THE BOARHOUND. 



303. 



successful attack on so dangerous and powerful a brute as the boar. The greyhound 

 element required in order to give the Dog sufficient speed for overtaking the boar, 

 which is a much swifter animal than would be supposed from his apparently unwieldy 

 and heavy frame. The admixture of the mastiff is needed to give it the requisite 

 muscular power and dimensions of body, and the terrier element is introduced for the 

 sake of obtaining a sensitive nose, and a quick, spirited action. 



As might be imagined would be the case with an animal which derives its origin from 

 these sources, the Boarhound varies very considerably in form and habits, according 

 to the element which may preponderate in the individual. A Dog in which the grey- 

 hound nature is dominant will be remarkably long of limb and swift of foot ; one in 

 whose parentage the mastiff takes the greatest share will be proportionately large and 





BOARHOUND. Caais famiHaris. 



powerful ; while the Dog in whose blood is the strongest infusion of the terrier will 

 not be so swift or so large as the other two, but will excel them in its power of scent 

 and its brisk activity of movement. 



To train the Dog rightly to his work is a matter of some difficulty, because a mistake 

 is generally fatal, and puts an end to further instruction by the death of the pupil. It is 

 comparatively easy to train a pointer or a retriever, because, if he fails in his task 

 through over-eagerness or over-tardiness, the worst consequence is that the sportsman 

 loses his next shot or two, and the Dog is corrected for his behavior. But if a Boarhound 

 rushes too eagerly at the bristly quarry, he will in all probability be laid bleeding on 

 the ground by a rapid stroke from the boar's tusks, and if he should hang back and de- 

 cline the combat, he is just as likely to be struck by an infuriated boar as if he. were boldly 



