6o 



OUR DOMESTIC ANIMALS 



and fed. They cannf>t be compared with those 

 martyred draft animals that we see, ill harnessed 

 and ill fed, in more than one ci\'ilized land." 



The Belgian draft dog, a model of stix-ngth 

 and health, makes an e.xception to the abo\'e 

 charge'. Any one who has seen these dogs 



0\'F.RWKOU(iHT DR.VFT Doc 



carrying round milk and \-egetables in Brus- 

 sels must have been struck with the superiority 

 of their harness over that used in the Lnw 

 Countries and elsewhere. Hf)lland, however, 

 is beginning to take more interest in the fate 

 of draft dogs ; and a society has recently been 

 formed, establishing a tariff of distances and 

 rewarding owners who can show 

 good care, good harness, and 

 good carts. We can onl}' ap- 

 plaud such effort to put an end 

 to the martyrdom of draft dogs. 

 It is admitted that the large 

 herbivorous animals are more 

 fitted to draw and to carr)" than 

 the carnivorous animals. The 

 shape of a d(.)g's foot is inifa\'or- 

 able to traction ; nor can a dog's 

 chest stand the effort, and a col- 

 lar is martyrdom to him. Their 

 natiu'al way of jirogression is 

 somewhat oblique, and the hind 

 feet never step in line with the fnint ones. The 

 back is strong to lea]:), but not to pull, and above 

 all not to carr)'. Their shoulders are more de- 

 tached from the body than those of the hoi'se. 

 And yet, in spite of these objections, the dog 

 has been made a di'afl animal in many of the 

 Eui'0]iean countries. 



There is more humanity in the attempts that 

 ha\e been made to utilize the dog in various 

 industries. Sometimes the end of a telephonic 

 cord is put into his mouth, and he climbs the 

 pole with it, thereby saving much labor. At 

 other times he turns the crank ol the churn, for 

 which the old-world peasant woman gives him 

 a good lump of li\'er as a reward. 



At a printing press in Plymouth a dog 

 named Gipsy turns a wooden wheel that sets 

 the press in motion ; he takes pleasure in his 

 work and is much more regular, and also 

 cheaper, than men employed in the same labor. 

 We must not forget t(.) jnit in the class of use- 

 ful dogs those who'take care of the blind. There 

 was one who for }'ears attended his mendicant 

 master at one of the London railway stations, 

 and collected alms enough to make the poor man 

 comfortable. Later he «'as promoted to the rank 

 of assistant railwa)- guard, because he alwa)-s 

 annomiced to the station master b)' a short 

 bark the approach of a train. 



In short, the usefulness of these animals is 

 great and does not cease with their lives, for 

 many are the Iric/ glo\-es and the true cliaviois 

 leather portfolios that are cut out of his skin, — 



A FixK Te.am 



unless, indeed, it has alreadv been used to make 

 beautitLil heads of hair for dolls, or a charming 

 set <if lurs. 



XTII. The Tr.mninct of Dogs 



Nearl)' all clogs lend themsel\-es readily to 

 training ; thei"c are onlv a few very backward 



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