THE DOG FAMILY— MASTIFF. 



219 



striking the Horse the Dog would throw the Man 

 to the ground with such force that he could not 

 immediately recover from the shock. On the other 

 hand, if my Dog saw a Man pushing a very heavy 

 wheelbarrow, he would always run to help, pulling 

 the vehicle from the front with his strong teeth. 



"His strength was in keeping with his huge size. 

 It was child's-play for him to carry, for a long 



THE BADGER-DOG, OR DACHSHUND.— This animal, largely bred in Germanv, is famous for its 

 hunting qualities, its staying powers, courage and keen scent, especially qualifying it for the pursuit of game. 

 The most marked physical characteristics are the large, pendant ears, and the crooked, short legs, which are 

 «o little in the way that the Dog can make its way into burrows after Hares, Badgers and other earth-boring 

 animals where Dogs with longer legs could not enter. (Cams familiaris vertagus.) 



distance, a basket weighing fifty pounds. A Goat 

 which had butted at him as it passed by, was seized 

 by the Dog and brought to me, the Dog clearing 

 two railway fences on his way. A ferocious Bull, 

 which was being driven to pasture with other Cattle, 

 came toward me in a threatening manner. The 

 Dog sprang at the ani- 

 mal's throat and held it 

 until the beast roared 

 with pain, and when its 

 assailant loosened his 

 hold it made a hurried 

 flight. Once Tom (that 

 was the Dog's name) 

 had to be sent away, 

 and the carpenter made 

 a box out of new boards, 

 strong enough, as he 

 said, to hold a Tiger. 

 Tom gnawed the box 

 into splinters before he 

 reached the station. 

 When he was rushing at 

 any object that had 

 excited his wrath, the 

 strongest Man could 

 not have checked him; 

 he threw down all who 

 interfered with him and 

 dragged them along on 

 the ground. 



"He participated in all 

 family events. If one of 

 us was sick in bed, he 

 would sit by the bedside 



for hours and look at the patient's face, from time to 

 time putting his muzzle or paw gently on the hand 

 held out to him, as if he wished to express his com- 

 miseration. If an absent member of the family sent 

 some package by mail, the Dog could hardly wait to 



see it unpacked, and would seize the first object that 

 came to light from the parcel and hurry with it to 

 all members of the family who had not been present 

 at the unpacking, in order to make the joyful event 

 known to them. It was not astonishing that he soon 

 became the pet of trie whole household, especially 

 of the female members. 



" His demeanor was most amusing when he had 

 an opportunity of stealing 

 and hiding in his huge mouth, 

 unobserved, as he thought, 

 some object which my daugh- 

 ters needed for their needle- 

 work, such as a skein of wool 

 or a pair of stockings rolled 

 together. If my daughters 

 would then pretend to make 

 diligent search for the miss- 

 ing object, he would assume 

 a very grave demeanor and 

 a foolish expression of coun- 

 tenance, to show that he had 

 no idea what the fuss was 

 about, but would give up the 

 missing object with a sly 

 twinkle of his eye, when he 

 was asked the direct ques- 

 tion: 'Tom, do you know 

 where it is?' If 1 happened to 

 be present before this ques- 

 tion was put to him, and he 

 saw that the girls were not observing him, he would 

 come to me, open his mouth so that I could see the 

 hidden object, give me a sly, knowing look, and then 

 turn around again and assume his former silly ex- 

 pression of countenance. 



" It would lead me too far to mention all his tricks 



"9 



<maiv»j. 



THE POINTER. There is no more valuable Dog from the standpoint of the hunter than the Pointer, a 



smooth-coated animal of the Hound group, endowed, with a keen scent, great sagacity, aad a capacity for perfect 

 training. The Hound in the picture sees game and has assumed the position it uses to indicate to its master that the 

 opportunity for a shot has come, ft is a symmetrical, shapely animal, and its physical characteristics are admirably 

 shown in this illustration. (Cants familiaris sagax avicutarius.) 



and qualities, some of which are usually thought to 

 be characteristic traits of certain other breeds only; 

 but I will here relate two more proofs of his intelli- 

 gence. One day I happened to be near the station 

 at the time a train was arriving. Force of habit 



