As House Dogs. 215 



desirability of cleanliness. So far as chastisement is con- 

 cerned, never thrash or rate a dog unless you are sure he 

 knows what such punishment is for. As a fact, it does all 

 the harm and not an iota of good to punish a dog half an 

 hour after a fault has been discovered. The penalty must 

 always expeditiously and promptly follow the crime. Never 

 strike a dog with a stick, a birch rod is better, and a whip 

 best of all. Neither is, however, necessary, and a strong 

 word spoken at the proper time is in eight cases out of ten 

 a better remedy than a thrashing would be. Any dog ought 

 to be well kept under the command of his owner, otherwise 

 it is a nuisance. Never bully or annoy your canine com- 

 panion, or it will resent such useless interference ; give 

 him as much exercise as possible, bearing in mind the fact 

 that any dog requires more exercise than he obtains by 

 the exertion of wagging his tail. 



Terriers and house dogs generally have much more sense 

 than many people give them the credit of possessing. It is 

 funny to see a dirty little boy in the street, or even one well 

 dressed and who should know better, spy some unfortunate 

 dog as it runs along some distance away from his master. 

 The lad, probably fancying the dog has gone astray and is 

 lost, picks up a stone and pretends to throw at the animal ; 

 or maybe he waves his stick at it, and, in the absence of 

 either, he will content himself with grinning or " pulling a 

 face " at the poor quadruped. Then the fun comes in ; the 

 dog snarls, growls, and goes for his natural enemy, the 

 " small boy," who bolts, and perhaps runs home to his 

 parents crying and bearing a sad tale as to some mad dog 

 or other. There is no doubt that an ordinary terrier can 

 distinguish from a person's features, or from his general 

 demeanour, his disposition to the canine race, and of 



