226 British Dogs. 



Like children, dogs have their mental characters formed by their 

 training and associations, and, although different individuals have 

 different dispositions or temperaments, it is not to be imagined that they 

 have different natures. It has been truly said, " the god of the dog is 

 man ; " if, therefore, a dog is treated by man as though it were a fiend 

 incarnate, to be ruled with the harshest measures and used in the most 

 cruel and dangerous occupations, to have all the good feelings of its 

 nature crushed by its master, who takes a pride in its ferocity, is it to be 

 wondered at that the poor beast which survives the hardening process 

 should appear to merit the bad character assigned to it by those only 

 who fear it ? If all affection is suppressed by ill-usage, and the animal 

 is kept chained and solitary, in order to cultivate a savage disposition, it 

 learns to look upon man as its enemy, and to be ready to resent the 

 brutality it expects, so that if any it matters not what breed of dog be 

 reared in such a manner, the result must be the same if the dog has 

 sufficient courage to sustain its trials ; if not so gifted, the speedy result 

 will be a spiritless and treacherous brute, an equal disgrace to its trainer; 

 and libel on its race. But if reared and trained with the same care and 

 kindness expended on other breeds, " there is," as Dr. Caius says of it, 

 "no dog that can serve the sundry uses of men so aptly or so conveniently 



as this sorte." 



His temper, therefore, must be wel observed ; 

 Chide him for his faults, and do it reverently, 

 When you perceive his blood inclined to mirth. 

 But, being moody, give him line and scope, 

 Till that his passions, like a whale on ground, 

 Confound themselves with working. 



Fdr his celebrated invincible courage the bulldog was at first selected 

 as the only dog with sufficient endurance to serve the cruel purposes of 

 depraved owners, and the utmost that can be proved against him is that 

 he has been, and still is, in many instances, more ill-treated and worse 

 trained than any other dog. 



Most "fanciers " of bulldogs know more about other breeds than the 

 authorities on other breeds know about bulldogs, and have adopted that 

 breed only after a long experience of the others. The fairest way is to 

 " speak of a man as you find him," and who can know more about a dog 

 than its keeper ? But it is avowedly those who do not and dare not 

 keep bulldogs that take upon themselves to condemn the breed. Its 

 chief virtues they misrepresent as unpardonable faults. The high 



