The: Pleasures of Sympathy. 237 
of that which is best in their character and disposition. It 
is no small matter that we have always before us a picture 
so beautiful as even an ugly dog is in his graceful poses and 
movements, and his simple, unaffected manners. Our sense of 
right and justice, too, is perpetually exercised by thoughtful 
consideration for his needs and pleasures—in supplying him 
with his food and water and taking him out for his walks. 
That going out for a walk is the supreme moment of his 
day. How often will his delight re-act upon us by sympathy, 
dispel gloomy thoughts, and win us to a cheerful mood! Let 
me counsel all who keep a dog—or dogs—to cultivate this 
simple source of genuine enjoyment, even at some sacrifice 
of convenience. An outing twice or thrice a day is a physio- 
logical necessity for a dog. Every large dog ought to have 
at least four miles of walking exercise daily, and every small 
one would be the better for so much, and more. It is an 
excellent remedy for depression of spirits to cultivate the 
habit of entering into the sense of freedom he feels when he 
bounds towards the door in anticipation of that daily pleasure 
which never palls upon his simple mind. Those who have 
succeeded in this—and the habit soon grows—are among the 
relatively happiest of human beings. They have, at all 
events, one more source of pleasure than others who do 
not keep a dog. 
But more than this, it is in our power to confer lifelong 
happiness on a being whose gratitude is boundless, and to 
enjoy the only unalloyed pleasure we can experience—the 
consciousness of having thus rendered some creature as happy 
as we possibly can. 
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