ALEARNEDDOG. 273 



DOGS. 



CHAPTER XXXIII. 



Learned Dog and Show-woman Education of Sporting Dog Hereditary 

 Instinct of Dogs Their thievish prospensities descend to their offspring 

 Bad-tempered dogs Breaking of Dogs Their jealousies Their Hunt- 

 ing alliances Attachment of a Dog to his Master Dog-eating reprobated 

 Bloodhounds Skye Terriers Dogs combining against a common 

 enemy Old Dogs Singular instance of sagacity in one. 



ALTHOUGH I am perfectly content with witnessing the 

 sagacity and instinct displayed by my own dogs in their 

 every-day employments and proceedings, and am, generally 

 speaking, unwilling to countenance the trickery of what are 

 called " learned dogs," yet the other day, to please my 

 children, I allowed a woman, who sent up a most dirty-faced 

 card, announcing herself the possessor of " THE MOST ASTO- 

 NISHING LEARNED DOG EVER KNOWN," to exhibit the animal in 

 our front hall. 



The woman herself was a small, sharp-looking personage, 

 with the sodden and hard expression of feature peculiar to 

 that class who travel in caravans, and exhibit dwarfs, giants, 

 and such-like vamped-up wonders. The dog was a well-fed, 

 comfortable-looking kind of bull-terrier, slightly rough about 

 the muzzle ; but notwithstanding his quiet and sedate look, 

 there was a certain expression of low cunning and blackguard- 

 ism about his face which would have stamped him anywhere 

 as the associate of vile and dissolute company ; and although 

 he wagged his stumpy tail, and pretended to look amiable at 

 his equally cunning-looking mistress, his attempts at amia- 

 bility seemed to be rather the effects of kicks and blows 

 than of genuine attachment. He received her caresses, too, 

 with a kind of uncertain appearance of pleasure, as if he did 

 not much value them, but of the two rather preferred them 

 to her kicks. 



On entering the hall he cast a kind of hasty look round 

 him, much as you would expect a rogue to do on entering a 

 shop from which he intended to purloin something ; however, 

 on the woman producing certain dirty cards, with their 

 corners all worn round by constant use, and marked with 

 numbers, letters, &c., the dog prepared himself for action, 



