184 Modern Dogs. 



to have his revenge. I shall have nothing more to 

 do with cropping ( boarhounds ' again," continued the 

 whilom operator, " nor do I think I shall go near his 

 bench ; no, not if I knows it ! " 



I fancy from the above, and other experiences that 

 I have gained, that no other variety of dog 

 possesses the same strength of mind, and is so ready 

 to resent a supposed injury as he. It is dangerous to 

 thrash some of them ; they may turn on you, or will 

 surlily growl ; and in fighting with any opponent they 

 are not always able to discriminate between the 

 hands of their master (who may be interfering in the 

 combat) and the throat of an opponent. Still, they 

 are faithful and intelligent, and many of them are 

 thoroughly trustworthy when their master is about 

 not always in his absence. He possesses great power 

 and activity, and is usually most symmetrically built. 

 Sometimes he makes a good water dog, at others he 

 will not swim a yard. 



As we know him here as a companion and a guard 

 only, no more than passing allusion need be made 

 to him as a sporting dog, to hunt the wild boar and 

 chase the deer. That he was used for these pur- 

 poses long before he came to be a house dog there 

 is no manner of doubt, for his portrait can be 

 recognised in all the great pictures of hunting 

 scenes that took place in the Middle Ages. 



