Dog (animal)

“ Nature has furnished them better. And the dog not only excels in these, but also in the senses—hearing, seeing, and [41] smelling; and to have gained possession over a tractable and courageous species like the dog, was acquiring new or additional agility, swiftness, strength, and courage with a mysterious increase of power and usefulness of the more important senses. And by the friendship and superior faculties of the dog, man became permanently sovereign and master of all.
“The dog is the only animal whose talents are evident, and whose education is always successful.” ”

“ Generally, the prairie dog that initiates the mouth contact does the grooming, nibbling, and combing the fur in an effort to dislodge dirt and parasites. The act is more significant for its symbolic value, however, for the animal of lower rank will often completely roll over on its back during the process; by exposing its vulnerable undersides, it is submitting, canine fashion, to the dominance of its fellow. ”

“ To my way of thinking there's something wrong, or missing, with any person who hasn't got a soft spot in their heart for an animal of some kind. With most folks the dog stands highest as man's friend, then comes the horse, with others the cat is liked best as a pet, or a monkey is fussed over; but whatever kind of animal it is a person likes, it's all hunkydory so long as there's a place in the heart for one or a few of them. ”

“ As soon as the horn or voice of the hunter is heard, the dog demonstrates his joy by the most expressive emotions and accents. By his movements and cries he announces his impatience for combat, and his passion for victory. Sometimes he moves silently along, reconnoitres the ground, and endeavours to discover and surprise the enemy. At other times hePage 28 traces the animal's steps, and by different modulations of voice, and by the movements, particularly of his tail, indicates the distance, the species, and even the age of the fugitive deer. ”

“ Dogs are utilized extensively in Germany and other parts of Europe as draft animals. The United States consul says, in the large, wealthy and industrial city of Leige, and throughout Belgium, dogs are used for delivery of goods by all the trades of the city. While they are used as hewers of wood and drawers of water, the species is the most versatile in talents of the animal creation—and the dog makes the most accurate critic, the most successful detective, most reliable witness, best sentinel and most trustworthy friend. ”

“ In cases, however, where this limit had not been so nearly reached as in the horse, we have been enabled to make a more marked advance and to produce a greater difference of form. The wild dog is an animal that hunts much in company, and trusts more to endurance than to speed. ”

“ In this connection I may point out the remarkable change which has been produced in the domestic dog as compared with wild dogs, with reference to the enduring of pain. A wolf or a fox will sustain the severest kinds of physical suffering without giving utterance to a sound, while a dog will scream when any one accidentally treads upon its toes. ”

“ I have described, in the second chapter, the gait and appearance of a dog when cheerful, and the marked antithesis presented by the same animal when dejected and disappointed, with his head, ears, body, tail, and chops drooping, and eyes dull. ”

“ When once a pack of wild dogs Dog. has put up any animal, that animal’s doom is sealed. They do not leave it for days, and finally bring it to bay, or run it down exhausted. A peculiar variety of wild dog exists in the Karen hills of Burma, thus described from a specimen in confinement. ”

“ When a stranger approaches the flock, the dog advances, barking, and the sheep all close in his rear, as if round the oldest ram, while they are so fierce with other dogs and wolves, that it is said a whole pack of hungry wild dogs will not venture to attack them. ”

“ We know of thirty varieties in the dog, and yet it is certain that we are not acquainted with them all. Of these thirty there are seventeen which may be said to be owing to the influence of climate, namely, the shepherd’s dog, the wolf dog, the Siberian dog, the Iceland dog, the Lapland dog, the mastiff, the common greyhound, the great Dane, the Irish hound, the hound, the harrier, the terrier, the spaniel, the water-dog, the small Dane, the Turkish dog, and the bull-dog. ”

“ Other breeds of dogs owned by them are used for hunting,—for these wild wanderers sometimes devote their hours to the chase. They have two sorts,—a smooth-skinned dog, half hound half pointer, that hunts chiefly by the scent ”

“ The real hunting dogs are the [334] hounds, harriers, terriers, spaniels, and water-dogs, and notwithstanding they differ in figure yet they have all thick muzzles, the same instincts, and therefore ought to be classed together; the only difference between the water-dog and the spaniel is, that those with long bushy hair take to the water with more facility than those whose hair is short and straight. ”

“ Puss followed, jump for jump, and laying her claws at every leap upon the dog’s hinder quarters, the hair flew as if her paws had been a couple of curry-combs. When the dog came to the street, he laid down his ears, hid his tail between his legs, and, stretching away, at last escaped. ”

“ Nevertheless the student of development finds, not only that the chick commences its existence as an egg, primarily identical, in all essential respects, with that of the Dog, but that the yelk of this egg undergoes division—that the primitive groove arises, and that the contiguous parts of the germ are fashioned, by precisely similar methods, into a young chick, which, at one stage of its existence, is so like the nascent Dog, that ordinary inspection would hardly distinguish the two.
The history of the development of any other vertebrate animal, Lizard, Snake, Frog, or Fish, tells the same story. ”

“ As my men shouldered it, the doorkeeper or some one of his helpers made the mistake of unchaining the watch-dog at me.
He was a big, short-haired, black and white Aquitanian dog. He flew at the calves of my bearers, snarling, and would have bitten them badly had I not half rolled, half fallen from my litter, almost into his jaws; in fact, not a foot in front of him.
As all such animals always do with me, he checked, cowered, fawned and then exhibited every symptom of recognition, delight and affection. I patted him, pulled his ears, smoothed his spine and climbed back into my litter. ”

“ Just as soon as you have decided that he is almost human, he will straightway unmistakably indicate that he is still very much dog.
As example, select, if you please, the most pampered and carefully nurtured dog in dog tribe: some lady's dog—beribboned King Charles, bejeweled poodle, befatted pug—and give him the luxury of a half-hour in the nearest genuine alley. ”

“ The fourth creature there was a dog, as thin as the horse, but younger, a lank, yellow, ugly, big-bodied dog, with a clever head, bright, speaking brown eyes, and as keen a nose for scent as any dog ever born possessed. ”

“ I cannot see the force of such an argument, nor do I bring myself to the belief that the beautiful and loving household pet is descended from the ferocious and comparatively enormous wild-cat or anything of its species, any more than I can believe that the dog is an evolution from the lion, the catamount from the tiger, the sprat from the whale, or man from the ape. ”

“ A man with a pail slung on his shoulder, and with a milking stool in his hand, comes slowly out from the farm buildings, a dog following at his heels; a dog grey and shabby and unkempt, of breed altogether past description. ”

“ There are two varieties of the wild dog, one a large nondescript, with a canine head, the body of a wolf, and a brush instead of a tail: the other is a smaller beast of similar appearance. They generally hunt in large packs, and the skill with which they follow up the game is admirable. ”

“ The dog which is a genus, ranked in the world of letters as the genus canis, has his specific divisions, as hound, bull, cur, terrier, and the like—each marked by a peculiarity designating its kind. These may be cultivated, but never changed or overcome. The dog that runs by scent may be cultivated in his powers—may be taught to scent closer and to increase his speed; so, too, may he that runs by sight be improved in the same manner; but neither one can be transformed into the other, for the specific division must continue to the end of time. ”

“ At last, the dog stood upon his hind legs, put his paws upon the man's shoulders and looked him in the face, with such a human meaning, such a piteous expression, that the man determined to follow him. ”

“ Do we not, in fact, forget the evidence that the wild animals know each other by far more subtile means than we might suppose? The dog, even after all these centuries of domestication, still keeps the power to recognize his master, not merely by his scent, but by his foot-fall, when he can not see him. ”

“ Dogs that find game for man, leaving him to kill it himself—the pointer, setters, spaniels and water spaniels. (b) Dogs which kill game when found for them—the English greyhound. (c) Dogs which find and also kill their game—the bloodhound, the foxhound, the harrier, the beagle, the otterhound, the fox terrier and the truffle dog. (d) Dogs which retrieve game that has been wounded by man—the retriever, the deerhound. (e) Useful companions of man—the mastiff, the Newfoundland, the St Bernard dog, the bulldog, the bull terrier, terriers, sheepdogs, Pomeranian or Spitz, and Dalmatian dogs. ”

“ A thoroughly vagabond dog, accustomed to low company and public-houses ; a terrific dog to sheep ; ready at a whistle to scamper over their backs, and tear out mouthfuls of their wool ; but an educated, improved, developed dog, who has been taught his duties and knows how to discharge them. ”

“ All the individuals in the great host of life affect each other as do the soldiers of a well-organized army in the movements of a battle.
The shepherd-dog, the turnspit, and the bull-dog are the three remarkable variations of the canine blood which were brought about by a process of training and selection unconsciously directed to the institution of breeds suited to special economic ends. The other varieties of dogs have been shaped more distinctly for purposes of amusement or for the indulgence of mere fancy. ”

“ One of these remarkable characteristics is the strange loathing with which he regards the Dog. In all other parts of the world, the Dog is one of the most cherished and valued of animals, but among those people whom we popularly class under the name of Orientals, the Dog is detested and despised. ”

“ A pretty dog was he,
Where'er I went, 'twas his intent
To run and follow me.
His tail was but ten yards long,
His ears but five feet wide,
And round the world in half a day
Upon him I might ride. ”

“ Here is the bull-dog, in his full growth, with his legs bowed, his tail inclining to the spiral, his broad chest, thin flanks, defined ribs, moist nozzle, hare lip, bloodshot eyes, protruding fang, and symmetrical patch over one eye; or else, in a state of puppyhood, peeping from his proprietor’s side-pocket, all pink and white like a morose sucking-pig become a hermit. Here is the delightful little toy English terrier, with his jet-black coat, erect neck, and tan paws ”

“ The dog alone, of all the brute creation, seems capable of a disinterested, self-sacrificing affection; and this, united with his usefulness and adaptedness to all climes and countries, has made him a favorite in every quarter of the globe. ”

“ The presence of a Dog, however, excites such an irrepressible curiosity that, in order to watch his movements, they never fail to betray themselves. They may be frequently seen congregated on the roof of a native hut. ”

“ Any old dog about the house will soon show him the unwisdom of biting big dogs' ears. Being young, he remembers and goes abroad, at six months, a well-mannered little beast with a chastened appetite. If he had been kept away from boots, and soap, and big dogs till he came to the trinity full-grown and with developed teeth, consider how fearfully sick and thrashed he would be! ”

“ This dog was a great pet with the soldiers in the camp, and it is doubful if there was a finer specimen in all India. Now you must know that dogs of this breed are very large and strong and when attacked usually beat their enemies off easily. ”

“ While she was absent, and out of hearing, a small white spaniel belonging to one of the chief gardeners, having got by accident into the garden, happened to range near the place where I lay: the dog, following the scent, came directly up, and taking me in his mouth, ran strait to his master wagging his tail, and set me gently on the ground. ”

“ Ancient bas-relief and monumental delineations picture the dog as distinct in its characteristics thousands of years ago as at the present day, and fossil remains have been repeatedly discovered so little resembling either the wolf, jackal, or fox, and so different in type, as to be classified with the spaniel, terrier, hound, bulldog, pointer, and pug; and as we know these to be made dogs, or in other words hybrids, the species must have been fully as numerous as at the present time. ”

“ A large dog who saw him dashed into the river, soon reached the poor spaniel, seized him by the neck, and brought him safe to shore, amidst the shouts and praises of the spectators.
Animals, when treated kindly, attach themselves to human beings. Birds build their nests near the habitations of men. In the wild, distant woods all is still. One hears no song of birds. ”

“ For the idea of dog comprises the head thereof, and the tail, the four legs, the eyes, the mouth, the nose, the neck, the body, the toes, the hair, the bark, the bite, the canine teeth that inflict it, and all the other known and remembered peculiarities of perfect doghood as ideally realizable. If we are to assign peradventure a special tract in the brain to the concept dog, it must be clear at once that that tract will be itself a very large and much subdivided region. ”