The king of rabbit dogs is the beagle. Small, alert, wonderfully clever, always wide awake and ready for fun or work, a beagle is a constant source of pleasure to either child or man. He is easily trained and is quick to learn, and makes a good house dog as well as rabbit dog.

The first thing to teach a young beagle is to mind either word or whistle. Then take a horn to use as a signal, when going out hunting.

Always start out when you blow the horn, and if the dog is an>-where within a mile of the house, he will soon come with a rush and on the full cry. In beginning to work him for rabbits, drag a piece of meat on a line for about ten feet, so that he cannot see it; then put it on a stick two feet off the ground, so that he will have to use his nose on the wind scent, and he will be quick to catch either the ground or wind scent. Always change the location of the lesson, when dragging the meat and increase the distance as rapidly as possible.

As soon as he is well under command, get him on rabbits in the field, and when he chases one, encourage him to bark. If he is a barker or "singer" he will keep at it while chasing. If he fails to bark, train him to do so at home by hissing him on at anything around the house and he will soon begin to "sing."

When he starts a rabbit, stand still and he will either chase the rabbit to you or hole it. In case he holes it, try and get it out for him. to show him that you are doing all you can to help him. If he is too fast and drives the rabbit out of the country, hang a chain two feet long on him, and it will cut his speed down; but take the chain off when he gets tired.

If a rabbit is started right off on a dead chase, he will soon hole or run out of the country, so train the dog to let the rabbit run slow and make circles, and the dog will soon learn to follow and drive the game around to you.

I always teach my beagles to retrieve a rabbit and when they make a catch to bring in the dead. This encourages them to hunt for more game. I use the same rules as for pointers and setters.