318 



DOG. 



How dogs become aware of this propensity in 

 animals it is impossible for us to ascertain, because 

 we do not know the notions by which animals are 

 governed in their instincts. Indeed, the subject is 

 one of those upon which all inquiry is vain, inasmuch 

 as we are not in possession of anything similar, in our 

 own experience, which we can compare to it. We 

 know nothing experimentally of the operation of 

 instinct unconnected with reason ; and, in conse- 

 quence of this, we can never come to any satisfactory 

 conclusion with regard to the motives or foundations 

 of action in animals. But, notwithstanding this, the 

 facts are undoubted ; and there is no fact better 

 made out, or more wonderful in its cause, than the 

 tact of these dogs in the driving of cattle. If they wish 

 to turn the beast either to the right or the left, they 

 pinch the heel only on that side towards which they 

 wish to turn it, and the degree of their pinching is 

 equal to the right of turning which they wish to 

 effect. The beast also, itself, in so far seconds the 

 action of the dog, because it brings round its head 

 towards that side on which the pain is felt, and the 

 joint action is sufficient to turn the beast fairly round, 

 and force it off in the opposite direction before it has 

 advanced more than its own length. If the object, 

 however, is to drive the beast straight forward, the 

 snapping is made alternately at both heels, and so long 

 as it is continued, the beast advances with a yawing 

 motion, until it is brought to the proper speed in the 

 proper direction, and then the dog ceases to trouble it. 



This driving by the heels is a very valuable charac- 

 ter in those dogs, inasmuch as it is quite impossible 

 to drive cattle by attacking them in the head. In 

 that case they offer battle, or, at all events, defensive 

 hostilities, from their instinctive tendency to guard 

 themselves from injury in that quarter. Hence, 

 when it is attempted to drive cattle by dogs which 

 assail either the throat or the nose, the cattle are 

 invariably driven wide, or separate from each other, 

 and the labour of the dog is worse than useless. 



The cur is, probably, a variety, in part connected 

 with, or derived from, the shepherd's dog ; but it dif- 

 fers from the shepherd's dog in its being smooth in 

 the hair, while the shepherd's dog is invariably shaggy. 

 The legs are considerably longer in proportion to the 

 size of his body, which is a good deal larger than that 

 of the shepherd's dog, and is stronger in the make, 

 with the ears half pricked, and a tail having a natural 

 tendency to be short. Great attention is paid to the 

 breeding of this dog in the north of England and 

 southern counties of Scotland, as he is found to be a 

 very useful and trusty servant ; and great care is 

 also devoted by breaking him in for that purpose, i 

 Being a very sagacious dog, he soon acquires a know- ; 

 ledge of his master's fields, which he watches with the 

 utmost vigilance, and is particularly attentive to the 

 cattle that are in them, watching all their movements 

 and regularly going his rounds ; and should any 

 strange cattle appear among the herd, he will fly at 

 them with great ferocity, and force them immediately 

 to quit the pasture they are trespassing on. The 

 general colour of this dog is black and white ; but it 

 may occasionally be met with all black, and some- 

 times it may be found all white. As, however, there 

 is less attention paid in most places of the country, to 

 the purity of this breed of dogs than to that of any 

 other, the mongrels related to the curs, and 'used 

 instead of them, are exceedingly numerous, so much j 

 BO, indeed, that no account can be given of them. 



There are several breeds of dogs connected with 

 those of the present division, and perhaps, also, with 

 those of the former, which it may be necessary to 

 notice. The principal of these are the following : 



The Lurcher. This is a dog which hunts singly, 

 and finds his game indiscriminately by the scent or 

 the eye. It bears some slight resemblance to the 

 hound, but its limbs are shorter and stronger in pro- 

 portion ; its form is much less elegant, and its motions 

 much more slow. The head is thicker and not so 

 much pointed ; the ears are short, erect, and half 

 pricked up; and the whole body is covered with 

 coarse and shaggy hair, which is generally either of 

 an iron-grey or a dull sand colour. This is a sneak- 

 ing species of dog, and prone to lie in wait for his 

 game ; and, therefore, he is a favourite dog with 

 poachers, who employ him under cover of night, in 

 the capture of hares and rabbits, and occasionally 

 winged game. He is not much esteemed by regular 

 sportsmen, and his very name is one of dishonour ; 

 but within his sphere of action, the lurcher is a very 

 sure and trust-worthy dog. 



The Leymmer is a dog whose memory is almost 

 forgotten ; he was understood to be the produce of 

 a cross between the greyhound and common hound, 

 or talbot, partaking of the qualities of both with some 

 additional ones of his own in supplement. Indeed, it 

 almost invariably happens that, in cross breeds of dogs, 

 if both parents are thoroughly bred, there are new and 

 often very good qualities obtained by the cross. The 

 leymaner possessed much of the swiftness of the grey- 

 hound, together with a keen sense of smell, and he 

 was, perhaps, more hardy than either of the breeds 

 of which he was the joint production. It is, indeed, 

 a very general case that cross-bred animals are much 

 more hardy than either of the parents between which 

 they are crosses ; and they are so whether they be 

 what we call perfect animals, as is the case in most 

 if not all of the mongrel breeds of dogs, or hybrids, 

 which do not breed with each other, although they 

 breed back to the pure blood, as is the case with the 

 mule, between the horse and ass. This dog, notwith- 

 standing his strength, his swiftness, and his power of 

 endurance, had some of the stubbornness of the mule 

 about him ; and it was necessary to confine him in a 

 thong, and let him slip after the game had started, 

 otherwise he would have run broad, and been quite 

 ungovernable. 



The Tumbler. This is also a mongrel dog, though 

 of what parentage is not very clearly ascertained. He 

 is considerably less than the greyhound, with a long 

 and lean body, and erect ears, but with the head more 

 resembling the greyhound than that of the lurcher 

 does. Still, however, his action is in many respects 

 similar to that of the lurcher. He does not run his 

 game fairly down in straight forward chase, like the 

 greyhound, but practises arts, and shows a great deal 

 of sagacity in catching it upon the double. In order 

 to do so, and to betray the game into doubling nearer 

 to him than it otherwise might, he counterfeits falling 

 down or being crippled, until the game on the return 

 of the double comes within his reach ; and then he 

 pounces upon it with a single bound much greater 

 than that of almost any other dog. It is from this 

 habit of crouching and waiting the double, which he 

 does with great dexterity, that he gets the name of 

 tumbler ; and though he is far from being one of the 

 most elegant or graceful dogs in coursing, he is by 

 no means one of the least successful. 



