DOGS : THEIR MANAGEMENT. 229 



tion. Such an animal will perhaps only take the morsel 

 when it is about to be withdrawn ; and, having got it, 

 does not swallow it, but places it on the ground, and 

 stands over it with an expression of peevish disgust. A 

 healthy dog is always decided. No animal can be more 

 so. It wilj often take that which it cannot eat, but ; 

 having done so, it either throws the needless possession 

 away or lies down, and with a determined air watches 

 " the property." There is no vexation in its looks, no 

 captiousness in its manner. It acts with decision, and 

 there is purpose in what it does. The reverse is the case 

 with dogs suffering from indigestion. They are peevish 

 and irresolute. They take only because another shall 

 not have. They will perhaps eat greedily what they do 

 not want if the cat looks longfully at that which had 

 lain before them for many minutes, and which no coax- 

 ing could i'uduce them to swallow. They are, in their 

 foibles, very like the higher animal. 



The treatment is simple. The dog must be put upon, 

 and strictly kept upon, an allowance. Some persons, 

 when these animals are sent to them, because the crea- 

 tures are fat and sickly, shut the dogs up for two or four 

 days, and allow them during the period to taste nothing 

 but water. The trick often succeeds, but it is dangerous 

 in severe cases, and needless in mild ones. This is a 

 heartless practice, which ignorance only would resort to ; 

 but such conduct is very general, and the people who 

 follow it boast laughingly of its effect. They do not 

 care for its consequences. A weakly stomach cannot be 



