CHAPTER VII 



THE WELL-MANNERED DOG 



IN this imperfect world it is too much to look for 

 the time when every dog will be so well-mannered 

 that the slightest wish of his master or mistress will 

 be readily interpreted, but I am never tired of urging 

 that the animal under proper control is a far greater 

 pleasure to own than the unruly brute amenable to 

 no sort of discipline. Although it is true that some 

 are more headstrong than others, it is rarely that 

 we find a puppy so stubborn that he cannot be 

 educated if he is in the right hands. Dr. Johnson 

 once said : " My friend the late Earl of Cork had 

 a great desire to maintain the literary character of 

 his family ; he was a genteel man, but did not keep 

 up the dignity of his rank ; he was so generally 

 civil that nobody thanked him for it." It is not 

 probable that any dog we may ever possess will 

 attain to such a degree of politeness, and I do not 

 know that we should wish him to do so 1 , but we 

 should at least expect him to observe certain rules 

 of good behaviour so that he may not be a danger 

 to himself or others or a nuisance to the public. 

 There should be a few simple words of command in 

 your vocabulary, and only a few. Let the young mind 



