THE DALMATIAN OR COACH DOG. 



289 



So we find that, whether in cats, Dogs, or horses, the animals which are most fre- 

 quently made the companions of men, the disposition of the owner is reflected in the 

 character of the beast. The large-hearted, kind-souled man will be surrounded with 

 loving and gentle animals. His cat will sit and purr upon his shoulder fearless of 

 repulse, his Dog will love and reverence his master with faithful worship, and his horse 

 will follow him about the field in which it is freely grazing, and solicit the kind notice 

 to which it is accustomed. On the other hand, the cross and snappish cat, the snarling 

 Dog, and the crabbed-tempered horse are sure signs of corresponding qualities in the 

 man that owns them, and will deter an observer of animal natures from placing his 

 confidence in the man who could infuse such evil qualities into the creatures that 

 surround him, and from whom they take their tone. 



As the Dog is possessed of a disposition which is more easily assimilated with that 

 of man than is the case with most animals, the affinity between itself and its master is 

 constantly brought before our notice. 



One man loves nothing so well as the largest Newfoundland or deerhound, while 

 another is not satisfied unless his Dog be of the minutest proportions compatible with 



DALMATIAN OR COACH DOG. Can/s famlllarls. 



canine nature. One man places his faith in the terrier, another in the poodle ; one 

 prefers the retriever, and another the spaniel. The man who pursues his sport at 

 morning, in the face of the sun, is accompanied by the loud-tongued foxhound or 

 beagle ; while the skulking nocturnal poacher is aided in his midnight thefts by the 

 silent and crafty lurcher. 



But of all the Dogs that are associated with man, and of all the men that make com- 

 panionship with Dogs, the most repulsive, and most to be avoided by honest Dogs 

 and men, are the bull-dog and his owner. 



I may be accused of delivering too severe a judgment on Dog and man. Those 

 who have been led by duty, curiosity, or chance through the unsavory localities which 

 are haunted by the members of the " Fancy," and have instinctively stepped aside 

 from the fur-capped, beetle-browed, sleek-haired, suspicious ruffian, leading his sullen, 

 scowling bull-dog at his heels, will hardly find terms too severe for the depraved human 

 character that could encourage or cherish such an epitome of the most brutal features 

 of the canine nature. Dog and man suit each other admirably ; and, had there been no 

 human ruffian, there would have been no canine representation of its own ruffianism. 



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