Dogs with Foreign Armies 235 



drew forth quantities of letters from officers and men in 

 the army, explaining how extremely useful in many positions 

 dogs would be to them, and asking urgently that trained 

 specimens should be supplied. 



Again another effort was made, and General Castelnau 

 accorded facilities for the employment of dogs with his 

 army. Great difficulties were again met with, by those 

 responsible for this new effort, chiefly owing to contrary 

 and confusing directions, and also to the difficulty of 

 obtaining authority to demand suitable men to act as 

 keepers for the dogs. The scheme was for the second 

 time, within measurable distance of failure. There is food 

 for reflection in this, as showing the extreme importance 

 of correct organization, if dogs are to be employed at all. 

 The reason is plain. Owing to the highly sensitive tem- 

 perament of the dog, the question of his use in war, must 

 be approached in the same manner, as when proposing to 

 utilize a highly delicate and scientific instrument. If done 

 so in this spirit, the very sensitiveness of the means employed 

 will be found to be an advantageous asset. If careful rules 

 are formed, all of which tend to protect and encourage this 

 delicate instinct of the dog, the results will be found to 

 justify all efforts in this direction. 



In the meantime the fact remained that the Germans 

 were using successfully large numbers of dogs in the field, 

 and the question was again asked in France, if the French 

 Army was to be behindhand in this matter ? 



At this point Monsieur Megnin, of Paris, intervened. 

 He had been for some years interested in the training of 

 dogs, and had used his influence to encourage the use of 

 police and army dogs. Having, therefore, a good deal of 

 practical experience, when he obtained permission from 

 General de Maudhuy to form a kennel of trained dogs for 



