A Tribute to the Dog 



" Treat a dog like a man, and you will have a 

 noble animal, treat him like a dog, and you will 

 have a dog that knows more than you do. Proof: 

 He understands your language; you do not un- 

 derstand his. 



The best friend a man has in the world may turn 

 against him and become his enemy. His son or 

 daughter that he has reared with loving care may 

 prove ungrateful. Those who are nearest and 

 dearest to us, those whom we trust with our hap- 

 piness and our good name, may become traitors to 

 their faith The money that a man has he may 

 lose. It flies away from him, perhaps, when he 

 needs it most. A man's reputation may be sacri- 

 ficed in a moment of ill-considered action. The 

 people who are prone to fall on their knees to do 

 honor when success is with us may be the first to 

 throw the stones of malice when failure settles its 

 cloud upon our heads. The one absolutely unsel- 

 fish friend that man can have in this selfish world, 

 the one that never deserts him, the one that never 

 proves ungrateful or teacherous, is his dog. A 

 man's dog stands by him in prosperity and pover- 

 ty, in health and in sickness. He will sleep on 

 the cold ground, where the wintry winds blow, and 

 the snow drives fiercely, if only he may be near 

 his master's side. He will kiss the hand that has 

 no food to offer; he will lick the wounds and sores 

 that come in encounter with the roughness of the 

 world. He guards the sleep of his pauper master 

 as if he were a prince. When all other friends 

 desert he remains. When riches take wings and 

 reputation falls to pieces, he is as constant in his 

 love as the sun its journeys through the heavens. 



If fortune drives the master forth an outcast in 

 the world, friendless and homeless, the faithful 

 dog asks no higher privilege than that of accom- 

 panying him, to guard against danger, to fight 

 against his enemies, and when the last scene of 

 all comes, and death takes the master in its em- 

 brace, and his body is laid away in the cold 

 ground, no matter if all other friends pursue their 

 way there by the graveside will the noble dog be 

 often found. 



