British Dogs at Work 



impermeable, that separate the species. We 

 are alone, absolutely alone, on this chance 

 planet, and, amid all the forms of life that 

 surround us, not one, excepting the dog, has 

 made an alliance with us. A few creatures 

 fear us, most are unaware of us, and not one 

 loves us." Exactly when this friendship was 

 first formed and cemented into an alliance 

 for the mutual benefit of both it is difficult 

 to say. We do know, however, that the dog 

 existed in a domesticated state in prehistoric 

 times, while the pages of history bear ample 

 testimony to the esteem in which the Canidce 

 were held by the ancients. It is easy to 

 conceive the many uses to which the dog was 

 put by primitive man, especially in the direc- 

 tion of providing food for the larder. Hounds 

 were early subdivided into those that hunted 

 by sight and those that hunted by scent, 

 and we can see how the peculiar instincts of 

 each were specialised and fostered by selec- 

 tion. As the necessity of employing the dog 

 as a food -provider became less he would 



