HOW TO TRAIN YOUR OWN PUPPY

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXV, Issue 23109, 6 August 1938, Page 9 (Supplement)

HOW TO TRAIN YOUR OWN PUPPY

By FREDERICK WARD

I HAD a birthday not very long ago, and my friend Jimmy gave me a lovely present. It came in a large basket which Jimmy carried into my dining room and planted in the middle of the floor. Inside the basket something was making funny, whining noises, so I pulled out the stick holding the little flap down, and lifted the lid. Yes, it was a puppy, a little black-and-white chap, with a white body, a big black spot near his tail, one ear black, one ear white, and a big round black eye. He jumped out of the basket, raced joyfully round the room, then came crawling up to me, wagging his tail, and put his head on my shoe. We soon made friends. "Thanks very much, Jimmy," I said, "that's the nicest present I've had today. What exactly is he?" Making Him at Home "Well," said Jimmy, scratching his ear, "I don't quite know for certain. His previous master said he was a bit of a fox terrior, but I wouldn't like to say." Directly Jimmy had gone I set about making my new friend a home. I got a nice large sugar-box, lined it with oilcloth to keep it watertight and free from draughts, and I put a comfortable old rug in the bottom for a bed. Jack (that was what I called him) was only three months old, so he had a lot to learn, but ho mastered his lessons very quickly because, like most dogs, his natural wish was to please his master. If your dog loves you and has given you confidence (and it is < your own fault if he hasn't) you need' never beat him. You will control him much more effectively by speaking firmly than by beating him. No " Hidings "

That is how I handled Jack. I left him alone ►one afternoon and when I came home, there was Jack with one of mv best slippers chewed up in his didn't beat him or shout at him, though I was annoyed, for Jack had never been told not to chew slippers,

and ho badly needed something to chew, for he had not had his teeth long. I just took the pieces away from him and told him ho was very naughty. Then I bought him a rubber bone to chew. A little later I caught him carrying my other slipper to his box; when I took hold of it ho would have liked a tug of war, but I was stern, and re-

fused to play. I took tho slipper out of his teeth and Baid: "Naughty boy," sharply, at which his puppy eyes looked very troubled. Ho couldn't imagine that anything existed except for him to play with or destroy. 1 gave him his rubber bone instead, and we had a great romp, and very

BE KIND BUT FIRM

Specially Written for Youth's Leisure Hour

soon Jack realised that special playthings were provided for him, but other things were my property and must bo respected. It took him about three days to learn this properly, but now he would not dream of touching anything apart from his own accepted playthings. In fact, ho delights in guarding them, because they have assumed a

far greater viilue in his eyes. Sometimes I take off my coat to do a bit of gardening, and I have only to say, "Guard it. Jack," and though barely a year old, ho would do so with his life. Everyono who comes to see mo loves Jack, and he is on excellent terms

with all my friends, but some of them have no idea how to look after a dog. When I find them slipping him a piece of sugar or sweet cake at teatime, I am polite but very firm. Jack has two meals a day; in the morning and in the cool of the evening. They consist mostly of biscuit, with a little meat mixed with it. Occasionally lie has a large bone that will not splinter, preferably shin of beef. People who give a dog sweets and titbits at all times during the day do i not realise how unkind they are being j to him for his teeth will ache and j decay, and that will shorten his life. It's all very well to say you dislike the wheezy fat lap dog, but it is really the master or mistress who is to blame. No Angel Jack will never get fat, or wheezy if I can help it. He has his two regular meals a day, of proper dog's food, with no titbits or snacks in between,' and whether it is convenient or not, he has an hour's run every day, not just a quick "round the houses," but a real run and scamper, where there are plenty of interesting scents to investigate and other dogs to romp with. I don't pretend he's an angel. He isn't. Ho cannot resist chasing everything that runs, and it took me a long time to teach him that I had very strong views on chasing chickens or sheep. Also I'm afraid he'll never actually like cats; but he has begun to tolerate them.—K.P.F.