Messenger Dogs in the Field 99 



Division said that the Airedale was the best dog 



he had seen. ' Boxer ' was a bit long on Thursday, he had 

 been at some carcase and tried to steal past into his bed 

 but I saw him — he knew he had done wrong. The con- 

 ditions arc very bad for running dogs, such a lot of rubbish 

 and dead carcases and abandoned cook houses, etc." 



In this report will be seen the temptations which confront 

 the messenger dog in the field and to which poor " Boxer ' 

 at first succumbed. The distinguishing sense of right 

 and wrong is very highly developed in many dogs, especially 

 in those which are trained, and " Boxer's " sense of duty 

 evidently rose above the temptations of the flesh, as Keeper 

 Dixon later reports on him : 



" A staunch reliable dog, ran steadily and never let me 

 down. Best time 3 miles in 10 minutes. On one occasion 

 he went over the top with the Rents. Released at 5 a.m. 

 with important message. He jumped at me at 5.25. A 

 tip-top performance, about 4 miles. A great dog ! ' 



" Flash " was a very fast, clever dog, and Dixon reports : 



" She ran every alternate week except two and was 

 never once behind time." 



These two dogs were both at Kemmel Hill. Dixon 

 states in this connection : 



" About the best week's running I did in my opinion was 

 at Kemmel Hill in October with the 34th Division, when 

 all my dogs did well. The times seem slow but they were 

 really good, as the dogs were running belly deep in mud. 

 It took a man two hours to go to the line. The conditions 

 were horrible." 



7* 



