148 British War Dogs 



sight, and scent, are also all trained and accentuated, but 

 these last attributes must have their origin in the first- 

 mentioned instincts, in order to obtain successful results. 



Fidelity 



As the Egyptians were amongst the earliest to appre- 

 ciate and celebrate the fidelity of the dog, so through all 

 the centuries do we find the quality extolled, and all who 

 have had experience of the creature, know that it is true, 

 and that one can hardly exaggerate as to this wonderful 

 instinct, so multitudinous are the proofs in history and 

 in one's own individual experience. As an illustration, I 

 may mention a curious instance I came across, when I 

 stepped into a cinema theatre to see a war film, in the 

 earlier days of the war. As the film was passing, the 

 lecturer asked us to observe the dog, which would shortly 

 appear on the screen. He mentioned, that it belonged to 

 an officer in a certain regiment, and that it was lying beside 

 its dead master, no one being able to induce it to leave, at 

 the time. He mentioned the name of the regiment, and 

 I knew I had sent an Airedale to an officer in this regiment. 



As the film moved along, there on the battlefield I saw 

 this Airedale, crouching beside the officer's body ! 



Fidelity to his master, is certainly one of the most accen- 

 tuated qualities in the dog. Sir Walter Scott, who had a 

 very great love for dogs, says : 



" The Almighty, who gave the dog to be a companion 

 of our pleasures and our toils, hath invested him with a 

 nature noble, and incapable of deceit. He forgets neither 

 friend nor foe ; remembers, and with accuracy, both benefit 

 and injury. He hath a share of man's intelligence, but no 

 share of man's falsehood. You may bribe an assassin to 



