(a) The owner or custodian of any bird, rabbit, raccoon or fox dog, may train and break the same, at any time of the year, daylight or night, except during the months of March, April, May, June, July and August. If while training or breaking dogs, the owner or custodian thereof exercises reasonable precaution to keep such dogs in control, and if any such dog, during such training, wanders off and out of control of the owner or custodian without the owner’s or custodian’s fault, such dog shall not be deemed to be running at large within the meaning of this section. If any dog kills any game protected by the laws of this State, during the closed season while so training, the owner or custodian shall be fined not less than $2.00 nor more than $5.00 for each offense.

(b) No person shall carry a firearm while training a dog in closed game season.

(c) The Department may issue an annual permit to the owner or custodian of any retriever dog authorizing the training of such dog or dogs at any time of the year provided such owner or custodian is a trainer of retriever dogs, and provided no game is to be used in the training. Any person to whom such a permit shall issue may possess artificially reared game and may hunt such game with a shotgun; but such game must be hand-liberated during dog training.

Code 1915, § 2406E; 34 Del. Laws, c. 185, § 1; 35 Del. Laws, c. 166, § 1; 37 Del. Laws, c. 225, § 1; Code 1935, § 2869; 45 Del. Laws, c. 208, § 1; 7 Del. C. 1953, § 1704; 56 Del. Laws, c. 257; 57 Del. Laws, c. 739, § 77; 70 Del. Laws, c. 186, § 1; 71 Del. Laws, c. 431, § 1; 77 Del. Laws, c. 428, § 3.