68 THE ART OF TRAINING ANIMALS 



CHAPTER VIII. 



DOGS IN GENERAL — WATCH DOGS — THE SHEPHERD'S DOG. 



AMONG all the animals the dog seems preeminently in- 

 tended by nature for the companion and friend of man. 

 Even the instinctive passions all animals have for their own 

 kind appear to be in a measure sacrificed to human influence, 

 for the dogs often care more for the society of man than for 

 that of their own kind. Not only is the dog a trusty and valu- 

 able fi-iend and associate of man, but the companionship between 

 the human and the canine races developes in the latter many of 

 those noble qualities not possessed under other circumstances. 

 The Turks look upon the dog with abhorrence, and almost uni- 

 versally in the East he is an outcast from human society. The 

 consequence is that all his good qualities are lost ; he is no 

 longer the faithful companion, ready to defend his master with 

 his life, but on the contrary, he is deceitful, bloodthirsty, and as 

 unlike the more favered dog of other countries as it is possible 

 to imagine. 



WATCH DOGS. 



Many kinds of dogs are used as watch dogs, and where all 

 that is required of them is a notification of nightly intruders, 

 and the awakening of the household, perhaps the species used 

 is of comparatively little consequence. Where the dog is 

 intended to act as a defender as well as a sentinel, strength and 

 courage are important requisites. With many the bull dog is 

 a favorite for this purpose. Tiiough the least intelligent of his 

 species his unflinching and unconquerable courage renders him 

 a terrible opponent. So utterly without intellect is his courage, 

 however, that no consideration of his foe's powers deters him 

 from attacking the most formidable thing that gives offense. 

 Striking examples of this quality are displayed in England in 

 what are termed '^ bull baits," exhibitions whose cruelty and 

 brutality are scarcely excelled in the customs of any other 

 country. In these bull baits the dog, while fastened to the 

 nose of some unfortunate bull, has had one leg after another cut 

 off with a knife to test his courage. So persistent is the dog in 

 maintaining his hold that the most frightful mutilation will not 

 compel him to relinquish it until his strength is exhausted from 

 loss of blood; he has been known to die from this inhuman 

 hacking with his death grip firmly holding the bull. 



Probably the best watch dog is the mastiff. Capable of 



