156 OUR HOME PETS 



pug may curl his over his back, but should 

 an Irish setter follow the fashion of either, 

 he would be condemned without mercy. He 

 must carry his caudal appendage perfectly 

 straight, and on a level with his spine. This 

 beautiful beast seems really to embody all the 

 canine virtues faithfulness, intelligence, gen- 

 tleness with children, watchfulness, and dis- 

 crimination, the last exceedingly desirable. 



The Gordon and the English setters are also 

 favorite house-dogs, and noted for about the 

 same qualities. All are as ornamental as they 

 are useful. 



Pointers have the reputation of being not 

 so good-tempered as setters, and therefore 

 not so safe in families. Both require a great 

 deal of exercise and a judicious restriction in 

 diet, and both setters and pointers seem bet- 

 ter fitted for an active out-door life than for 

 the parlor. 



The Eskimo dog and the spitz are so un- 

 suited to this climate and suffer so much from 

 heat that it is a cruelty to keep them. The 

 latter, moreover, has the reputation, whether 

 justly or not, of being apt to go mad. 



