W. H. Burroughs

“ The training to an occasional run has familiarized such horses with the excitement; but conversely, once let a team not used to it in harness, get a start and run, the excitement every moment becomes greater, takes the place of animal instinct, and all control of them is lost—till brought up against some obstacle, with a general smash of all surroundings, and perhaps the loss of valuable and useful life. Whether the horse be hurt or not, they are forever of no value for family purposes, and the groom or coachman not unfrequently loses both situation and character as a driver. ”

“ When first secured, the elephant struggles fiercely to break his bonds, writhing in a manner one would think impossible for so bulky and unwieldly an animal. Failing in this, he seems to give way to despair, and utters the most pitiable moans. Food is now placed within their reach, which at first they spurn indignantly, the older ones frequently trampling it under foot. The milder ones, as they become composed, allow themselves to be tempted by the delicacies before them, and commence listlessly chewing the juicy morsels. ”

“ It is thus that man becomes heavy and rude with the ox, filthy and a glutton with the pig, simple with the sheep, courageous and an adept hunter with the dog. In like manner the Arab is sober with his camel, the Tartar rough and blunt as his horses, the Laplander timid as his reindeer, the mountaineer active as the goat, the Hindoo somber as his elephant, because it is man’s fate to take the nature of his animals when he cannot form their nature to his. ”

“ When your horse balks he is excited and does not know what you want him to do. For instance, a young horse that has never been “set” in a gully with a load before, is whipped by his owner or driver because he does not draw the load out. The animal is willing to do what he can, but he does not know how to draw out the load. He tries and finds that it does not move, not knowing that a steadier and stronger pull would do it, and when the lash comes down upon him and he hears the yells of his driver he is frightened, and jumps and rears through fear rather than ugliness or balkiness. ”

“ Harshness seems only to arouse their obstinacy or increase their stupidity, and we doubt whether it ever does any good. If we did not really believe severity would only defeat the aims of the trainer, we should almost be tempted to leave goats to take their own chances for kind treatment; for ever since a venerable specimen of the animal butted us, in our youth, down a steep bank, merely because in stooping to pick up something, we furnished a temptation too strong for him to resist, we have felt an unconquerable prejudice against the whole tribe. ”

“ The best informed authorities assert that changes of treatment, or of hours of occupation, are as easily made as with a horse. Still another mistake, derived no doubt from the intelligence and earnestness he displays in work, is the idea that he actually enjoys his labor, and will perform his task as faithfully in the absence of his keeper as when he is present. The elephant, however, loves his ease, and unless his attendant has a watchful eye upon him, he will, on completing the task immediately in hand, stroll off to browse, or to enjoy the luxury of blowing dust over his back. ”

“ In this dilemma the boy conceived a new and original method for increasing his income; necessity is the mother of invention, and he meditated no less a project than to train a young Angora cat to live harmlessly in the midst of his favorite songsters. Such is the force of habit, such the power of education, that by slow degrees he taught the martial enemy of his winged pets to live, to eat, to drink, and to sleep in the midst of his little charges without once attempting to devour or injure them. The cat, whom he called Bianca, suffered the little birds to play all manner of tricks with her ”

“ He may be in a state of panic, running off with the bit between his teeth in spite of every ordinary means of checking him: but no sooner does he feel the stricture on his breathing than he is conscious of being outwitted and nonplussed and becomes instantly as quiet as a lamb; at the same time he keeps quite firm upon his legs—the check not being by any means calculated to bring him down. ”

“ Natural movements are also made to pass for seemingly wonderful effects. Thus the performance of the musicians is nothing but the customary wriggling of the fleas. Any insect in a confined position will seize hold of a light article whether it be shaped like a fiddle or not, and twirl it about. With the fleas it is impossible for the spectator to distinguish exactly what the motion is—it is so rapid and everything is so small—and imagination makes up for a good many deficiencies. ”

“ The Mexican shepherd’s dog is doubtless a descendant of the Spanish ones introduced at the time of the conquest, and is a marvel of fidelity and intelligence. In training these dogs the method is to select from a multitude of pups a few of the healthiest and finest looking, and to put them to a sucking ewe, first depriving her of her own lamb. By force, as well as from a natural desire she has to be relieved of the contents of her udder, she soon learns to look upon the little interlopers with all the affection she would manifest for her own natural offspring. ”

“ But do not whip him much—just enough to frighten him; it is not because we want to hurt the horse that we whip him—we only do it to frighten vice and stubbornness out of him. But whatever you do, do quickly, sharply, and with a good deal of fire, but always without anger. If you are going to frighten him at all, you must do it at once. Never go into a pitched battle with your horse, and whip him until he is mad and will fight you ”

“ As soon as you have frightened him, so that he will stand up straight and pay some attention to you, approach him again, and caress him a good deal more than you whipped him; thus you will excite the two controlling passions of his nature, love and fear; he will love and fear you too ”

“ How often do we see inconsiderate parents fly into a passion and, without reason or religion, thrash the object of their displeasure. So of brutal, heartless drivers, when the “blinded” horses chance to misstep, get off the track, stumble, or in the wrong place. By their actions it would appear that they expected a horse or an ass to reason quite as well as themselves. Employers may not look for the same talent in their apprentices as in their foreman. Teachers may expect every little urchin to be self-regulating and to mind his books ”

“ City dogs would make sad havoc among the inhabitants of any poultry yard if allowed admission therein, but let any one of those same dogs become a resident on a farm, let him understand that chickens and turkeys are sacred from his touch and he will soon walk among them as unconsciously as though there were no such things in existence. An instance is on record of a cat who had been deprived of her kittens, capturing a brood of young rats and suckling them with all the tenderness of a mother. ”

“ DOGS IN GENERAL—WATCH DOGS—THE SHEPHERD’S DOG. Among all the animals the dog seems preëminently intended by nature for the companion and friend of man. Even the instinctive passions all animals have for their own kind appear to be in a measure sacrificed to human influence, for the dogs often care more for the society of man than for that of their own kind. Not only is the dog a trusty and valuable friend and associate of man, but the companionship between the human and the canine races developes in the latter many of those noble qualities not possessed under other circumstances. ”

“ This power of women over the Arabian horses is partly due, no doubt, to the fact that when still a colt he is reared in the back part of the tent, the movable harem of the Arab. He is constantly petted, and it is the women who see that he is supplied with food, and tenderly cared for. It is the attachment which is by these means awakened in the horse that leads him to so cheerfully yield obedience to the female voice. ”

“ The Turks look upon the dog with abhorrence, and almost universally in the East he is an outcast from human society. The consequence is that all his good qualities are lost; he is no longer the faithful companion, ready to defend his master with his life, but on the contrary, he is deceitful, bloodthirsty, and as unlike the more favored dog of other countries as it is possible to imagine. ”

“ Again the charmer seized it, and quick as lightning ran his hand up its body, holding it firmly by the throat. By pressing on its back the cobra’s mouth opened, and he disclosed the fangs, poison bags, and apparatus complete, thus proving beyond a doubt that it was not a trained or tame reptile he had been treating like a plaything. Doubts still arose in my mind, however, about the genuineness of the performance, for I could not bring myself to believe that a man would willingly place himself in such close proximity to certain death. ”

“ The pinching, tickling, rough, boisterous stable boy who annoys a spirited horse for the sake of enjoying his futile, though almost frantic kicks and leers, is affecting the disposition of the horse and his descendants for generations to come, besides putting in jeopardy the lives and limbs of those who are brought in contact with the horse so tampered with. A horse is surely influenced by the character of the men with whom he associates. ”

“ It will do him no good, but harm, to strike him, unless you can frighten him; but if you can succeed in frightening him, you can whip him without making him mad; for fear and anger never exist together in the horse, and as soon as one is visible, you will find that the other has disappeared. ”

“ The young trainer must not fall into the mistaken notion that mere quickness in picking up a trick is the best quality in an animal. There may be such a thing as learning a lesson too rapidly, and what is learned with but slight effort is sometimes forgotten with equal readiness. Another thing, too much should not be expected of one pupil. ”

“ My father had admitted it for years on account of its size and color, and he visited it every evening, when it would come forth at his summons, and by constant feeding he brought it to be so tame that it would come to him and look up as if expecting to be taken up and brought to the table and fed on insects of all sorts. On presenting living insects it fixes its eyes intently and remains motionless for a while as if preparing for a strike, which is an instantaneous throwing of its tongue to a great distance, upon which the insect sticks fast to the tip by a glutinous matter. ”

“ His passion for the art acquired such an intensity that he required every one about him to fall in with his musical predilections by either vocal or instrumental coöperation. Poodle, the dog, was the only one unable to render any musical assistance. As worthy Herr Schwartz felt the utter impossibility of making Poodle afford any practical aid, he determined to train him to fill the office of critic in his own harmonious community. He succeeded, too, by an ingenious method. Whenever a note out of tune proceeded from a voice or an instrument ”

“ We have known of hunters bringing cubs home, and adopting them, as it were, into their families, the bears becoming exceedingly familiar, sleeping with the children, and eating from their bowls of bread and milk, climbing into the hunter’s lap and licking his face, and, in fact, making themselves perfectly at home. As they grow old, however, they are liable to become enraged at teasing or other provocation and to be dangerous. ”

“ This is the secret, and the trainer’s efforts are directed to producing this motion of the head. To make a horse bob his head is a trifling matter, but to make him do so every time he treads on one particular foot, and to do so at the right moment, without hesitation or mistake, requires many weary lessons, and a stock of patience equal to that popularly supposed to have been possessed by the ancient Job. ”

“ Whether the mouse would have persevered and traveled on to Albany, thus furnishing an example of sending articles by telegraph, it is impossible to say, for some person at a window within reach of the wire, by vigorous shaking, succeeded in dislodging him, and he fell to the ground among a crowd of boys who were eagerly waiting to receive him. ”