthusiast.

Another considerable following, however, at once take issue and
present an array of argument in favor of the dog which keeps his
silence.

Let us first consider the views of a conservative Pennsylvania
brother, in favor of the still trailer: I see a good many 'coon
hunters disagree on 'coon dogs, still trailers vs. tongueing dogs.
Now in my experience, I have used nearly all kinds of 'coon dogs,
some good ones and some not so good. I think the difference is in the
kind of country to be hunted, for hunting in a very rough country
that is cut up by long hollows and large tracts of timber I prefer a
tongueing dog.

For hunting in this locality where it is all cut up into small fields
with principally all rail fences and timber in small blocks, mostly
cut over by lumbermen and nothing left but hollow trees and brush, I
prefer a still trailer by long odds, as the noisy dog gives the 'coon
warning as soon as he strikes the trail, then Mr. 'Coon takes to the
rail fence or a jungle of briers and old tree tops and begins to get
busy and is soon in one of those hollow trees, where he is perfectly
safe as far as I am concerned, for I never cut down any den trees.

The still trailer does his work quietly and is right on to the 'coon
before it is aware that the dog is after it. So Mr. 'Coon is obliged
to climb whatever kind of a tree there is handy and very often is
taken on the ground.

From a Central States hunter's letter: I used to be a dear lover of a
dog that would bark on trail and raise some of them, but now my
choice is a still trailer, as a quiet trailer suits this locality
best on account of the thickly populated country and the great amount
of stock raised, and a great many farmers claim the constant barking
of dogs frightens their sheep. For that reason fox chasing is fast
losing its interest and foxes are becoming quite a nuisance in the
destruction of quail, pheasant, rabbit and such like game.

A brother of conviction on this question writes: It takes patience,
perseverance and skill to properly train a hound for 'coon. First,
the dog must be silent until he finds the hot scent, so as not to
give Mr. Coon time to commence his sunny ways, as the 'coon has a
good knowledge box and lots of strings to his bow which he uses to
evade Mr. Hound. He will swim down and sometimes up stream and often
crosses them. Will never miss a hollow log and comes out at the other
end, and will climb leaning trees and leap from them to others and
may return to the stream for a good long swim before he will make
quietly for his den. This is what an old 'coon will often do with a
noisy dog, but with a swift and silent one he will have to climb at
once and stay there.

Another telling stroke for silence: Regarding silent trailers: By
silent trailer I mean a dog that will not tongue the very instant he
finds an old trail when there is yet some scent, but that will work
it quietly until he starts the game. I have often seen hounds roar on
an old scent as well as on a new one. These dogs have generally a
special gait, which they keep steady whether the trail is cold or
hot, and give the full cry the whole time, and also often come to a
full stop to blast away a few louder roars. These dogs dwell too long
on the scent for me. My strain of dogs will open only when they are
on a hot scent; if cold, they will cover the ground silently and
fast.

A swift dog cannot keep up the full cry, but will give a roar now and
then and not bark often as it takes a lot of wind to roar. Therefore,
a dog cannot be a flyer and a roarer in the meantime, and a deer,
fox, lynx or 'coon, chased by a fleet and silent dog as above
mentioned, will have to point at once for safety, and will have no
spare time for tricks. The lynx or 'coon will have to climb in a
hurry the first tree he finds, while with a noisy dog Mr. 'Coon will
commence with his tricks as soon as he will hear the music, and I
maintain and stand ready to prove that a silent trailer as I have
described will water more deer in five hours in this country than a
noisy one will in five days.

  [Illustration: "He Was Here a Moment Ago!"]

THE MUSIC OF THE HOUND.

The term "music" as applied to the barking of trailing hunting dogs,
is to the uninitiated a gross misnomer.

"Isn't that music grand!" exclaimed an enthusiast afield.

"I can hear no music for the noise those dogs are making," replied
the other. And so it goes.

The hound is the master orator, with a command of language that
varies from uncertainty, joy, anxiety, conviction, eagerness with
great clearness and truth. His shades of meaning are accurately
intonated and perfectly comprehendible to the well versed hunter.

The hound is looked upon with disdain by people who know not his
capabilities, and is considered in the nature of the dunce of the
tribe. Well do the well informed know that he is the most delicately
strung and the most highly emotional type we have.

Every note that he utters is an expression of emotion. Because
emotion is more susceptible to music than any other agency, his code
of expression is likened unto notes of music, and with more fidelity
than some instrumental sound producers committed in the name of
music.

A student of this pure and undefiled language says: "Each note
represents a particular feeling, and the whole harmoniously blended,
tells a simple story in a pleasing way."

Now the hound takes up the cold trail. He signals his master--there
are notes of expectancy and hope in the tone. As the scent grows
warmer, his tone of hope rises. He makes a loss. Could anything
express regret and chagrin any more plainly than his doleful cry?
Back on the trail. Then joy again. Then comes the excited,
imperative, anxious yet joyous fortissimo scale running when the
quarry trees.

  [Illustration: "Here He Is!"]

He who has not been schooled in classical music sits bored and alone
at the production of an opera, or yawns and wishes he were at home in
bed, as the vigorous long haired performer spells out his emotions on
the piano key board. So it is that one with no ear for music of the
hound is disgusted thruout the sally to the woods at night, or the
fields by day. He can dwell upon nothing save the scratches, falls
and efforts required, all of which another forgets in fixing his
attention on the action and music of the chase.

Some hounds are better singers than others, just as is the case with
people. Also he must be trained to perform pleasingly and truly. If
he is well trained and is certain in his movements it will be
reflected in his music. If he is faulty in foot and head work he will
also betray these faults in his voice. Anxious to cover his own
shortcomings, he takes to guessing and guesses wrong. He becomes a
liar, and his singing is like unto the fellow with a cracked voice
who insists on singing in the church choir, thereby annoying
everybody.

An experienced hunter can tell by the song of a hound how capable he
is, even if there were not many other ways of fixing values.

Bring up a hound under proper training methods, and he is almost
certain to prove a rare musician.

If you are not versed in music of this kind, you are unfortunate, and
should join the fox or 'coon hunters and take a course of lessons. It
is well worth while.



CHAPTER XVIII.

THE DOG ON THE TRAP LINE.

Some trappers will take issue in regard to the advantages and
disadvantages of the dog on the trap line. The subject holds
sufficient interest, however, to warrant a chapter, and if some
lonesome trappers benefit thereby, our effort shall stand justified.

Now, we will say first that there is as much or more difference in
the man who handles the dog as there is in the different breeds of
dogs. We have heard men say that they wanted no dog on the trap line
with them, and that they didn't believe that any one who did want a
dog on the trap line knew but very little about trapping at the best.

Now those are the views and ideas of some trappers, while my
experience has led me to see it otherwise. One who is so constituted
that they must give a dog the growl or perhaps a kick every time they
come in reach, will undoubtedly find a dog of but little use on the
trap line. We have known some dogs to refuse to eat, and would lay
out where they could watch in the direction in which their master had
gone and piteously howl for hours, waiting the return of the master
and friend. I have seen other dogs that would take for the barn or
any other place to get out of the way at the first sight or sound of
their master. This man's dog is usually more attached to a stranger
than to his master. The man who cannot treat his dog as a friend and
companion will have good cause to say that a dog is a nuisance on the
trap line.

I have seen men training dogs for bird hunting, who would treat the
dog most cruelly and claim that a dog could not be trained to work a
bird successfully under any other treatment. Though I have seen
others train the same breed of dogs to work a bird to perfection and
that their most harsh treatment would be a tap or two with a little
switch. I will say that one who cannot understand the wag of a dog's
tail, the wistful gaze of the eye, the quick lifting of the ears, the
cautious raising of a foot, and above all, treat his dog as a friend,
need expect his dog to be but little else than a nuisance on the trap
line.

Several years ago I had a partner who had a dog, part stag hound and
the other part just dog, I think. One day he (my partner) asked if I
would object to his bringing the dog to camp, saying that his wife
was going on a visit and he had no place to leave the dog. I told him
that if he had a good dog I would be glad to have him in camp. In a
day or two pard went home and brought in the dog. Well, when he came
the dog was following along behind his master with tail and ears
drooping, and looking as though he never heard a kind word in his
life. I asked if the animal was any good and he replied that he did
not know how good he was. I asked the name of the dog. He said, "Oh,
I call him Pont." I spoke to the dog, calling him by name. He looked
at me wistfully, wagging his tail. The look that dog gave me said to
me as plainly as words that this was the first kind word he had ever
heard.

We went inside and the dog started to follow, when his master in a
harsh voice said, "get out of here." I said, "where do you expect the
dog to go?" I then took an old coat that was in the camp, placed it
in the corner and called gently to Pont, patted the coat and told him
to lay down on the coat, which he did. I patted him saying that is a
good place for Pont, and I can see that wistful gaze the dog gave me,
now. After we had our supper I asked my partner if he wasn't going to
fix Pont some supper. "Oh, after a while I will see if I can't find
something for him." I took a biscuit from the table, spread some
butter on it, called the dog to me, broke the biscuit in pieces, and
gave it to the dog from my hand; then I found an old basin that
chanced to be about the camp and fixed the dog a good supper.

After the dog had finished his supper I went to the coat in the
corner, spoke gently to Pont, patted the coat, and told him to lay
down on the coat. That was the end of that, Pont knew his place and
took it without any further trouble.

The next morning when we were about ready to start out on the trap
line I asked Pard what he intended to do with Pont. He said that he
would tie him to a tree that stood against the shanty close to the
door. We were going to take different lines of traps. I said, "What
is the harm of Pont's going with me?" "All right, if you want him, I
don't want any dog with me." I said, Am, (that was Pard's given name,
for short) I don't believe the dog wants to go with you any more than
you want him to. Am's reply was that he guessed he would go all right
if he wanted him. I said. Am, just for shucks, say nothing to the dog
and see which one he will follow. So we stepped outside the shack and
the dog stood close to me.

I said, "Go on Am, and we will see who the dog will follow." He
started off and the dog only looked at him. Am stopped and told the
dog to come on. The dog got around behind me.

Am said, "If I wanted you to come, you would come or I would break
your neck." I said, "No, Am, you won't break Pout's neck while I am
around; it would not look nice."

I started on my way, Pont following after I had gone a little ways. I
spoke to Pont, patting him on the head and told him what a good dog
he was. He jumped about and showed more ways than one how pleased he
was, and from that day until we broke camp, Pont stayed with me. He
showed plainly the disgust he had for his master.

It so happened that the first trap I came to was a trap set in a
spring run, and it had a 'coon in it. I allowed Pont to help kill the
'coon, and after the 'coon was dead, I patted Pont and told him what
great things he had done in capturing the 'coon. Pont showed what
pride he took in the hunt, so much so that he did not like to have Am
go near the pelt. I saw from the very first day out that all that
Pont needed was kind treatment and proper training to make a good
help on the trap line.

I was careful to let him know what I was doing when setting a trap,
and when he would go to smell at the bait after a trap had been set,
I would speak to him in a firm voice and let him know that I did not
approve of what he was doing. When making blind sets, I took the same
pains to show and give him to understand what I was doing. I would
sometimes, after giving him fair warning, let him put his foot into a
trap. I would scold him in a moderate manner and release him. Then
all the time I was resetting the trap I would talk trap to him, and
by action and word teach him the nature of the trap. Mr. Trapper,
please do not persuade yourself to believe that the intelligent dog
cannot understand if you go about it right.

In two weeks Pont had advanced so far in his training that I no
longer had to pay any attention to him on account of the traps. The
third day Pont was with me he found a 'coon that had escaped with a
trap nearly two weeks before. My route called me up a little draw
from the main stream. I had not gone far up this when Pont took the
trail of some animal and began working it up the side of the hill. I
stood and watched him until the trail took him to an old log, when
Pont began to sniff at a hole in the log. He soon raised his head and
gave a long howl, as much as to say he is here and I want help. After
running a stick in the hole I soon discovered that the log was
hollow. I took my belt axe and pounded along on the log until I
thought I was at the right point and then chopped a hole in the log,
and as good luck would have it, I made the opening right on to the
'coon, and almost the first thing I saw on looking into the log was
the trap. Pont soon had the 'coon out, and when I saw it was the
'coon that had escaped with our trap, I gave Pont praise for what he
had done, petting him and telling him of his good deed, and he seemed
to understand it all.

Not long after this Am came into camp at night and reported that a
fox had broken the chain on a certain trap and gone off with the
trap, saying that he would take Pont in the morning and see if he
could find the fox. In the morning when we were ready to go Am tried
to have Pont follow him, but it was no go, Pont would not go with
him. Then Am put a rope on to him and tried to lead him, but Pont
would sulk and would not be led. Then Am lost his temper and wanted
to break Pont's neck again. I said that I did not like to have Pont
abused and that I would go along with him. When we came to the place
where the fox had escaped with the trap Am at once began to slap his
hands and hiss Pont on. Pont only crouched behind me for protection.
I persuaded Am to go on down the run and look at the traps down that
way while I and Pont would look after the escaped fox.

As soon as Am was gone I began to look about where the fox had been
caught and search for his trail, and soon Pont began to wag his tail.
I merely worked Pont's way and said, "Has he gone that way?" Pont
gave me to understand that the fox had gone that way and that he knew
what was wanted. The trail soon left the main hollow and took up a
little draft. A little way up this we found where the fox had been
fast in some bushes but had freed himself and left and gone up the
hillside. Pont soon began to get uneasy, and when I said hunt him out
Pont, away he went and in a few minutes I heard Pont give a long howl
and I knew that he had holed his game. When I came up to Pont he was
working in a hole in some shell rocks. I pulled away some loose rocks
and could see the fox, and we soon had him out, and Pont seemed more
pleased over the hunt than I was. There was scarcely a week that Pont
did not help us out on the trap line.

Not unfrequently did Pont show me a 'coon den. I had some difficulty
in teaching Pont to let the porcupines alone, but after a time he
learned that they were not the kind of game that he wanted, and he
paid no more attention to them.

I have had many different dogs on the trap line with me, and I can
say to any one who can understand dog's language, has a liking for a
dog and has a reasonable amount of patience and is willing to use it,
will find a well trained dog of much benefit on the trap line, and
often a more genial companion than some partners one may fall in
with. But if one is so constituted that he must give his dog a growl
or a kick every time he comes in reach, and perhaps only give his dog
half enough to eat and cannot treat a dog as a friend, then I say,
leave the dog off the trap line.

  [Illustration: A Group of Typical Sledge Dogs.]



CHAPTER XIX.

SLEDGE DOGS OF THE NORTH.

Not a hunting dog in a strict sense of the word, yet most important
in that connection, is the sledge dog, in transportation of hunters
and their outfits to and from the hunting and trapping scenes.

Following is a first hand, specially written article by Colonel F. H.
Buzzacott, the intrepid Arctic explorer. That he writes from
experience is evident, which necessarily adds interest and value to
his highly interesting contribution.

What the Indian pony is to the plain Indian, the Pack Horse or Mule
is to the White Settler, Hunter or Trapper, the Sledge Dog or
Reindeer is to natives of the distant and Far North. An old saying
among frontiersmen is that a white man will abandon a horse as broken
down and utterly unable to go when a Mexican will take that same
horse and make him go a hundred miles further, while an Indian after
all of this will mount and ride him for a week still.

With all Indians, natives of the north or Esquimaux, knives are
luxuries, ponies and dogs, necessities. Yet, for all that, they are
never stabled, curried, washed, blanketed, shod, seldom protected or
even fed. When the icy cold wintry blasts sweep the drifting snows
over plain and valley and buries under his white mantle his food he
either digs for it, finds and eats what he can, or starves.

In my plains experience with the Indians or in the Polar Regions with
the natives of the north or Esquimaux, I have observed that the love
of an Indian for his ponies, an Esquimaux for his dogs or Laplander
for his reindeer consists in seeing how much he really can get out of
them with the least trouble or effort to him.

I have seen the Indians or natives of the northwest and the Esquimaux
of Hudson's and Baffin's Bay, Greenland, etc., drive half starved
dogs to the sledge until they fell or froze, only to be eaten by
their masters or mates, whom for a lifetime they had pulled with or
served faithfully. Necessity recognizes no law--man is but an animal
himself--and in the struggle for life or gain it is everywhere but
the "Survival of the Fittest" or strongest and passing of the weak,
be it white man or Indian.

The best of the "Sledge Dogs of the North" are to be found in
Greenland or Siberia, "Samoyed" dogs or its Esquimaux cousin, the
"Immit Dog", used by explorers and Esquimaux generally. Those with
short, thick hair, medium build, size and full breed are considered
the best for all around work. They will exist and work well on one
pound of food per day, or a big feast once a week. Their food
consists mostly of dried and fresh fish, carrion or fresh, or, if
with explorers, dog biscuit added.

They closely resemble a wolf and howl like one. Are of various colors
and sizes, iron grey predominating. They average about two feet four
inches in height by three feet six inches in length, of unusually
light weight for their size, owing to the bristle out appearance of
their hair which adds to their real size. As a rule females are
killed at birth, except those few to suffice for breeding. Commence
training at six months to a year old and when two or three years old
and seasoned to work are considered prime and preferable for long
heavy distant sledging and hunting.

The best trained of the team (eight, twelve or more in number) is
selected as a leader. They are guided by voice and whip, a loud
"Brr-Brr" taking the place of our "Gee" in starting and the word
"Sass-Sass" used as "Whoa." "Hi" and "He" for right and left, "Ho" to
correct, or speed, as they are trained, of course. A good leader
possesses the quality of rarely failing to lead one safely over any
route once traveled by them, bringing you safely to the place even if
buried under the snow.

They eat each other's flesh wolf-like with gusto and will tear their
fellows to pieces in fight or injury, unless beaten, torn apart or
separated by a man of whom they are afraid. They hate water in winter
as much as they love it in summer when they frequent the salmon
streams and support themselves by fishing, pounce upon nearing fish
of any size that approach them, much as does the bear, two of them
even tackling an immensely big fish and fighting to secure and bring
it to shore. As bear, muskox, or reindeer, dogs, a pack of them will
invariably round up, hold or drive anything sighted within reasonable
distance so long as the hunters will follow on, needing but little
urging, as they realize the prospect of a "good big feast," hence get
busy to the end; younger dogs often paying the penalty with their
lives but seldom older ones.

As a rule, rawhide or seal harness is used in the far north, Alaska
and Greenland and by the Esquimaux but with the explorers these
consist mostly of canvas collar like attachments made of fourfold
strips, two of which pass or slip over the critter's back, the other
two between the forelegs, the whole united to a trace and this in
turn fastened by a toggle, hook or ring to the sledge or drag rope.
The dogs are hitched to this, either side of the drag, or alternately
single or double, distant a few feet from each other. The guiding dog
or leader is ahead leading while the others follow. Where canvas
harness or steel wire rope is used on the drag by "Expeditions" it is
because it lessens the chances of the harness being stolen, chewed or
eaten, when rations become scarce.

In heavy traveling they are used and hitched double for fast travel,
alternate and single as exigencies require and will travel from 10 to
50 miles a day according to conditions of road, load, snow, ice, etc.
When hitched or prior to it, they are usually lightly fed so as to
bring them to reach their destination and "Tether," loafers soon
learn that they must earn their food. At times when worked hard, they
get off feed, so to speak, sulk and refuse to come up to a drag. In
which case the remaining dogs must do the work and rarely do they
fail to whine, show their contempt for such action and punish "His
Nibs" at the first chance later on, even pining to get at him, sled
and all, as they observe him following behind alone.

On hard pulls, or uneven drags, they play out easily, act mulish,
refusing to budge until the sled is started or at variance with each
other. Otherwise, the start is a steady pull until well under way. A
good team double will pull easily a load of 1,000 pounds or more,
single about one-half, depending largely on condition of themselves
and the road they travel. The Esquimaux seldom spares them or the
whip, "Brring" them on and "Hi-ying" if needs be.

About eight hours' work constitutes a day's travel or they go until
played out, the latter case most likely. When traveling they are
fairly obedient and preserve a steady equal pulling that occasionally
is relieved by a jerky, gallop-like pace. Well trained dogs preserve
their pace and tug on the harness for hours at a time. Usually they
stop every hour or so for breathing spells as the atmosphere in those
regions winds them easily. If traveling fast on ice and one falls or
slips, he is dragged along, half strangled, until he regains his
feet, place and position in line again, or, becoming tangled he is
loosened up. By this time he has been snapped a few times by the dogs
about him as if to punish him for his carelessness.

Ordinarily, the leader responds promptly to the driver's voice,
guiding, turning, halting or increasing speed at the given command.
When, however, they scent game, they become difficult to manage,
requiring utmost application of the whip to keep the trail or
direction and this invariably ends in confusion, hopeless tangle and
upset sledge.

Handling, feeding, training calls for more judgment and patience than
skill, driving especially. They refuse to cross apparently weak yet
tested ice, pressure ridges, ice or snow cracks and mule-like, will
make a plunging jump over a depression (when in trace) which
ordinarily would not call for a leap at all. They require
watchfulness on the part of the driver over cross country or when not
following the trail, lest they sheer off from a given direction or
straight line.

  [Illustration: Sledge Dog.--Photo From Life.]

When following the trail much confidence is vested in the leader and
should perchance it strike a blind or cross trail, it will howl to
attract the attention of the driver and by these means verify
directions, as if to ask if it is leading right. In case it loses the
track it will slow up, whine, run up or criss-cross its tracks,
sniffing and smelling in an anxious, expectant way, until it finds or
is led correct, when it howls with delight and pulls off "like
blazes" again.

They have strange likes and dislikes. As entire pack will punish one
who incurs the displeasure at times to an extent of crippling or
killing each other. If a strange dog comes amongst them he is pretty
sure to get "mauled" or his scraping abilities put to test, which
usually ends in a free-for-all fight, catch as catch can rules
predominating.

When in harness training a young dog gets punished frequently by its
mates for any awkwardness it shows. Old dogs especially show contempt
for a new or strange dog which takes its mate's place, be it pup or
otherwise, and will often sulk if their place is changed. Each seems
to think his place is best, the leader especially being particularly
proud of his honored position in "Dogdom." As a rule, existing
difficulties or arguments in harness are stored up until that day's
march is over, because of fear of punishment from the driver, but as
soon as turned loose, they settle the difficulty of the day by
another scrap, in which often one bunch will participate in, "take
sides," and chew up each other, until all pitch in, aiming to settle
things somehow. If too tired, they await the morrow. As a rule, the
best sledge dogs are the poorest scrappers (so we have to be partial
at times) especially to the leader who is usually the most
intelligent; hence favored.

In a pinch, when game and rations are scarce, they make good eating,
of course, being sacrificed. At these times, their peculiar savage
nature asserts itself, when you kill one for food, by signs of joy,
rather than fear for they seem to be devoid of sympathy or unaffected
by the scene. Their flesh is pale, tender and tasteless much like
rabbit, bloodless and poor, and they will eat anything from a tin can
label to Kipling's "Rag, Bone or Hank of Hair." When meat is plenty,
they take on flesh and fatten quickly but seldom does this happen as
the Esquimaux says, "Him no good, lazy, much fat."

Wolf-like, stolen food tastes better and one will leave his own
ration to steal a fellow's equal share and risking by his greediness
both, as it is stolen in turn by another. Their thieving propensities
are great, a tin can of meat, skin boots, oil lamp, old soup kettle,
or their own harness if sealskin or rawhide.

  [Illustration: Rough and Ready Sledge Dog.]

Tied, penned up or left harnessed any length of time, they assert
their belief in "Liberty and Equality" by chewing their way to
freedom if it takes a week to do it. As a rule, the dogs respect a
female and will seldom molest her. These give birth to a litter of
from 4 to 8 pups which are generally killed at birth, unless a
scarcity of them, fat "puppy dog" being with the paunch of the
reindeer considered a regular "Delmonico" dish. The average
usefulness of their existence is about 6 to 8 years, the old dogs
following the same road as fat puppies, after their usefulness has
seen the limit. Fall bred dogs are best. Alaskan dogs are larger and
heavier and the same rule applies to Labrador species, but as they
are of mixed breed, lazier and require more food they are only used
to advantage where they belong--at home.

As a rule, they exist, breed and sleep in the open, the soft side of
a drifting snow bank being a luxury, especially if it drifts about
them up to the muzzle, and it is only vacated when dangerous. They
seek the warmest spots they can find, a rope coil, rag or paper, or
even a tin can to lie on, in preference to ice or hard snow. Failing
in this, they will dig a hole in the soft snow and bury themselves in
this, lying one on top of the other in bitter weather. The best of
Arctic or Polar dogs, while they withstand cold to surprising degree,
nevertheless, suffer with the cold and danger of freezing, especially
in winter time when food is scarce or frozen and snow serves to
quench thirst, a wet foot or crippled limb being the first to suffer.
In bitter weather I have seen them roll and run to maintain
circulation. They huddle together, shivering, hold up their paws and
whine pitifully and appealingly.

They receive a kind word by a show of teeth instead of a wag--indeed,
are anything but friendly, except at "chuck" time and then limit it
to the grub with a few exceptions, of course. Most of them, however,
Indian-like, believe in the old maxim "Familiarity breeds contempt"
and thus they treat kindness with suspicion and turn tail as if it
preceded work or a licking and perhaps both.

If left alone any length of time, one will start up a coyote-like
howl and all join in one after the other in the chorus that takes the
appearance of a man with a "big stick" to quell. If left alone they
will keep it up for hours, stopping as it commenced by degrees,
apparently without reason. They are fed when circumstances permit and
if permitted, will gorge themselves to the point of bursting, eating
enough to last a week and camping alongside of it until even the
bones are cleaned up and not enough left to feed a fly. Indian-like,
however, they are always on hand for the next meal, hungry again.
When traveling, they are fed a little daily, but when not, exist on
wind, bones and kicks, fish offal and refuse thrown out, or hunt for
themselves like wolves, after Arctic hares, lemmings or anything they
can find.

In winter time, dogs are often the main food of the Esquimaux and as
fat or oil is generally scarce, are eaten raw instead of cooked, oil
being too valuable at this time to be wasted on dog. Its taste to the
white man largely depends on one's hunger or digestive cravings. If
half-starved, it is voted "just excellent." If not, it is "just dog,"
that's all. Yet, if the pangs of hunger gnaw one's vitals,
repugnance, position in life, creed, superstition, opinions, likes
and dislikes, self-respect, all give way to the cravings of an empty
stomach; especially in that trackless great white desert called the
"Distant Polar Regions."

Such is the life and existence of these, the sledge dogs of the
north.



PART IV.

THE HUNTING DOG FAMILY.

  [Illustration: Worthy of the Name, Fox Hounds.]



CHAPTER XX.

AMERICAN FOX HOUNDS.

Those who make a science of breeding and training fox hounds, and
indulge in the chase for sport only, have a nearly identical standard
of the ideal the country over. Even he who chases the fox for profit
may find valuable information and interest in such a standard, even
though they may be convinced that their hounds, though without
pedigree, are capable dogs.

At a gathering of the foremost sportsmen of this country, in 1905,
the following standard was fixed as ideal:

The American foxhound should be smaller and lighter in muscle and
bone, than the English foxhound. Dogs should not be under 21 nor over
23 1/2 in., nor weigh more than 57 pounds. Bitches should not be
under 20 nor over 22 1/2 inches nor weigh more than 50 pounds.

The head (value 15) should be of medium size with muzzle in
harmonious proportions.

The skull should be rounded cross-wise with a slight peak, line of
profile nearly straight, with sufficient stop to give symmetry to the
head.

Ears should meet to within one inch of end of muzzle, should be thin,
soft in coat, low set and closely pendant.

Eyes soft, medium size, and varying shades of brown. Nostrils
slightly expanded. The head as a whole should denote hound character.

The neck (value 5) must be clean and of good length, slightly arched,
strong where it springs from the shoulders and gradually tapering to
the head, without trace of throatiness.

The shoulders (value 10) must be of sufficient length to give
leverage and power, well sloped, muscular, but with clean run and not
too broad.

Chest and back ribs (value 10). The chest should be deep for lung
space, narrower in proportion to depth than the English hound, 28
inches in a 23 1/2 inch hound being good. Well sprung ribs, back ribs
should extend well back, a three-inch flank allowing springiness.

Back and loin (value 10) should be broad, short and strong, slightly
arched.

The hindquarters and lower thighs (value 10) must be well muscled and
very strong. The stifle should be low set, not too much bent, nor yet
too straight, a happy medium.

The elbows (value 5) should set straight, neither in nor out.

Legs and feet (value 20) are of great importance. Legs should be
straight and placed squarely under shoulder, having plenty of bone
without clumsiness, strong pasterns well stood upon. Feet round, cat
like, not too large, toes well knuckled, close and compact, strong
nails, pad thick, tough and indurated by use.

Color and coat (value 5). Black, white and tan are preferable, though
the solids and various pies are permissible. Coat should be rough and
course without being wiry or shaggy.

Symmetry (value 5). The form of the hound should be harmonious
thruout. He should show his blood quality and hound character in
every aspect and movement. If he scores high in other properties,
symmetry is bound to follow.

The stern (value 5) must be strong in bone at the root, of a medium
length, carried like a sabre on line with the spine and must have a
good brush. A docked stern shall not disqualify, but simply handicap
according to extent of docking.

SUMMARY.

Head 15, neck 5, shoulders 10, chest and back ribs 10, hindquarters
and lower thighs 10, back and loin 10, elbows 5, legs and feet 20,
color and coat 5, stern 5, symmetry 5. Total 100.

THE GREY HOUND.

Without doubt, the grey hound, bred almost solely for speed, is the
fleetest runner on earth.

In a general way it may be said that the grey hound pursues by sight
only, yet some experienced hunters will contend that they can follow
a fairly warm trail successfully, if trained to it. It is not natural
for them, however, to take and follow an old track until the game is
started, but what they lack in that way is made up in speed.

  [Illustration: Good Specimens.]

It has been a favorite practice for decades to take advantage of his
speed, by crossing with other strains, resulting in courage, tenacity
and trailing powers, very useful in several kinds of hunting.

This type of dog, either pure bred or crossed lends himself readily
to deer, wolf, fox or rabbit chasing, and is especially successful if
hunted in company with good trailers. The latter start the game when
the grey hound goes forward and effects a capture, or so interferes
with progress, that the other dogs come up and finish the work.

A bit of practical talk on the subject from the pen of a grey hound
enthusiast is appended:

I have always had grey hounds. If they are let run with the track
hounds when they are young they soon learn to take a track, run away
from the pack and catch the game. I have some one-half grey hound and
one-half bloodhound or fox hound. No better dogs living. Great
fighters, stay as long as the game runs. This kind are good bear
dogs. I keep live 'coon to train pups on and commence to train them
at 4 or 5 months old. The older they get the longer races I give
them.

SCOTCH DEER HOUND.

An excellent deer hound is half scotch deer hound and one-half grey
hound, and I will say there is no breed called stag hound, writes a
well informed Canadian deer hunter. All that claim that name are
overgrown fox hounds used in England for that purpose. Thompson Gray
in "Dogs of Scotland," written in 1890, says that the first mention
of the Scotch deer hound was in "Pitcotts History of Scotland." It is
of the same family as the grey hound and has been spoken of by early
writers as the Rough Scotch Grey Hound.

He is more massive, is about three inches taller than the grey hound
and has a rough coat. His vocation is to course the stag and the
deer. He, like the grey hound must not use his nose when hunting his
quarry and for this reason great speed is absolutely necessary. His
head is somewhat longer and wider across the skull than that of the
grey hound and the hair on the sides of the lip form a mustache.
Small ears are a sign of good breeding. They should be set on high
and at the back of the skull and be semi-erect when at attention.

The coat is hard in texture, without any silkiness. The color most
admired is blue grizzle with its various shades but brindle and fawn,
either light or dark are admirable. There should be no white on any
part of the body. As to formation, he should be made on the same
lines as the grey hound.

THE BLOOD HOUND.

The original and oldest of the hound family is the blood hound. He
takes his name from having originally been used to track wounded
animals to their lairs. Their fame to the public is based on their
use as man trailers, which gained more notice at about the time of
the Civil War than before or since. There is considerable question as
to their infallibility and powers in this direction. While nearly any
dog can, if he wishes, trail a human being, and while the blood hound
is the best scented of the dog family, it is rather doubtful if all
the things that have been written about the blood hounds and slave
fugitives are true.

  [Illustration: Blood Hound.]

Bloodhounds are known under several names, such as, Cuban, Siberian,
St. Hubert blood hounds, etc.

Civil authorities and detectives, the country over, employ the blood
hounds to trail criminals, or rather ostensibly to bring them to
justice. Rarely do they succeed in actually capturing a fleeing
culprit, however, if he has passed over sections trampled over by
many other people.

The blood hound, as has been mentioned before, is quite useful in
breeding hunting dogs for specific purposes.

Some light of experience is furnished us by a Pennsylvania breeder,
as follows:

In regard to blood hounds or a cross between the blood hound and fox
hound, they are good hunters on wolf, fox, 'coon and bear. In fact,
they are all around good dogs, great fighters on game. They are
tough, active, will stand a long run and come home and not seem to be
tired.

The blood hound is a good man as well as an animal hunter. They will
stand the longest races and not tire. In fifty years breeding from
the best, these dogs are all that are needed in a hound dog.

On the same subject a Western brother says:

I have bred dogs for 55 years from most of the kennels in this
country, England and other countries. I like English blood hound or
one-half hound and one-half fox hound. They are sharp scented, fast
runners, good stayers, good fighters and game for fox and wolf
hunting.

  [Illustration: "As Pretty as a Picture." (Beagles.)]



CHAPTER XXI.

THE BEAGLE DACHSHUND AND BASSET HOUNDS.

"A few years ago I gave up the large hound for the beagle hound, as I
hunt rabbit a good deal now and I find it good sport with the right
kind of beagles," writes a beagle enthusiast of the middle west,
"but, of course, they are just like fox hounds or any other breed of
dogs, many of them would be better training themselves in the happy
hunting grounds. The main thing is to get the right strain of
beagles, of which there are several. Champion Bannerman, imported by
J. Crane, Esq., about 1884, has had a great influence towards
producing the smaller size. Of course every man to his opinion as to
size. Some prefer the small, while others the larger size. The
importation by General Rowett, of Carlinsville, Ill., which has been
known since as the Rowett strain, when it comes to beauty and hunting
qualities combined, are very good, in fact, are among the best. The
blue cap strain imported into the country by Captain William Ausheton
from the kennels of Sir Arthur Ashburnham along in the seventies.
This strain seems to have a stronger love for the scent of the rabbit
than anything else.

By crossing strains it is possible to get beagles with a fierce
hunting disposition, that will hunt and fight anything that wears
fur, keen scent (remember the beagle is strong in the blood hound
blood) wide chest, heavy bone, round fat feet that can put up a hard
day's work every day.

THE DACHSHUND.

We are indebted to Mr. William Loeffler for the following
comprehensive, entertaining special article on the little understood
Dachshund:

Of the many breeds of dogs in existence, none have gained more
friends and won more hearts and a stronger hold in American home in a
comparative short time than the Dachshund.

Those who have not seen a single specimen and are entirely ignorant
regarding his characteristics, know him by continued caricature.

For centuries back he was the most favored pet of German aristocracy,
carefully guarded and upheld in his purity, and it was only
occasionally that an outsider received a specimen. A gift of a
Dachshund was considered a token of high esteem.

  [Illustration: True Dachshund Specimens.]

Though he has not lost a particle of his prestige in this respect,
and has strong admirers in the royal families of Europe, he is
rapidly becoming a cosmopolitan; with his little crooked legs he now
travels over many lands, making friends wherever he lands.

At all times Dachshunde were in charge of professional hunters, who
developed their instinct for hunting wonderfully, and the courage,
endurance and strength exhibited in pursuing their game is
astonishing and marvelous.

The long body, short and muscular legs, the entire strength being
centered in his deep chest, indicate that he is intended for work
under ground.

To attack a badger or a fox in his own burrow requires bravery of a
high degree, especially as the dog is in most cases much smaller than
his game. He relies upon the strength of his jaws and his wonderfully
developed set of teeth for his work and does not snap or bite at
random, but his attack is usually well aimed and effective.

The game-keeper's duty is to destroy all enemies of the game
entrusted to his care, consequently foxes, badgers, minks and other
vermin are at all times subject to extermination, and the Dachshund
is his untiring and able assistant in this work.

His scenting power is of the keenest and he will locate his prey very
quickly when he strikes a trail. A fox generally leaves his burrow
when the dog enters his domain and falls a victim to the gunner's
aim; not so with the badger, who crawl into a corner of his burrow,
and two dogs in most cases attack him from different entries, and
finally crowd him so that he will stay at bay. The location of the
badger can easily be given by the barking of the dogs, and the hunter
digs down with pick and spade, when the ground permits such work,
until the badger can be seen. By means of a fork pushed over his neck
the badger is held and captured.

The Dachshund is also invaluable for finding wounded deer; for which
purpose the hunter usually chains the dog, who then leads his master
over the trail to locate the game.

At home the Dachshund's disposition changes entirely; he is now a
most affectionate and docile animal, and shows by his every
expression his attachment for his master and his family. His
intelligence is surprising; as a watch or house dog he has few
equals, the slightest disturbance will not escape his keen senses and
the alarm is given. Most always one member of the family he selects
as his special idol, in many cases a child, and it is amusing to
watch him, how he does everything in his power to show his affection,
following every step taken by his beloved friend. He will frolic for
hours and never seem to tire or lose his good temper, and he is
always on hand when wanted. He knows the friends of the family and
never molests them, but he will not tolerate tramps.

The color of the Dachshund is of great variety, the original stock
being black and tan, from which later developed chocolate and tan,
gray and tan and single color red, ranging from fawn to dark mahogany
red. The spotted Dachshund, such as black and tan as a ground color
showing silver gray patches of irregular sizes throughout the black
field is of comparatively recent development. Most all have short and
glossy coats.

The unusual shape of this dog, combined with a beautiful color, the
graceful and dignified walk, the aristocratic bearing, will draw the
attention and admiration of every one who sees him.

THE BASSET HOUND.

The American beagle has a brother in France, called the Basset. He is
slow, acute scenter and in general has characteristics in common with
the beagle.

Those few dogs in this country erroneously called Basset hounds,
(aside from a very few imported for bench show purposes) are
doubtless resulted from beagle and mongrel crossed.

  [Illustration: A Pure Pointer.]



CHAPTER XXII.

POINTERS AND SETTERS.--SPANIELS.

It is not within our province to dwell at length upon the subject of
"bird" dogs. We will content ourselves with briefly pointing out some
more salient points of appearance and character. Those who wish to
make a study and follow extensively wing shooting, and raise and
train suitable dogs for the purpose, may obtain books relating
exclusively to that subject.

While adapted to the same purposes in the field, there are
differences in the appearance and methods of pointers and setters
that give rise to two distinct classes.

In the field, if we may take for granted the claims of men long
schooled in wing shooting, we may say in a general way, that the
pointer excels in woods--heavy cover, and brushy sections. In such
places a slower dog is required as well as one that willingly hunts
close to the shooter.

For work in open fields or over prairie land, the setter is perhaps
better suited, because he, as a rule, "has greater speed, wider
range, greater endurance and staying qualities. If retrieving from
water came into play, the setter also would have the preference. As
to which of the two breeds has the best nose, and which is the better
bird finder, nothing can be said with a degree of certainty--they are
equal, but there is a vast difference in individuals. The same is
true as to retaining inculcated training."

  [Illustration: Royal Sports.--Pointers in Action.]

The pointer is the older breed, being a product of the middle ages.
He bobs up, ever and anon, in the history of hunting down to the
present. There has been now and again some inclination to cross the
pointer and fox hounds, among huntsmen, some claiming even in this
day that it improves either type of dog for his given duties.
Purists, however, insist on keeping them pure and undefiled.

In appearance the pointer is larger than the setter, and gives one an
impression of solidity and strength; his coat should be soft and
mellow, but not absolutely silky. The hair is short and straight.

The setter's coat should be long, straight and silky (a slight wave
is admissible) which should be the case with the breeches and fore
legs, which, nearly down to the feet, should be well feathered. The
color may be either white and black, white and orange, white and
lemon, white and liver, or black, white and tan; those without heavy
patches on the body, but flecked all over, called Belton, preferred.

There is, as in most other questions of hunting and shooting
experiences, wide difference of opinion as to the relative values of
the two breeds for practical field work and bench purposes.

The casual field shooter will not go wrong in selecting either kind,
so long as he secures a creditable and really representative
individual.

  [Illustration: Setter.]

A distinct setter strain is the black and tan Gordon. Writes an
authority: "The Gordon is a much heavier dog in all his parts than
the English setter; coarser in skull, thicker in shoulders and
usually carrying lots of useless lumber. As a consequence he lacks
the speed of his English brethren, and for this reason he is not a
desirable field trial candidate, but as a steady, reliable dog, with
more than average bird finding ability, he will always have a number
of admirers."

The Irish setter is another interesting one of the setter family. He
is not as popular in America as the others, though a handsome and
capable performer. His color is red, with white on chest, throat or
toes, or a small star on the forehead.

The manner of judging pedigreed field dogs has been reduced to an
almost exact science. After all, however, all this is not for the
casual hunter and many an embryo sportsman tramps the fields after
capable, though not so high-toned dogs, and enjoys it all more than
the nervous owner watching his dog in the field trial.

SPANIELS.

Spaniels are not utilized to any extent as hunting dogs in this
country, although they are sometimes crossed to good advantage with
other hunting dogs. About the water, the water spaniel is well
adapted. For instance some spaniel blood in a mink dog is well worth
considering.

All of the spaniels, readily develop into retrievers, and this is
their principal use at present, although they can be taught to hunt
with considerable effect and judgment, where too much is not expected
of them. They are lively, happy little workers, and on grouse in
dense coverts, no dog possesses a better nose for the purpose. Their
size, too, is against them for most practical purposes.



CHAPTER XXIII.

TERRIERS--AIREDALES.

Practical hunters have no interest in the numerous Terrier family,
save perhaps two types.

We find those who urge the use of the terrier for some purposes. For
instance, a Canadian brother has the following to say as to the Fox
Terrier:

I like the hound, but give me a well trained fox terrier as his
companion, and I will get most every fox. They have no trouble to
hole in less than six hours, there is where the terrier shines and
puts in his work. He will enter the hole and that is the end of Mr.
Fox. Sometimes he will bring him out of the hole to kill him, but
more often he will kill him, then bring him out. There are times when
he kills one that he cannot get out, owing to a short bend or other
obstruction in the hole. No doubt there will be many of the readers
think this is a far-fetched claim, nevertheless it is true and many
in this section can vouch for this statement.

  [Illustration: The Fox Terrier--Useful in Many Ways.]

The dozens of types of this interesting, though generally
impracticable terrier family we pass over, permitting us to give
wider attention to the one or two types that have earned recognition.
The ugly, little Irish terrier is sometimes used to good advantage
for crossing, where heedless, reckless pluck is sought. These dogs
are very game, yet remarkably good tempered with man. But they dearly
love a fight, and have earned their commonly used nick-name
"Dare-devils."

Thus lightly skipping over the whole family we come to a type that
has earned notice in the hunting world, and is rapidly growing in
popular favor.

  [Illustration: Airedale.]

THE AIREDALE.

First we cite a bit of practical testimony on the matter, from a
gentleman who knows whereof he speaks:

I have found out that the pure Airedale terrier and the hound make
the very best dogs for coon, lynx, mink, etc. Get a good Airedale and
a good hound and you will have a pair of hounds hard to beat. The
airedale are great water dogs and very hard workers and easily
trained to hunt any kind of game. They are full of grit and they fear
nothing and are always ready to obey your command. I have hunted with
them and found this breed of dog away ahead of the water spaniel,
collie, etc. Once you own one you will never be without it.

"The Airedales were first imported into this country in 1897 or 1898,
from England, and as companion and guard dogs, as well as hunters and
retrievers have made wonderful strides, and are becoming more popular
as they become better known. In disposition and intelligence they are
unexcelled. They will guard their master's family night and day, but
on the other hand are affectionate and kind to children. They are
natural hunters of both large and small game, in which they need but
little training, and have been used and worked as hunters and
retrievers with much success, as they are easily taught and very
intelligent. In size, the standard calls for males 45 pounds, females
a little less. Color, black and badger gray with tan extremities.

We should name the Airedale as a promising bear dog. His grit,
courage, staying Quality and strength are all points of advantage in
a dog that is expected to try conclusions with the hard-swatting
bruin.

Also we frequently hear of noteworthy success of the Airedale in
hunting and dispatching coyotes, coons, badger and bay-lynx, any one
of which is capable of putting up a good fight. Also he is a hunter,
retriever, trailer of coon, 'possum, bear, wildcat, mink, coyote,
deer, lynx, fox or small game.

The tendency nowadays is to produce larger Airedales, which shall
retain the terrier qualities. The practical callings upon the breed's
usefulness seems to justify that he be bred over 50 pounds, rather
than between 45 and 50 pounds, which has in the past been the aim.

One writer says that it was in the valley of the Aire river that the
Otter hound was crossed with the Bull Terrier, that product was the
Scotch terrier, that with the Scotch collie, that with the Pointer,
and that with the Setter dog and then the standard having been
secured, the crossing was discontinued. In that dale of the Aire,
then, was the great breed of dogs first experimented upon, that made
the Airedale.



CHAPTER XXIV.

SCOTCH COLLIES. HOUSE AND WATCH DOGS.

The Scotch collie dog will make the best friend of all the dogs in
the canine race, writes a collie admirer. Of all useful animals God
gave to man what can excel the dog, at least with the stockmen; in
affection no other dog can compare with him, he is a dog that every
farmer needs. He has almost human intelligence, a pure bred collie
can always be depended upon in sunshine or adversity. He can do his
work in a manner that should put the average boy to shame. The pure
bred Scotch Collies are of a kind and affectionate disposition and
they become strongly attached to their master. There can be no friend
more honest and enduring than the noble, willing and obedient
thoroughbred Scotch Collie. As a devoted friend and faithful
companion he has no equal in the canine race, he will guard the
household and property day and night. The Scotch Collies are very
watchful and always on the alert, while their intelligence is really
marvelous.

  [Illustration: Collie.]

At one year old they are able to perform full duty herding sheep,
cattle and other stock, attending them all day when necessary,
keeping them together and where they belong and driving off all
strange intruders. They learn to know their master's animals from
others in a very short time, and a well-trained dog will gather them
home and put each into its right stall. They have a dainty carriage
and line style, profuse silky hair of various colors.

Others incline to the conviction that practical purposes have been
lost sight of in breeding, and that appearances have been sought to
such an extent that the present day pure bred collies lack some of
the attributes of intelligence and hardihood that made the collie
famous. In view of this fact it is quite likely that for general
purposes and certainly for hunting purposes, a dash of alien blood is
advantageous.

The crossed collie, or the well-known shepherd dog, so common to the
farm, are very often used with success in all forms of night hunting.
There are some who go so far as to maintain that the shepherd or a
cross of shepherd and fox hound are ideal for coon, rabbit and
squirrel hunting.

The use of these dogs as sheep herders has deteriorated in this
country, although they are still bred for practical purposes with
marked success in parts of England.

HOW TO TRAIN A COLLIE.

The best way to make a start is to get a pure-bred puppy from a good
working strain. To gain the best results and secure the full worth of
a Collie as a stock dog, I would say, take him as a little puppy.

There are many reasons why we favor the little puppy to the dog
nearly or quite grown. Most collies are sensitive and suspicious and
of fine temperament and this characteristic often makes them appear
rather more cowardly than brave. A Collie that has been properly
cared for and considerably handled during his puppyhood up to
maturity should have plenty of courage. A puppy should never be
permitted to have a place of refuge where he can run away and hide on
hearing a slight noise or unusual disturbance of any kind, or at the
sight of a stranger.

If he is kept under conditions where he can see all that may be going
on, and in that way become familiar with active life, learning that
noises and strange persons do not harm him, he will develop plenty of
courage, without which there is but little hope of great usefulness.

First, teach him his name, and to come when you call him. Teach him
to mind but always by kind methods. Let him love and trust you,
gaining his affection by gentle treatment. He should be accustomed to
the collar and chain when young, though it is much better to keep him
in the yard than confined by a chain while he is growing. Teach him
one thing at a time--to lie down and remain in that position until
excused; to follow at your will, and stop at the word, to come in at
once at command, and to turn to the right or left.

All these lessons can be easily managed by use of a small cord and
always using the appropriate word with emphasis. He should always be
made to keep at your heels when out for a walk with you. In that way,
after telling him to go to heel whenever he tries to run away, he
will understand the word better when he goes with you to drive the
cattle for the first time.

Let him keep back of the stock with you, while you drive the cattle
to and from the field or pasture without undertaking to teach him,
for as he learns by observation, he must have the example made plain.
He will quickly show a desire to help and then you may take advantage
of this act, encouraging him to help you, and after he has been with
you a time or two, he will soon become a driver at the heel. Give him
plenty of practice, and when he becomes a good driver at the heel,
taking a positive interest in his work, he can then be easily taught
to turn the cattle to the right or left, to head them off, stop them
or go alone into the distant fields and bring the cattle to the
stable.

He should never be allowed to drive the cattle fast for if once
allowed to run them, he will become careless and develop a
disposition to worry them.

  [Illustration: Shepherd Puppies.]

Do not weary him with over-commanding nor notice every little mistake
which unnoticed may not occur again. If you gain his affection and do
not forget to tell him that he has been a good dog when he has done
well for you, he will learn fast for he has a wonderful memory and
never forgets the things he has learned to do. Thus we are amply
repaid for the care and time used in making the lesson plain.

I might say a few words about feeding the puppy, as he should have
good food when young. The first few months he should be fed on bread
and milk, never giving him any meat at any time, and as he grows
older, give him the bread dry and the milk as a drink. A comfortable
sleeping place should also be given him. The best place is in the
house or stable and he should be kept in at night at all times of the
year.

You will find that a well looked after Collie is a valuable and
life-long friend and helper.

HOUSE AND WATCH DOGS.

The Great Dane, Mastiff, St. Bernard, Newfoundland, Poodle, Dalmatian
Chow-Chow, English and French Bulldog have their places and purposes,
but are entirely outside the province of hunting dogs. Most hunters
admire these noble beasts, but inasmuch as they have no practical
importance or use to the hunter, detailed description is omitted.



CHAPTER XXV.

A FARMER HUNTER--HIS VIEWS.

I am a farmer by trade and a raccoon hunter for sport, and nothing
but a fox hound for me, and the better his breeding is the better I
like it. I don't care how much noise he makes if he is fast. I like a
good tonguer. I only have four hounds at this writing. I have caught
27 'coon and 10 opossum. On the night of November 9th, some friends
of mine went out 'coon hunting with me. They had three 'coon dogs and
I had four, seven hounds in all. We went about two miles south of
where I live to where we sometimes hunt the 'coon. The first thing
when we got there the dogs struck a trail and treed on top of a hill
with an old coal entry just below it.

We got up to the tree all right and could hear one of the dogs
barking "treed" about one-half mile south, so I left the boys to
attend to that tree and I went to the lone hound. He was barking up a
large black oak in the corn field. I soon spied an eye up the tree
and shot him out and down came Mr. 'Coon. I looked up in the tree
again and saw two eyes. The little 20-gauge spoke again and down came
'coon No. 2. The other fellows did not have such good luck, as their
coon got into the coal entry.

We then started on and the dogs caught another trail and gave us some
music for about twenty minutes. When they barked treed we went over
to them and there were six of the dogs barking up a bushy oak and the
lone dog was barking about eighty rods west of there. One of the boys
started up the tree and got only part way up when out jumps Mr.
'Coon. The dogs all went for him and out comes another 'coon and into
the corn field he went just about at the top of his speed, and I
guess he had no slow orders either by the way he was going the last
time I saw him. We got a couple of the dogs after the runaway 'coon
but he made a hole, so we then went to the lone dog and he had one
up. We got that and started west. We had not gone far when the dogs
struck another trail and they circled to the northwest of us, came
around west and south and turned east. Just across the hollow from us
was a large tree that Mr. 'Coon was trying to make but he couldn't
get speed enough to make it, so the dogs caught him as he got to the
bottom of the tree.

The lone dog was with them on that chase. We left our 'coon at a
farmer's and started on. The dogs struck another trail and that 'coon
got into a hole and he was safe, so we ate our lunch, rested a little
while and started on west. The dogs hit another trail and went south
about a mile and barked but not treed. We went to them and they had
run this 'coon into a shallow hole in the corn field. We tried to get
one of the dogs to pull him out but the 'coon got first hold every
time, so we got a stick and dug in a little ways. We could then see
Mr. 'Coon's eyes down in the hole. We sent three dogs in after him
but they came out without him.

I had an old speckled hound we called Teddy. He went in and when he
backed out he had company with him, and he seemed to think a great
deal of his company, for he was hanging right on to him just as
though he thought his  company might leave him if he got a chance.
Ted was doing all he could, but he got him up so the other dogs could
see Mr. 'Coon's back and then he had plenty of help and the 'coon's
troubles were soon over.

We then started northwest. The dogs were working a trail and they
were puzzled on it; did not seem able to get away. There were a black
oak and hazel bush where we were then, so we sat down to let the dogs
work it out if they could. We were sitting within 10 feet of an oak
tree, the lone dog came up, circles the tree and barks up, then three
of the other dogs come up and start to bark. One of the boys says
there might be a 'coon up that tree but I doubt it. Well, I said,
when four good 'coon dogs bark up a tree at the same time, there is
liable to be something up there, so up went one of the boys and down
came Mr. 'Coon. We got him and the dogs were not long in starting
another trail.

They started south but it was a cold one, but they struck right after
Mr. 'Coon, and I guess they must have taken us a mile and a half on
that trail to another patch of timber, and we were about a half a
mile behind them when they barked treed. They had Mr. 'Coon up a tall
red oak. We shot him out and soon had another trail going. They took
this one south, and it was a warm one, right out into a corn field,
and they caught him on the ground. We could hear the fracas and went
to them as quick as possible, but we were not quick enough for they
had killed Mr. 'Coon and we met them coming back. We went to where we
thought they were when they caught the 'coon but we did not find the
right place for we did not find that coon.

The dogs soon had another trail going and gave us some fine music for
a little while and barked treed. We went to them and they had two
'coons up. We shot them out, and they soon had another one going
south. It was getting pretty frosty about that time and they worked
that trail about one hour south and west. We followed their music and
they barked treed. We shot him out. That makes eleven 'coon and one
killed in the field that we could not find. Now there may be some of
the trappers that will think I have added a few 'coon to this hunt,
but I have not. I have given you this 'coon hunt as near as it
happened as I can remember, but we had seven as good 'coon dogs as
you generally run across. I do not say seven of the best dogs ever
went into the woods or the best in the United States, but they were
'coon dogs and fast ones.

It seems that about every man that has a 'coon dog or dogs and they
tree a few 'coons, gets it into his head that nobody has a dog quite
as good as his. I have one pair of hounds from a Williams bitch and a
dog owned by Mr. Williams--Hodo is his name--but he is a pure Trigg
dog. His pedigree runs back over forty years. One of Haiden C.
Trigg's dogs, Trigg, is the most successful hound breeder in the
United States today. He started on the old original American fox
hound, these long eared fellows with a deep mellow voice, called by
some nigger chasers, as they used them in the south for that purpose,
and some dealers are selling the old American Fox Hound today for
American Blood Hounds. The only genuine blood hound we have is the
English. See what the Trigg dog is today, short ears or much shorter
than the dog Mr. Trigg started to improve on, with narrow muzzle, and
stands up well with good feet and built on speedy lines, a red fox
dog, and when he started on there were few of them that could hole a
red fox inside of eight hours, and the Trigg dog of today will hole a
red fox in a comparatively short time. Of course the fox they are
running and the kind of country they have to run in, have a great
deal to do with it. I run fox myself sometimes, or my hounds do
rather.

Now I see some of the hunters like a still trailer, but I want to
hear my dogs work and I want to know which way they are going, and
when they begin to get away I can follow and keep in hearing of my
dogs. I can tell by their baying just about what they are doing, if
the trail is cold or warm, and can tell which way they are going. I
wouldn't give a cent to hunt with dogs that couldn't make a little
music when on the trail.

I see some of the brothers think nothing but a still trailer catches
his 'coon on the ground. If you have fast trailers they will catch
'coon on the ground if they tongue every other jump. My dogs are all
good tonguers and I often have them catch 'coon on the ground and big
'coon, not little young 'coon any more than old ones. A young 'coon
will take to a tree quicker than an old one. I have got to see my
first well bred 'coon hound that will still trail. I have never seen
him yet, that is, a fox hound. I have tried shepherd and hound cross,
bull dog and hound cross, and beagle and fox hound cross, but give me
the pure bred fox hound every time for a 'coon dog, and I don't care
how long his pedigree is either. Let me tell you, you cannot get a
fox hound too fast for 'coon, the faster he is the better.

I read where a brother made the statement that you wanted a slow
hound for a 'coon dog. Well, he may want a slow one, yet I am sure I
do not. He goes on to say that a fast dog will run over the trail if
the 'coon makes a short or square turn, the fast hound will run by
and lose too much time finding the trail again. Let me tell you right
here, the fast hound can't help but run over, but he knows right
where he lost that trail. If he happens to circle the right way he
only has to make a half circle and he is off again. On the other
hand, if he circles the other way he makes a full circle and hits the
trail and is going just as fast as ever. If he has a good nose on him
he has not lost four seconds. A fast hound will make that turn in a
trail quicker every time than a slow one will. I have had both slow
and fast and have hunted 'coons about 23 years. Am now a man 38 years
old, and if I don't know what a hound is I sure never will.

I don't claim to know it all, for a man never gets too old to learn.
He could learn something every day if he lived a thousand years, or
for all time to come. There is no dog that will work a cold trail out
like a good hound. He will work out a trail and tree a 'coon when a
cur dog would pass right over the trail and pay no attention to it
whatever. It must be the brothers that like the still trailers that
never had a good 'coon hound, for I have never seen good 'coon dogs
but I have seen the best ones wrapped up in a fox hound hide.

I have a black and tan hound that will fight for me at any time. I
can't scuffle with any one outside of my own family for he will bite
them just as quick as he can get close enough to them. I had to give
him several hard whippings to make him quit rabbits. Now they don't
bother him any when he is looking for 'coon with me at night. His
father was the hardest dog to break off of rabbits that I ever broke,
but when he was three years old he would not notice a rabbit at night
but would trail them in the day time. He turned out to be a very
valuable hound. He would retrieve as good as a retriever on land or
in water, would catch any hog that I told him to catch and hold it
until I told him to let it go. I could point out any chicken I wanted
him to catch and he would get it for me and would not hurt the
chicken any.

Some people think a hound don't know anything but trail, but a good
hound is a very smart dog and a poor hound is about as worthless a
dog as you can find. Take the hound as a breed and I must say they
are a noble breed. The fox hound requires, I think, more exercise
than any other breed of dogs. I have a 25 gallon caldron. I put most
any kind of meat that I can get, beef, horse flesh, 'coon, when there
is one that is pretty badly bruised up, pork or any kind of meat that
is not decomposed, and put it into this caldron. Of course, I put
water in first then put in my meat and boil until it will all stir
off the bone. I then take all the bones out and stir in corn meal
until I have enough so that when the meal is done it will be a very
stiff mush. When it is done and cooled off you can take it out in
chunks. Use no salt, if any, very little, as a very little salt will
physic a dog.

I sometimes bake corn bread for the dogs for a change, which makes a
good food for them but not so strong a food as the other. I think a
hound will do more running and keep in better order on that mush with
meat than any food you can give them. Of course, if a person has but
one dog, he can generally get enough from the house scraps from the
table, but when you have a dozen or so you will have to get your dog
food elsewhere. In warm weather this mush will sour in a few hours,
but in cold weather it will keep sweet. I feed my dogs once a day
when they are idle, but when I am hunting them I feed them twice a
day. Feed each dog by himself.

Now as to their sleeping places, if you can let your dogs run loose,
and they will find warm places to sleep, with plenty of bedding in
the barn or other out buildings where the ventilation is good, but no
drafts of air to blow on them, that is the best place for them. I
keep part of my dogs tied up, as they would be off hunting if I let
them run loose. For those I use on the chain I use a 20-foot chain.
Build a good, warm dog house with a shingle roof, an individual house
for one dog. Cut a hole that he can get thru easily and then tack
some burlap just above the hole and let it hang down over the hole.
When it is cold weather I leave it down, but when it is pleasant I
fasten it up so that it leaves the hole open. The air can get thru
the burlap but it breaks the wind off of the dog and keeps the snow
from blowing in on his nest, or rain if it is raining. He can go out
and in when the burlap is down.

Another easy way to make a good place for a dog is cut a hole in the
side of a building that has a good roof, and put a box large enough
so that it will give your dog plenty of room right tight up against
the inside of the building where you cut the holes thru. Knock one
side of your box out and put it to the hole on inside of building.
Put your burlap on the outside at the hole as before described, and
you have a fine place for your dog. Make the hole just large enough
so he can get thru it easily, and cut it high enough so that when he
lays down in the box, the bottom of the hole will be above the dog.
Give your dog good, clean bedding at least once a week. Twice a week
is not too often. Use some disinfectant about two or three times a
month inside of dog house. The best cure for mange that I have ever
used, or for sores to heal them is black gun powder, powdered sulphur
and lard, mixed and well rubbed in. It is a sure cure for mange. It
will soon kill the germs, if properly applied.

I notice where a brother, in telling how to break a young dog to tree
'Coon said, to let the 'coon chew the dog for a while, help the
'coon, let him eat the dog for about 20 minutes and the dog would go
to hunting them to get revenge, or something to that effect. Now it
is my opinion that the dog would not want any more revenge as he
would get a plenty right there, and the chances are that he would
ever after be afraid of a 'coon, if he were a pup and got that kind
of treatment. Help your dog kill a 'coon whenever you can, if you can
do it without danger to the dog. I never let my dogs kill a 'coon
when it can be avoided. If I can find the 'coon with my light in the
tree I shoot him out, and then sometimes he has plenty of fight in
him when he comes down. Other times he is dead when he hits the
ground.

Any one of my dogs will kill a 'coon if necessary, but they don't get
the chance very often. There has been a few times that I let them
kill the 'coon, when I could have killed him myself, when there were
some of the boys with me that wanted to see them kill the 'coon, but
it is tiresome work on a dog to kill a 'coon, harder a great deal
than treeing one. My dogs will not stay at a hole unless the 'coon is
very close to the top of the ground, as where I hunt there are a
great many old coal entries and it would be a nuisance to have them
bark at such places as you could not get them out, so I never
encourage them to stay at a hole when they run one in.

I have seen some discussion about the size of 'coons. The largest
'coon I ever caught weighed 30 pounds. He measured from the tip of
his tail to the end of his nose, 4 feet and 4 inches. I caught
another one last winter that weighed 25 pounds and measured four feet
and 2 inches from his nose to the end of his tail.

I catch a good many that weigh over 20 pounds. Another thing I want
to tell you is this, in over 20 years of 'coon hunting I have never
cut a tree down to get a 'coon. There is too much of that kind of
work done. Where are all of the 'coons going to stay when you get all
of the den trees cut down? I want to ask you where is the land owner
that wants 'coon hunters cutting his timber down? Think of cutting a
fine, large tree down because it has a hole in it with a 'coon
inside. If I get a 'coon in such a tree and can't climb it, I just
call the dogs away from the tree and let him go until some other
time. I make it my business to go that way again some night, and the
chances are I get that same 'coon in such a tree and can't climb it,
I just tree a head of Mr. 'Coon if I can, and he goes up some tree
that I can get him out of when he sees he is cut off from his den
tree, and the tree is left for the next 'coon that comes along. So,
brothers, please cut the tree cutting out, as it is for your own good
to let those kind of trees stand if you want to hunt 'coon. When you
go around thru the timber destroying it, some one is going to call a
halt on YOU, and on the other hand it is not at all necessary to cut
the timber to get the 'coon, and the tree is undoubtedly worth more
to the man that own the land than the 'coon is to you.

Of course, if the owner of the tree gives you permission to cut the
tree, that clears you on that score, but after the tree is down, you
will never find another 'coon in that tree.



CHAPTER XXVI.

DESCRIPTIVE TABLE OF TECHNICAL TERMS AS APPLIED TO THE DOG.

The following table of definitions are used descriptive of the parts
of the dog's anatomy, and are used and understood generally by
professionals:

  [Illustration: (The numbers refer to the picture.)]

    Apple-headed.--Skull round instead of flat on top.

 1. ARM.

    Blaze.--A white mark up the face.

    Brush.--The tail of a Collie, or any bushy tail.

 2. BRISKET.--The part of the body between the chest and the neck.
Front part of chest.

    Butterfly-nose.--A spotted nose.

    Button-ear.--An ear which falls over in front, concealing the
inside, as in Fox-Terriers.

    Broken-up Face.--Refers more particularly to the face of the
Bulldog or Toy Spaniel, and comprises the receding nose, or lay-back,
deep stop, and wrinkle.

    Burr.--The inside of the ears.

    Breeching.--The tan-colored hairs on the back of the thighs of a
Black-and-tan Terrier.

    Beefy.--Big, beefy hind-quarters.

    Cat-foot.--A short, round foot, with the knuckles high and well
developed; like a cat's, short, round and compact.

 3. CHEST.--The chest of a dog must not be confounded with the
brisket; the breast or chest extends between the fore-legs from the
brisket to the belly.

    Cheeky.--When the cheek bumps are strongly defined; thick in
cheek.

    Chaps or Chops.--The pendulous lips of the Bulldog; the foreface
of a Bulldog.

    Cobby.--Well ribbed up; short and compact.

    Cloddy or Cobby.--Thick-set, short-coupled and low in stature.

    Couplings.--The length or space between the tops of the
shoulder-blades and tops of the hip-joints, or buckle-bones. A dog is
accordingly spoken of as long or short "in the couplings."

    Cow-hocked.--The hocks turning inward; hocks that turn in, like
those of a cow.

    Cushion.--Fulness in the top lips.

    Crook-tail.--The crooked tail of a Bulldog.

    Crank-tail.--Same as above.

    Culotte.--The feather on the thighs, as in the Schipperke and
Pomeranian.

    Character.--The combination of points contributing to the whole
make-up and giving to a dog that which is desired in his particular
variety.

    Corky.--Compact and active looking; springy and lively in action.

    Dew-claws.--The extra claws found occasionally on the legs of all
breeds, but especially of the St. Bernard; the superfluous claws
inside the hind-leg just above the foot.

    Dewlap.--Pendulous skin under the throat as in case of
Blood-hound.

    Dish-faced.--This term describes a dog whose nasal bone is higher
at the nose than at the stop--a feature not infrequently seen in
pointers.

    Dudley-nose.--A flesh-colored nose.

    Domed Skull.--Round skull.

    Deep in Brisket.--Deep in chest; deep from withers to point where
chest and brisket meet.

 4. ELBOW.--The joint at the top of the forearm.

    Elbows Out or "Out at Elbows."--This term defines itself.
Bulldogs and Dachshunde are desirable with elbows so shaped, but it
may occur as a fault through weakness.

    Expression.--The expression of a dog is largely but not wholly
determined by the size, angular position, and degree of prominence of
the eye. For instance in a St. Bernard the eye is small, somewhat
sunken, showing a little haw. This gives a dignified and rather
benevolent expression. "Collie expression" depends largely on the
angle at which eyes are set to each other.

    Feather.--The fringe of hair on the back of legs of some breeds,
notably Setters, Spaniels, and Sheep-dogs. The feathering on legs, as
in the Setter and Spaniel.

    Flag.--The tail of a Setter.

    Flews.--The chops, or overhanging lips of the upper jaw. The term
is chiefly applied to hounds or other deep-mouthed dogs. The lips.

 5. FOREARM.--This makes the principal length of the fore-leg and
extends from elbow to pastern.

    Frill.--The long hair on the brisket of some dogs, and especially
of the Collie. The profuse hair under the neck.

    Frog-face or Down-face.--Nose not receding.

    Flat-sided.--Flat in ribs; opposite of well-ribbed up.

    Grizzle.--A bluish-gray color.

    Hare-foot.--Foot like that of a hare, long and narrow.

    Haw.--The red inside eyelid, usually hidden, but visible in
Bloodhounds and St. Bernards; the red membrane inside the lower
eyelid.

 6. HOCKS.--The lower joint of hind-leg.

    Height.--The height of a dog is measured at the shoulder, bending
the head gently down. The proper method is to place the dog on level
ground close by a wall, and to lay a flat rule across his shoulders
so as to touch the wall; then measure to the point touched by the
rule.

 7. HUCKLE-BONES.--Tops of the hip-joints. The space between these
and the tops of the shoulders is called the couplings.

    Harlequin.--Pied, mottled, or patchy in color.

 8. KNEE.--The joint attaching the fore-pasterns and the forearm.

    Kink-tail.--A tail with a single break or kink in it.

    Leather.--The ears i. e., the loose visible part of them.

    Layback.--Receding nose.

    Loins.--That part of the anatomy of the dog between the last rib
and hindquarters.

    Long in Flank.--Long in back and loins.

    Lumber.--Superfluous flesh.

    Mask.--The dark muzzle of a Mastiff or Pug.

    Mane.--The profuse hair on top of neck.

    Merle.--A bluish-gray color splashed with black.

    Monkey-faced.--See Dish-faced.

 9. NASAL BONE.

    Occiput.--The prominent bone at the back or top of the skull;
particularly prominent in Bloodhounds; the bony bump on the top of
the head.

    Overshot.--The upper teeth projecting over the lower. This fault
in excess makes a dog pig-jawed. The top jaw protruding beyond the
lower jaw.

    Out at Shoulders.--Shoulders set on outside, as in the Bulldog.

    Out at Elbows.--Elbows turning out.

10. PASTERN.--The lowest section of the leg, below the knee or hock
respectively, usually only applied to those joints on front legs.

    Pig-jawed.--The upper jaw protruding over the lower, so that the
upper incisor teeth are in advance of the lower, an exaggeration of
an over-shot jaw.

    Pily.--A peculiar quality of coat found on some dogs, which show
on examination a short woolly jacket next the skin, out of which
springs the longer visible coat. This short woolly coat is "pily."
When an ordinary coat is described as pily, it means that it is soft
and woolly, instead of hard.

    Prick Ear,--(See Tulip ear). An erect ear; not turned down or
folded.

    Plume.--The tail of a Pomeranian.

    Pad.--The under portion or sole of the foot.

    Penciling.--The black marks or streaks divided by tan on the toes
of a Black-and-tan Terrier.

    Rose-ear.--An ear of which the tip turns backward and downward,
so as to disclose the inside of the ear.

13. RUMP-BONE.

    Ring-tail.--A tail curving round in circular fashion.

    Roach Back or Arched Loins.--The arched or wheel formation of
loin, as in a Greyhound, Dachshunde, Dandie Dinmont Terrier, and
Bulldog.

    Racy.--Slight in build and leggy, as in the Greyhound or Whippet.

    Septum.--The division between the nostrils.

11. SHOULDERS.--Top of the shoulder-blades, the point at which the
height of a dog is measured.

    Splay-foot.--A flat, awkward front foot, usually turned outward;
and the opposite of "Cat-foot."

    Stern.--The tail.

12. STIFLE-JOINTS.--Stifles. The joints of hind-leg next above the
hocks.

    Stop.--The indentation across the skull between the nose and the
eyes. This feature is strongly developed in Bulldogs, Pugs and
short-faced Spaniels, and considerably so in many other dogs. The
step or indentation between the forehead and nose.

    Snipy.--Too pointed in muzzle.

    Semi-prick Ear.--An erect ear of which the end falls over
forward.

    Sickle-tail.--A tail forming a semicircle, like a sickle.

    Short-coupled.--Short in back and loins.

    Shelly.--Too narrow and light in body.

    Second Thighs.--The muscular development between stifle-joint and
hock.

    Style.--Showy, spirited, or gay demeanor.

    Tulip-ear.--An upright or prick ear.

    Topknot.--The hair on top of the head, as in the Irish Water
Spaniel, Dandie Dinmont, and Bedlington Terrier.

    Throatiness.--Overmuch loose skin or flesh under throat.

    Twist.--The curled tail of a Pug.

    Trace.--The dark mark down the back of a Pug.

    Tucked-up.--Tucked-up loin, as in the Greyhound.

    Tricolor.--Black, tan and white.

    Thumb Marks.--The round, black spots on the forelegs of a
Black-and-tan Terrier.

    Timber.--Bone.

    Undershot.--The lower incisor teeth, projecting beyond the upper,
as in Bulldogs. The under jaw protruding beyond the upper jaw.

    Upright Shoulders.--Shoulders that are set in an upright, instead
of an oblique position; not laid back.

    Vent.--The tan colored hair below root of tail.

    Varmint Expression.--As in the eye of the Fox Terrier, which is
free from Haw, is not Sunken, is round but rather small than large,
and set horizontally, not obliquely, giving a keen, rather "cussed"
look.

    Wall-eye.--A blue mottled eye.

    Wrinkle.--Loose-folding skin over the skull.

    Wheaten.--Pale yellowish color.

    Withers.--Same as 11.



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