THE DOG 



33 



show toward perfect strangers. If we observe a dog going 

 along a much-frequented street, we may note that his rela- 

 tions to the people are substantially those which the folk 

 have to each other. He shows as they do a certain consid- 

 eration for the individuals he encounters, gives them their 

 due place, and yet holds to his own. It is particularly notice- 

 able that he avoids all contact with the other passers in fact 

 a dog has to be 

 much beside him- 

 self with rage or 

 fear, or insane 

 from disease, be- 

 fore he will break 

 those bounds of 

 personality which 

 civilization has 

 set up to guide 

 the conduct of 



life. 



The social 



King Charles Spaniel 



culture of dogs appears to have gone to the point where 

 they recognize the meaning of an introduction at least 

 as far as the sympathetic relations of that understanding 

 are concerned. Almost any well-bred dog will submit to 

 be presented by his master, or even by persons whom he 

 knows but is not accustomed to obey, to a stranger to 

 whom he has already exhibited some dislike. During the 

 introduction he will submit to those formal exchanges of 

 courtesy which he is accustomed to recognize as the indices 

 of friendship. The impression of this understanding seems 

 to be so permanent that on subsequent meetings the dog, 



3 



