DOGS FOR DEFENCE.

Dominion, Volume 3, Issue 800, 25 April 1910, Page 4

DOGS FOR DEFENCE.

TRAINING IIETHODS: IN BELGIUM - VALUE TO THE POLICE. ' A very -interesting' congress has just taken 1 place; in'-Brussels' in connection with the competitions for dogs trained for tihoydcfeaice of'their- master' and his property, and for police dogs, some of - which, will take ■ place during the Brussels; Exhibition." '• . , ; ; Thirty-seven different clubs ,met''togetherito consider the various items set down in a preliminary 'programme, .the delegates numbering over" one hundred, tho police force or the many dog breeders and others interested in .the subject. - Most-of-the dlubs. were Belgian, but .several Were French. ' It was noticed with ' regret that, although England is now at last becoming alive t-o the value of polipo dogs, no olie was present to represent .Great Britain'on a m&tter that lias already received full recognition in Germany, France, and Holland, vas well' as Belgium.

.. Tho- programme under discussion' was divided into two sections,' that for dogs privately - trained for", the defence of their master and his property, and that for police dogs. 'In the former secwon dogs of all binds are used, and the matter of training is individual and according -to the owner's personal idea. Belgium luw an unenviailo notoriety in '.the. matter .of ' crime (probably due to its lax punishments), and a solitary pedestrian-in' a lonely, unfrequented neighbourhood has often a poor chance even-in daylight unless armed.. At night even tho. outskirts of the towns and villages are unsafe, and this is why so many men , whose occupations , oblige them to face tho risk of attack train their dogs to defend them. This idea has enormously developed of late years in Belgium, and competitive trials ate now numerous, - which, with their good prizes and the high sums for which trained dogs are often sold, greatly encourage the breeding of suitable dogs. Many men in Brussels keep a dog solely as a defence, for going to and. from work, and on. any large vacant,space of ground one is sure to find some man' training his • dog with this purpose in view. The dogs used:solely for defence and police dogs, of whom is required a more subtlo intelligence, must for their own safety learn'certain lesson's in common. For instance, thoy must refuse to accept food from any one, although their master may not bo present to restrain them. Another item settled on the programme was tho hoight of th 6 jumps required of tho .dogs. Both defence and police dogs must bo able to jump a_ fence hoarding at least soven. feet high, with a maximum ordinarily of eight feet, though some dojzs can jump nearly ten feet. . With a ditch of over seven feet to take first, the hedge must be at least:three feet high, and the animals' whioh jump at tho word of command must.come back over tho obstacle tho instant they aro called. Tho dog's capability of guarding his master's property is always tested by means of an individual dressed like an "apache," - tho point to bo aimed at being that the dog will only attack him when ho actually touches the property.