THE BULL-DOG. 1 39 



his master the loss of a valued animal and one hmidred 

 dollars in the wager." "The bull-dog is possessed of less 

 sagacity and less attachment than any of the hound tribe; 

 he is therefore less favoured, and more rarely bred with 

 care, excepting by professed amateurs of sports and feelings 

 little creditable to humanity. He is of moderate size, but 

 entirely moulded for strength and elasticity." He never 

 leaves his hold, when once he has got it, while life lasts, 

 hence he has become the type of obstinate pertinacity; and 

 unflinching courage. 

 The Poodle The Poodle dog while possessing many natural 

 Dog. qualities which endear it to its owner, is capable 

 of great cultivation and is for this reason much affected by 

 those who train dogs for public performances. Of the clever 

 tricks the poodle has been trained to perform many stories 

 are told, among which the following from M. Blaze's "His- 

 tory of the Dog," as quoted in Mr. Jesse's "Anecdotes of 

 Dogs," is one of the most amusing. 



" A shoe-black on the Pont Neuf at Paris had a poodle 

 dog, whose sagacity brought no small profit to his master. 

 If the dog saw a person with well-polished boots go across 

 the bridge, he contrived to dirty them, by having first rolled 

 himself in the mud of the Seine. His master was then 

 employed to clean them. An English gentleman, who had 

 suffered more than once from the annoyance of having his 

 boots dirtied by a dog, was at last induced to watch his 

 proceedings, and thus detected the tricks he was playing for 

 his master's benefit. He was so much pleased with the 

 a nim al's sagacity, that he purchased him at a high price and 

 conveyed him to London. On arriving there, he was con- 

 fined to the house till he appeared perfectly satisfied with 

 his new master and his new situation. He at last, however, 

 contrived to escape, and made his way back to Paris, where 

 he rejoined his old master, and resumed his former occu- 

 pation." 



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