DOGS I HAVE KNOWN 



I was always very fond of dogs, but it was a long 

 time before I was allowed to have one of my own, 

 my parents apparently considering that dogs were 

 composed of two equal portions of hydrophobia 

 and fleas. My first dog was a large brown and 

 white spaniel with a very curious temper. Some- 

 times he would lie on things in his kennel nearly 

 all day, for no apparent reason. If you tried to pet 

 or coax him it did no good, but if no attention were 

 paid to him he would get out of the sulks and be 

 all right in a short time. He could never be 

 induced to go into the water to swim. I often 

 attempted it by keeping him tied up without food 

 and then loosing him and throwing bits of biscuit 

 into the moat near the house. He would then pick 

 out and eat all the bits that were within his reach by 

 wading, but would not make the least attempt to 

 go for a piece which was out of his depth. I once 

 thought that I had devised a plan by which he 

 must swim, but it failed. It was this. There was 

 a high paling along one side of the moat with a 

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