Training or breaking?

Though first published in 1848, General Hutchinson’s Dog Breaking contains plenty of gems for owners of today

- David Tomlinson

DOG BREAKING. IF you published a book with such a title today, you would probably be prosecuted by the RSPCA. However, 150 years ago dogs weren’t ‘trained’, they were ‘broken’, which you will be pleased to know was really very much the same thing. I’ve written before in this column about General Hutchinson’s classic work Dog Breaking, which was the bestselling book for would-be gundog trainers for over 50 years. First published in 1848, it went through numerous editions and remained in print well into the last century.

The copy I own is the 10th edition, published in 1898. It’s a fat book, covering everything from basic training to encounters with lions. Dog Breaking grew enormously through its many editions, and it ended up “with odds and ends for those who love the dog and the gun”. You can still pick up later editions of Dog Breaking for around £30, a bargain at the price.

However, the original 1848 edition of the book is, perhaps not surprisingly, a real rarity, and I’d never seen one until earlier this month, when I was given a copy by my friends Sue and Richard Berry. They had found it in a box of old books they had inherited, and generously thought that I might enjoy it. They were right. It may not be a book to read from cover to cover, but it’s fascinating for anyone with an interest in dogs, shooting and history.