162 British War Dogs 



receive a reward, I have seen one dog take its piece of meat 

 from the ground and step back, and watch the other 

 competitor receive its reward, which would be frequently 

 placed on the ground. There was no attempt to snatch it, 

 and there was evidently a distinct understanding that it 

 was a definite reward for good work done, and, therefore, 

 to interfere, would be a most unsportsmanlike act. At 

 any other time, when feeding a group of dogs with scraps, 

 there would not be this withholding, but a lively scramble 

 would ensue sometimes with exciting results. 



This sense of justice is closely allied to that of dignity 

 and a due appreciation of the proportion of things in 

 general. The dog is so undeterred by many of the tempta- 

 tions which assail human nature in certain respects ! 

 Mr. Ruskin, in commenting on the Veronese and Venetians, 

 mentions dogs, which are introduced by Paul Veronese 

 into two of his greatest pictures : " The Presentation of 

 his Own Family to the Madonna ' and ' The Queen of 

 Sheba before Solomon." In the first, the dog is repre- 

 sented as walking away much offended, wondering not a 

 little, as Mr. Ruskin amusingly suggests, as to how the 

 Madonna could possibly have got into the house. In the 

 second picture, while the Queen is quite overcome with 

 emotion, her dog " is wholly unabashed by Solomon's 

 presence, or anybody else's, and stands with his fore-legs 

 well apart, right in front of his mistress, thinking everyone 

 has lost their wits, and barking loudly at one of the 

 attendants, who has set down a gold vase disrespectfully 

 near him." 



