s dropping the
glove,--while you lead or drag him with the other. When you halt, be sure
not to take the glove immediately from him--oblige him to continue holding
it for at least a minute--lest he should learn to relinquish his grip too
soon,--before you make him yield at the command "give;" then bestow a
reward. Should he drop it before he is ordered to deliver it, replace it
in his mouth and again retreat some steps before ordering him to "give."
He will soon follow with it at your heels. If you have sufficient
perseverance you can thus make him earn all his daily food. Hunger will
soon perfect him in the lesson. Observe that there are four distinct
stages in this trick of carrying--the first, making the dog grasp and
retain--the second, inducing him to bring, following at your heels--the
third, teaching him not to quit his hold when you stop--the fourth,
getting him to deliver into your hands on your order. The great advantage
of a sporting dog's acquiring this trick is that it accustoms him to
deliver into your _hands_; and it often happens that you must thus teach a
dog to "carry" as a preparative to teaching him to "fetch." It certainly
will be judicious in you to do so, if the dog is a lively, riotous animal;
for the act of carrying the glove--or stick, &c.--quietly at your heels
will sober him, and make him less likely to run off with it instead of
delivering it when you are teaching him to fetch. As soon as he brings the
glove tolerably well, try him with a short stick. You will wish him not to
seize the end of it, lest he should learn to "drag" instead of "carry."
Therefore fix pegs or wires into holes drilled at right angles to each
other at the extremities of the stick. He will then only grasp it near
the middle.

95. This drill should be further extended if a

REGULAR LAND RETRIEVER

be your pupil. Throw dead birds of any kind for him to bring--of course
one at a time,--being on the alert to check him whenever he grips them too
severely. If he persists in disfiguring them, pass a few blunted knitting
needles through them at right angles to one another. When he fetches with
a tender mouth, you will be able to follow up this method of training
still further by letting him "road"--or "foot," as it is often termed--a
rabbit in high stubble, one--or both, if a strong buck--of whose hind legs
you will have previously bandaged in the manner described in 56. Be
careful not to let him see you turn it out,