The San Francisco Call. Newspaper, March 16, 1902, Page 2

~~ © be = successful anfmal trainer " | ope must study snimals as one | studies pe The varieties of di are quite similar— some are mild and some are flerce; bright and some stupid. Some ani- crimfnal tendencies just as en do. Some are wrongdoers from intention. They know the difference between right and wrong, but they delib- erately choose the wrong. Such animals should be dealt with as criminals, but be sure in choosing your treatment that you io not confound the merely stupld creat- re with the eriminal. 4 If one will give a little time and atten- on, he will find this a most interesting study. Take young pupples example. A puppy who is mischievous will never sneak up bearing the photograph of his his hanging head and crouching he has stolen some article for a ything he will probably bring the rem- you in triumph and be much hagrined &t your disapproval. On the other hand, the pup who is naturally a thief bears his treasure away into some positions siologica! first nants .rk corner, or perhaps even burles it, snd you only know that he has a gzuilty ccnscience by the outward manifestations of guilt. Any cue ean train apimals to yerform tricks who will devote the time to it and usc a lttle Judgment, It is nonscnse to think one must be Possessed of any spectal qualtfication. The whole science of training animais re- solves itself into one thing—that fs work, and bgrd work at that. Of course, one must be kind, patient and persévering. It is very slow work at first and one can- not see much advancement in any animal that {s belng trained in the first few days, rometimes weeks. But if the trainer con- tinues the results will, in most cases, be satisfactory. If I had & son bent upon becoming sn &nimal trainer and he came to me for advice, I would advise htm not to enter the business, but should he in- sist, T would set down the following sim- ple rules for him to follow: First—Use common horse sense and do not expect to accomplish In a day work that will require weeks. Becond—Never punish an animal for the sake of wearing out & whip. Remember, the most contemptible thing that walks the earth is the indlvidual that punishes dumb creatures unnecessarily. Third—When an animal does anything particularly well, show your appreciation by a kind word, a stroke or caress, and occasionally reward him with a small par- ticle of & food which the animal likes most, Fourth—Do not work with the animal for an hour and then negfect him for a week. Better devote ten minutes each day regularly. and quicker The results will be surer THE SUNDAY CALL. obedient, and have naughty spells, just &s children do, and have to be punished. But the best way io train dogs is by kindness. Some trainers do it by whip- ping, as it is & quicker way, but the ani- mals are not as reliable if trained in this way and are apt to go back on thelr master in critical moments. The way to get the best results is to make the dogs think what they are doing is fun, end if the trainer can keep them thinking so his success is assured. Never let your anger get the best of you. Never beat your dog. That will make him stu- pid. Occasionally, if they are disobed'ent, I have to chastise them a littfe, vut they always know what it_is for. I believe the dog is more intelligent than people give him credit for being, and will do anything in his power it you treat him right. You must first make him understand that you are master. Then he must learn his name and to come when he is called. It will take from two to five weeks to do this well. Then you will teach him to jump over a stick and through & hoop. After that you can be- gin putting paper on the hoop, till finally he will go through a paper hodp. You must keep him thinking it is sport all the while. Suppose you want to teach a dog to walk on his hind feet. You take him by the paws, then one paw, giving your com- mand, “stand up,” all the while, .till fin. ally he learns to walk. The first week 1 hold his paw; the next I give him my cane as a support, helping him as little as possible, and so on, till at the com- mand he will walk. In training a dog to walk upon his front feet take him by his hind legs and walk him about “wheelbarrow” fashion. Then take a small cane, place it under his hind legs and slightly lift them wup so that the weight will be thrown on the front feet. Then tap the hind legs slightly with the cane, and the dog will soon learn what you want him to do, and he will do it. Remember, a dog or a horse is always glad to please you, after he understands what is wanted. Should you want the dog to walk on three legs tap gently the particular leg You want off the floor. Th dog will soon walk on three legs. Should you want him to walk upon two feet on the same side of the body follow the sa .2 rule. Should you want him to walk on the right front foot and the left hind foot the same method may be followed. To teach a dog to turn a back somer- sault make a small belt with a rope at- tached to ether side. Place the strap around the body near the front legs. Then lift the dog up by the strings and turn him over. This will have to be repeated daily for at least three weeks. The dog will soon have confidence in his own.abil- 1ty and will turn of his own accord. Eve-y time you turn the dog over in training him in this act give him some “cue” or command, such as “high up,” “over,” ar arything that may suggest itself. Only remember the same ‘“cue” should always be given. A small pad, blanket or some- thing soft should be placed under the dog at first, so that if he falls he will not be hurt, Once hurt during any act he be- comes timid immediately, and you will find this ome of the disagreeabls things with which you will have to contend. Much has been written about the re- markable memory of elephants. These articles may be written by profound thinkers, but not by practical animal tralners. My erience with elephants has been long and varied, and I find them invariably treacherous, irresponsible and as to memory I find that good, bad and indifferent. In fact, elephants are like their fellow animals, whether of & higher or lower order. Most of our ele- phants are young, but even at an eariy age I find their natural propensities as- serting themselves, They are willful and show signs of treachery. They are rea- sonably intelligent, but do not show * near the amount of gray matter displayed by a dog or a horse. It has been gener- ally conceded among animal trainers and showmen In general that camels were useless/ except for menagerie purposes. It has been claimed that the camel pos- sesses no more bra'n than an ostrich. This has also been said of the zebra. Never- theless, I have made a study of those two species, and, strange as jt may seem, they have both turnediout to be intelll- gent performers. The zebra is a very nervous creature, and it is very likely upon this account that he has been so misunderstood. True, camels and zebras cannot compare with horses and dogs, but they rival Hons and other perform- ing animals, The method of training camels and zebras is precisely that used for dogs and horses, with a greater stock of patience. The length of time required is about five times that given to the more domestic animals. After all is said, the training of zebras, camels, lions, elephants, and 1 might add ‘wooden Indians, {§ & snap compared to the struggle of fmparting knowledge to a long-whiskered goat or a pug dog. Either of these animals has the happy faculty of forgetting in“one moment what you have spent months in teaching him. During my long experlence I ‘hdve wasted my patience with many a pug dog and many 2 goat, and I must admit that I can only crown the result with the name of suc- cess once in each case, and that only to a Umited extent. The pug dog will creep across a tight rope that any other dog in the show will run across on two feet. He is the only specles of the canine tribe for which I have no respect. The goat is only used for clown purposes: Even his clcver trick of riding a horse is rarely appreciat- ed, except from the standpoint of humeor. In truth, this. solemn creature is com- pelled to look always on the funny side of things, for he lives in the environment of laughter. If I were compelled to train goats and pug dogs continuously 1 am free to confess that [ should give up the animal training Husiness. That fish is brain food has been proven without a doubt by the school of seals under my care. The sole diet of ‘these marvelous actors Is fish, and ‘it must be confessed the sole inspiration of their clever performance is—fish, for we have neéver yet found it possible to put a sealon a high moral plane. "We treat him as a mere physical subject, thinking only of his physical existence: In fact, 1 doubt very much the exIstence of any soul qual- ities in this very rcmarkable and very seifish creature, Playing upon his abnor- mal desire for gratification of his fleshe loving propensities T have developed an apparently intelligent actor out of the wobbly;. barking, ungainly seal, I verily believe 1 could teach a seal to dance the Spanish fandango if he were.sure that his repast at the end of the performance would warrant the effort. He can scarce- Iy be called an epicure, yet he Is certainly & gormandizer, As a fishmonger he would be a success, for his one cry is fish! fish! fish! In training 1 keep his reward ever before his eyes. Seals are very different in disposition fome are affectionate and very fond of being petted and made much of; others are. very snappy and vicious. They are rightly called sea lions, being brave and tremendously strong in a fight. The greatest diplomacy and patience is need- ed in training. Weeks of hard work is de- voted to the least difiicylt of the tricks. In the “see-saw,” for instance, they were petted and coaxed, stuffed with fish until they realized what was desired of thém. In the work of the seal band they were not 8o stubborn, for with the scaly food before their eyes it was a simple mat- ter to toot the scales. Bince these dwell- ers of the briny decp have changed their abode and entered the realm of art they have taken on the’ natural conditions of artists, and are lazy, doomineering aris- THE WAY PROFESSIONALS TEACH DUMB BEASTS TO DO THEIR WILL., HO has notat one time inhis life tried toteach his petdog & few simple tricks—and generally failed miserably? You fail simply because you do not know how. In days gone by it was considered a .great’ thing when a dog could bs taught to “sit up,” to stand on his hind legs, to jump through a hoop, and a few other simple performances. Now all this work is merely a small preliminary in the eyes of a profes- sional animal trainer. Some men have taken the trouble to make a business of suth training and they “know how.” Mr. C. J. Norris of “Norris & Rowe’s Trained Animal Show” gives below an article on ani- mal training prepared especially for the readers of The Call, Mr. Norris started out first merely with the idea of training dogs, but he gradually en- larged the fleld of his efforts to take in camels, zebras and even seals. Ho says that he has been able to do a little in the line of teaching pug dogs and goats—but a wery little. This may prove discouraging to the fair sex who own some little pugs that they think “just the smartest things in all the world.” Other dogs are not on the tabooed list, however, and when you know how to train them it is the simplest thing in the world to take any pup of evident brightness ard turn him into an acrobatic won- der. The methods as Mr. Norris ex- pleins them are so interesting that even a person who does not anticipate putting some horse, dog or possibly over zebra, lion or seal, through a ogurse of educational training, cannot fail to enjoy reading what he has to say on the subject. tocrats. They believe every day is Fri- dar and keep the ritual in regard to that day ‘They refuse fish which is not dainti- ly and properly dressed, and show many otker tendencies of their civilized brother artist. ‘Would it not be very interesting if we could learn their language? What hosts- they would be! What tales of mermaids and sea serpents. What deseriptions of Father Neptune's realm beneath the seas. “It is a consummation devoutly to be wighed.” . Shetland ponies are bright, but it re- quires a great deal of work and an un- limited stoek of patience. My partner, i Mr. Rowe, who is eminently a business man and is very seldom around the show, taught Rosebery.. the talking pony. Mr. Rowe is very fond of animals and takes sreat plegsure in feeding them sugar agd sweetmeats. Rosebery was trained via the sugar route by Mr. Rowe, and I must confess it worked like & charm.