258 THE BOOK OF A NATURALIST 
be somewhat numerous. For how otherwise can 
the fact he explained that some dogs, however 
ready and anxious to go for a walk they may be, 
will, on catching sight of the muzzle, turn away 
with tail between their legs and the expression of 
a dog that has been kicked or unjustly rebuked? 
My experience is that this attitude towards the 
muzzle of some dogs, which was quite common 
in the early muzzling days, is now rare and is dying 
out. The explanation, I think, is that as the 
muzzle is at first keenly felt as a restraint, imposed 
for no cause that the dog sees, it is in fact taken 
as a punishment, and resented as much as an 
undeserved blow or angry word would be. Every 
one who observes dogs must be familiar with the 
fact that they do very often experience the feeling 
of injury and resentment towards their human 
masters and companions. As a rule this feeling 
vanishes with the exciting cause; unfortunately, 
in some cases the sight of the muzzle becomes 
associated with the feeling and is slow to disappear. 
But if dogs still exist in this city of dogs that 
show any sign of such a feeling when a muzzle is 
held up before them, we can see that even in these 
super-sensitive ones it vanishes the instant they 
are out of doors. Again, let any person watch the 
scores and hundreds of dogs that disport themselves 
in our grassy parks on any fine day, and he will 
quickly be convinced that not only are they happy 
but that they are far happier than any company 
of unmuzzled dogs thrown casually together. They 
