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THE SAN FRANCISCO CALL, SUNDAY, JANUARY 8, 1911.— JUNIOR CALL. TRAINING THE BOWWOW TO BE A CLEVER TRICK DOG First Lesson in Sitting Up, F a dog really -wants to learn," - I says Billy Stickney, "he really .can. All that he has to do is to watch every motion that his teacher makes and never take his mind off his lesson for a single instant, and pres ently he will begin to understand what the queer human who is trying to teach him wants him to do. Then It is all smooth sailing." But if he thinks about anything else while he is having his lessonif, for /Instance, he sees some thing very good to eat not a great way off and he darts away to get itthen there is sure to be trouble. The les son has to be begun all over again, and sometimes, when the interruption oc curs several times In the same lesson, a perfectly good dog gets a spanking that is, a perfectly good dog from his own point of view, for, of course, the teacher feels very different about his conduct. Billy Stickney, you see, is a dog.. He is a very beautiful dog, as you can see by his pictures. He has a beautiful white coat of soft fluffy hair, a slim, sprightly figure and the brightest, most friendly and gayest expression that a dog could have. Vet it is not for his beauty alone that Billy Stickney is ad mired. It is his cleverness and accom plishments that attract the most at- ' tention. Billy is one of the huge army of dogs who have adopted theatrical careers and who go around the world from city to city earning a very good living 'by hard work before the foot lights. When Billy consented to tell the boys and girls who read this page how a dog should be trained'he was appearing in a long engagement at the New York Hippodrome. ; . , i Billy Is the friendliest dog in the world and the most generous. He feels sorry for all dogs who are not as ac complished as he is and he is perfectly willing to help them to learn all that he knows, so if any boy or girl who reads this page owns a dog or num bers one among his or her acquaint ance* and would like it to perform as -_ cleverly as Billy Stickney does, Billy Is , perfectly delighted to tell them; how he attained his present degree of skill, • with the assistance, of course, of his owner and trainer, Mr. Stickney. The very first thing that Billy learned was to sit down. This does not seem much of an accomplishment, because dogs often assume this posture of their own free will, but the point that the teacher wanted to make by teaching Billy to , sit 'down was that everything must be done to order, not when the dog felt in the mood for It himself, but when his master Issued a command. Dogs are like children very often in not showing off to the best ad vantage* when there are visitors or - when for some other reason their mas ter Is particularly anxious for them to do well. They will obey sometimes when It pleases them, while at other times they will completely Ignore their master's command. This Is most em barrassing for the master and . very disappointing for his friends, and for a dog which appears on the stage it is quite ; Impossible. Such a dog, no matter how cleverly he might perform when he felt In the humor, would find himself out of employment most of the time because he could not be relied on. 'V^EB^BMSaf So Billy was taught perfect and In- • stant obedience by being made to sit down at once when Mr. Stickney said. "Sit down, Billy." To show the dog what he meant by the words "sit down," Mr. -Stickney tapped Billy gently on the back as shown in the picture entitled "First Lesson In Sitting Down." Many trainers use a small stick for tapping the dog, but Mr. Stickney has found a sheet of . newspaper folded as shown in the pic-, ture very good for training purposes. ; He first tapped Billy on the hind quar ters with the folded paper, while hold ing his other hand under the dog's chin and saying "Sit down, Billy." At first Billy could not understand but as the tapping continued he gradually grasped the idea and assumed a sitting posture. > Instantly Mr. Stickney stopped .the training', for the day and. began . a fine game of romps with Billy.. He wished him to. understand , that he had done what was .wanted. This part of training any animal is not always understood by those who have not gone into it professionally. a '■ —— . —— '■ ■—! The Eskimo's Dwelling There are four fundamental types of arch and dome, of which one is the Eskimo peculiarity. The Eskimo vault Is a true dome, exerts no outward thrust and requires no temporary scaf folding. It is also unique in that Its material Is not brick or stone, but snow. , The construction Is used for the' beehive shaped winter houses of these so called savages and is spiral in plan, as shown by the diagrams. A row of blocks is first laid on the ground in a circleor more; exactly a polygon. Each of these has a slightly slant top, and each-thus raises. Its surface a lit tle beyond the last, until when. the cir cle is completed, the gap in height be tween the last and first blocks gives the thickness for the following courses. In-these, the upper and lower surfaces , of leach block are parallel, as in a brick, but the gradual upward trend given by the first course is of neces sity f maintained. V . In each successive round the snow bricks are leaned inward more, by hav ing their lower i surfaces sliced off to a bevel. If set * squarely end to end, they would before long lean inward so far that they would tumble. For this reason- the end of the block last laid Is cut at an angle.' The next follow -a- : ■ ; Are You an Only Child? The only child is more to; be pitied than envied, no matter how well to do are - his circumstances. '. Unless his mother, be very wise and sensible, his childhood is likely to be anything but a profitable one. He misses much and loses much—misses the pleasures which many brothers and sisters can create in one family, and loses the training which they give" each other. It often happens that the little ewe lamb has only grown people for .; his early com panions, and when he happens to be thrown into the company of children of ids own age he is strangely stiff and awkward. He is either very reserved and cold or too rough, and the other children hold off and look at him askance. For children know how to bar an undesirable from their circle better oven than grown people do. In two-thirds of the cases the little only child gets a spoiling In his early youth that handicaps him for the rest of his life, unless he has a strong head and a sensible mind. An adoring moth er, and grandmother and perhaps several adoring aunties wait on him hand-and foot. He never lias to do what he does not want to do. and If he prefers choco late drops ,to spinach, he has but to say the word "At Christmas and on birth days his presents are so numerous that he might easily set up a toy shop. A prince is not more pampered. than he, nor .more unfitted for the life that is to follow. However, If he keeps his head In the midst of so much chaotic spoiling, he may rise above it. But forever the After the animal has accomplished the trick which the trainer is working for the amateur will often go on teaching another trick at the same lesson. This will confuse the dog. which at the con clusion of the lesson will not be quite sure what the different' commands meant or what it was that the trainer really wanted him to do. Another, mis- . take is in making the dog repeat the trick over and over again on the first . occasion in which he has accomplished it perfectly. If a trainer keeps on mak _______ — -a- ing block has the joining end slanted at the reverse angle. Thus it fits in behind the preceding, and, is prevented "by it 'from slipping inward. A3 the house grows, the circles become smaller, until at last only; an irregular polygonal opening is left. This is filled with a wedge shaped block cut to shape. It Is, however, not a key stone,; as the remainder of the struc ture supports itself. " ; The blocks of firm snow are usually dressed outside, and handed for plac ing to-the man on the inside. The last,block tie holds Up with one hand, slices; to shape with his ivory knife in the other, and drops into position! He is then entirely inclosed in the vault. Only after the house itself is entirely completed does he cut out the low door, which, to keep out the cold. as much as possible, is only big enough to crawl through. A long, low. tunnel is then built in front of the door, to break the force of the" Arctic's ley" blasts. Even a window is 1 present. A small aperture v, is cut out over: the door and filled with a pane of clear, thin ice. .All'that: is omitted is the flue or chimney. Whatever, heat is produced by the sealoil lamps is wanted inside, warmth being a more serious necessity' in the climate than ventilation or ; freedom from smoke. ; ; _ :—; ♦- only child will miss- what might be called "the etiquette of; the nursery." the rules a large family of . children never fail to . lay down. They are unwritten laws, but' as , unchanging- as , those of the Medes and Persians. Tell ing is one of them. The telltale is os tracized in : the ; nursery,-as • Is : also he who cheats. A fair division is another; whereas, the only child has no divided substance. It is all his , own. Shirk-, Ing is never permitted by ; the nursery; law of , the big family, and there is no greater shirk than the, only child, because he never has to, do anything. Peeping at I:spy, hitting a man in the back, playing when you'd; rather read or do something, because the others would rather play- this inexpress- ■ ibly spletidid and rprecious training the only child misses. ":- The f mother of -an only child has' a difficult but not in the least impossible task before her in bringing up her one ' chick. ;He ; may always be made to share, even if it bo-with an imaginary friend; he may be taught' to wait on. mother and all the household; to be,; abstemious in .what she knows is not good for him, and to be ; obedient.' :Is - It so hard, when one thinks of what it means later to this miniature man?; Is it not better to teach. gentleness, obedience and unselfishness in the be ginning than' to have . the lessons pounded into him later by another and more painful method? Let the parents of only children pity their lonely little ones and go carefully in the ways of bringing them UD.TBUmUI Secood Leuoc Ing the dog do the trick over again when he has just done It perfectly for the first time the animal will become tired and will do" the trick "sometimes well and sometimes imperfectly, and at the conclusion of the lesson he: will have a hazy idea that what was wanted was quantity and not quality. He would also be less Inclined to do at once what his master, said. -S3M9pSUHOBH The proper method is to stop on the Instant when,an animal has performed in a proper manner, the trick for which the trainer has been working, and give the little beast the reward he likes best. Then the lesson is over for j that day and the dog understands ' that what: la wanted of him Is to do a certain thing Instantly when a particular order Is Is sued, and that if he performs that trick properly he will not be bothered' any more. v';|_H__n_B_£B_9HßHs§K It Is also necessary that a trainer should insist on the corrects perform ance of any act "before he goes, on to the . next. As <_'. with . children, the changing: of commands is very bad for a dogts disposition, and the animal must be sure that his master means what he says and will insist on having his orders obeyed,' if the dog is ever to' become a*good performing animal. Of, course with difficult tricks and in the case of certain animals it . Is necessary to - give up the ; hope "of training them,' but this Is .not. so; with simple com mands nor with", an intelligent dog. Such an animal can surely,be;made to obey, -, commands . absolutely if '.the proper" method "of"training is ad hered to. . :- v^_Hat__B_BßMCHflH_sßßo " After the first lesson, which taught Billy a military precision "in; obeying orders, came:, the- second lesson," in which Billy ... was .taught : "sitting up." Again the . folded . paper , was, brought Into play,, and • or,'* the„'first' part of the sitting up lesson Billy, was asked- to sit down and was tapped gently on one paw.' with '.',the folded paper while Mr. Stickney. hold.'the : other paw in his hand.. By this time Billy : had decided that he didn't care,to learn any more tricks, for he is not .naturally", a j very ambi tious dog in this ./direction; so ,he promptly closed his eyes and refused to look at Mr. Stickney at all. Many ) dogs do iS this when they. are being ; trained. It seems as if they said to themselves, "Well, . if I close , my eyes '. and can't see anything; then they,'can't blame me for not getting it right." ;lfa^_M___|i_t__R__fl£ '"' Mr. "Stickney,. however, was very pa- ; tient and presently Billy opened . his eyes and decided ,that the beat thing for him •to do after all was to go through with his ; lesson : and have the strain over with as soon as possible. - When the first,sllting up position had been attained, the trainer; taught' Billy the second,'? in - which J Billy has ' one :of his paws held while he keeps the other up of his own accord. When Billy had been taught to keep both paws up he hud learned the sitting up position, and there only ' remained, to make him per fect in the act the dally, practice which familiarized him with this act's word of command. -He became 'acquainted with the moaning of the.words, "Sit up, Billy," and learned „tof obey his order perfectly, exactly as he had the others— that is. "by, having the lesson stop the minute he did.the trick correctly. Sitting up is also a very simple thing, which most ; dogs do without much training, but to have them always do it immediately when, commanded 1 to, is a very different matter.'Try train ing your, own, dog to obey the simple sitting down and sitting up orders as promptly as Billy Stickney does, and if you attain success In this "you will be able to teach him some ,of the mora elaborate tricks which Billy performe, which will bo Illustrated and explained In a later page for boys and girls. 3