142 OUR HOME PETS 



usually comes the nearest to being absolutely 

 one of the family. Not that he has greater in- 

 telligence than the cat, or some of the birds ; 

 but he identifies himself more completely with 

 his human friends, and is much more demon- 

 strative than others. Long years of depend- 

 ence and companionship have attached him to 

 our race, and made him almost incapable of 

 doing without us. A lost dog is one of the 

 most hopeless and wretched creatures in ex- 

 istence, and it is really pitiful to see his at- 

 tempts to attach himself to somebody. He will, 

 figuratively speaking, go down on his knees in 

 the dust to any one who does not utterly re- 

 pulse him, and beg in the most touching way 

 to be adopted. 



Not only does the dog become as one of the 

 family, but in many cases he gets to be the 

 autocrat of the household, his convenience de- 

 ciding all questions of family policy, and his 

 tastes and his notions consulted before those 

 of any human member. Often, indeed, he be- 

 comes to every one excepting his doting mis- 

 tress an intolerable nuisance. 



The dog of fashion is an expensive luxury 

 in our day. He requires almost as many be- 



