Animal Friends and Helpers [141 



prove that a child's timidity with animals is explained by some 

 prior unpleasant encounter, or by his associating an animal with 

 some frightening experience possibly entirely unrelated to the 

 animal. At the same time I cannot help also crediting a very 

 simple theory that the generally unpredictable actions of dogs 

 and their sudden movements are enough to make some young- 

 sters wary and hence distrustful of them. There is also the matter 

 of size: To a toddler, even a spaniel must appear as large as a 

 lion does to an adult. 



As a very young explorer in the world my son had a caution 

 toward dogs and cats that might have been interpreted as fear. 

 We had no hint of any plausible reason for his attitude, but we 

 never ridiculed or lectured him about it. We did give him every 

 opportunity to see that we considered these animals good friends, 

 and by the time he was five he wanted nothing so much as a dog 

 of his own. 



Some people believe that a dog, through its sense of smell, or 

 some instinct, knows whether a person is afraid of him; and that 

 the animal has one attitude toward a brave soul, another toward 

 a timid one. Presenting a bold front is undoubtedly the best 

 approach when dealing with a strange or unfriendly dog all the 

 more so as there is evidence to indicate that an animal cannot 

 detect well-concealed fear. 



A doctor of circus animals once confessed that throughout his 

 career he had to struggle with actual terror whenever called upon 

 to treat a sick tiger or leopard or other creature capable of great 

 violence. Luckily he was able to mask his fear by keeping his 

 voice stern and his actions incisive. In this way he remained master 

 of the situation. But, the doctor added, if animals had any way 

 of "sensing" fear in a human being, he would surely have been 

 found out, and his career ended before it had fairly started. 



THE WILD STRAIN IN OUR DOGS 



There is a widespread belief that the wolf was the dog's 

 ancestor, but we now know that this theory is only partially cor- 

 rect. Dogs and wolves may have had a common ancestor some 

 fifteen million years ago, and scientists believe that the four 

 earliest breeds of dogs probably developed from this animal. 



