Many considerations, besides those suggested on a former occasion, seem to place it beyond doubt that the first and most natural attachment of the people will be to the governments of their respective states. Into the administration of these a greater number of individuals will expect to rise. From the gift of these a greater number of offices and emoluments will flow. By the superintending care of these, all the more domestic and personal interests of the people will be regulated and provided for. With the affairs of these, the people will be more familiarly and minutely conversant. And with the members of these, will a greater proportion of the people have the ties of personal acquaintance and friendship, and of family and party attachments; on the side of these, therefore, the popular bias may well be expected most strongly to incline.
IT is impossible now to determine with certainty the origin of the dog. Itseems generally agreed (there are a few exceptions) that all the varieties nowknown have had some common ancestor; but about the character of that ancestryvery different opinions prevail. Perhaps the most popular view amongstnaturalists is that which considers the wolf as the original type; andthere certainly are strong reasons to be urged for the belief, absurd as atfirst sight it may seem. That the wolf and the dog will breed together, and thatthe progeny is fertile, has often been proved; and Arctic travellers have againand again remarked that the Esquimaux dog and the wolf can hardly bedistinguished. In his account of the well-known expedition led by him in searchof Sir John Franklin, Dr. Kane relates that on one occasion a wolf was reportedat the meat-house, that he went out to shoot it, and shot -"one of our dogs.I could have sworn he was a wolf." Many of them have all a wolf'sferocity; and Hayes, in his "Arctic Boat Journey," gives a thrillingnarrative of his narrow escape from being devoured alive by them. Having on oneoccasion, when they were hungry, incautiously come near them with nothing in hishand, they lost their instinctive feeling of dread, and he only saved his lifeby providentially perceiving one of the dreaded Esquimaux whips a few feetdistant, before which the gaunt animals retreated. He also relates how, atProven, where many of these dogs were kept, the grandson of the governor wasactually devoured by them before his mother's eyes, while walking from one houseto another only twenty yards distant. Most of these Arctic dogs have lost the wag of the tail whenpleased, which is so distinct a peculiarity of the dog family; but some of thefinest individuals retain it, and, in fact, in some part of the world or otherit is indisputable that almost every conceivable gradation between the dog andthe wolf may be found, both in zoological character and mental disposition. Wecannot therefore deny, as some have done, that the wolf may have beendeveloped into the dog; and yet we think there are still stronger reasons forholding the contrary opinion - reasons which cold science little considers, butwhich really ought to have as much weight as those which she herself reliesupon. The wolf has been bred in captivity for four generations, withscarcely any abatement in its ferocity and wildness of character. Now men do nottake a great amount of trouble for no return; and is it likely that the earlierraces of men would or could have had such faith in the ultimate reward asto persevere age after age in the attempt to reclaim the untamable beast? Suchquestions may be unscientific, but they are reasonable; and there is anothercase which bears so strong an analogy, that we cannot forbear quoting it inpoint. There is not, and, [-12-] back to thefarthest period which we can trace, there has not been, a wild camel onthe face of the earth it is only known in its subjection to man's use. Furtherit is wonderfully adapted to his use, and it has on its knees callosities whichfit it for the constant kneeling down which is required to receive theburden or the rider but which, in a state of nature, it would never require.Well the reader may think, there seems nothing strange in this; we all know howconstant use will harden our own bodies, as is proved by the horny hand of themechanic Yes, this is true; but while the hand of the mechanic s infant issoft and delicate as that of the imperial prince's, it is not so with thecallosities on the knees of the camel: the young camel is born with them andto those who are not too proud to receive it, the conclusion seems irresistible,that the animal was created by a gracious Providence expressly for the use ofman And when we consider the matchless sagacity of the dog his bodily strengthand power of attack, which make him so formidable, but combined with thatmarvellous affection and disposition to obedience, which put all at the serviceof the human race, we find it far easier to believe that he also was received atthe hand of a
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NEXT in point of general interest to those varieties of dogs which wedescribed in the previous paper, come those larger animals which, on account oftheir strength and courage, man allies to himself as the protectors of hisproperty or his person. Of these the most important is undoubtedly the Englishmastiff one of the finest and most powerful of all the many varieties ofdogs. This breed is probably that which was so eagerly sought by the ancientRomans for combat in the circus, and was then known as the most powerfulfighting dog in the world. William Edwardes relates that in 1615 an Englishmastiff killed a tiger in India in single combat; but it is not certain whetherthe modern mastiff is of quite such colossal strength as these ancient animals.Still, he is a grand dog. The height to the shoulder should be from twenty-sixto thirty inches (some reach thirty-four inches) ; all the limbs sturdy andstrong. The head is massive, with a noble forehead; eyes rather small and mild;ears small and pendant; muzzle broad and square; chest broad and capacious; andbody very large, with powerful loins; tail fine, and reaching rather below thehocks. The handsomest colour is fawn, or dark buff, with a rich black muzzle;but very handsome dogs all black are sometimes met with; brindled and red dogsalso occur; but white does not as a rule look well, and is little valued. The character of the mastiff generally is truly noble.Indeed, he is said to be the only dog from which even his master daretake away a bone. Calm and quiet to all, he takes pleasure in the rough gambolsof children, and an infant of a few months old may be fearlessly cradled in hiscolossal limbs. But let him be set at any living thing, or let danger assailthose he loves, or even let him see violence attempted to be done, and all hisfearful strength is exerted with a courage that even the bull-dog cannot exceed.What the lion is among wild beasts, the mastiff is among dogs-the strongest,noblest, most dignified: and what the lion is not, the gentlest of them all.
The Bull-dog was probably bred from the mastifforiginally, and the old and powerful breed is extinct. The modern bull-dog is ahighly artificial animal, the very shape of the skull being obviously the resultof art; the jaw is under-hung (the lower jaw projecting), the forehead [-61-]flat and high, and deeply sunk between the eyes, and the muzzle turning upwards,yet broad and deep, so as to cover the teeth. The chest is deep and full, andforelegs powerful, this part of the dog showing the mastiff character ; but theloins are often weak, the dog's strength being chiefly in the neck, fore-legs,and jaws. The colour varies greatly, white being most fashionable, and so doesthe weight, which maybe anything from fourteen to sixty pounds. The character ofthe bulldog is uncertain ; some are very intelligent and peaceable, others areuniformly surly. Many are apt to be friendly with all unless something suddenoccurs, when they will attack without the slightest warning. Hence, althoughthey are generally inoffensive, unless the temper be known astrustworthy, they are dangerous dogs. But whatever the disposition be, thepurebred bull-dog always shows the following characters: he always fliesstraight at the head of man or beast, and at no other part; he attackswithout a sound or warning, and will remain mute if beaten to death; and he neverlets go till killed or made insensible. It is singular that the slightestcross of alien blood makes the point of attack uncertain Though thebull-terrier, for instance, may be of equal courage, he will fly at the legs aswell as the head - the true bull-dog never.
IF a dog be kept for actual service, such as minding sheep, or assisting thesportsman, he will generally be more efficient and valuable if trained up frombirth by his owner, than if purchased when professedly "broken" byanother. The animal will not only be much more under control, but willunderstand his master's peculiar signs and gestures in a degree he will not doif broken by a stranger. In fact, even when you have trained your own dog, ifyou lend him a few days to another person, the chances are that, on his return,it will be some little time before he is quite as useful as before - so rapidly and strongly do even individual idiosyncrasies become reflected in theintelligent animal. Training dogs is much facilitated by the fact that habitshanded down through successive generations are transmitted almost as strongly tothe offspring as natural instincts. Thus, a Newfoundland maybe as intelligent ingeneral as a Scotch collie ; but the most careful training would fail in makinghim so good a sheep-dog as the other becomes with very little trouble, for thesimple reason that his ancestors for generations have been trained tothat duty, and he takes to it almost as a second nature. It is the same withsporting dogs; and hence the great importance of obtaining, if possible, puppiesfrom a well-bred strain - they do not give one quarter the trouble in training.They are, in fact, naturally disposed to do what is required of them, and theirinclinations often need little beyond controlling and directing. It has beensaid, indeed, that a cross-bred, or otherwise slow and dull dog, when trained,will be more reliable and useful than a better-bred and more docile animal; butwe do not think such an opinion was ever held by any one who had really triedboth. For the training of the Sheep-dog very little definiteinstruction can be laid down, success depending almost entirely on theintelligence, patience, and, we may add, kindness of the shepherd. An impatient,ill-tempered man will never train a good dog ; while with a good master awell-bred collie may be taught to do almost anything. The education ofthe pup should commence as soon as he can run faster than the sheep, so as to"head" them: till then it is useless to begin, though he should betaken out with them in order to become friendly with them, and to understand themost common words of command, which he will soon do if in company with a steadyold dog. Indeed, an old, well-trained animal is almost essential to the trainingof a first-rate sheep-dog with any ordinary trouble, though they may betrained without, if the shepherd have time and patience to persevere. If,however, there be a sagacious old dog to assist, the task is very easy. As soonas the pup can go fast enough, he should be sent in company with the old dog tofetch in stragglers. After two or three times he will do this by himself, whenhe should be most sedulously taught to leave them alone when he hasperformed the duty. The next lesson is to "go round them" and keep theflock together; and the old dog again will do half the teaching; without him,patience and good temper is the only method. The young dog must next be trainedto obey not only the voice, but the waving of the hand in any direction. When,in addition to this, the pup can keep up the flock behind while his master walksbefore, he is as well trained as ordinary shepherds have any idea of; but isvery far short of what he ought to be, to the incalculable saving of time andlabour. He can be taught by dividing the flock and putting him in the middle, todrive different flocks without mixing one animal ; to jump over a hedge in orderto head the flock in a lane, and in fact can be made, and in Scotland often is,so perfect in his business as to be trusted with the sole oversight of thousandsof sheep during the whoIe day, keeping all in their proper [-107-]feeding-grounds, and showing a sagacity and fertility of invention incases of emergency which is sometimes enough to stagger belief. In mountainouscountries, such as Scotland and Wales, it is surprising to see the skill whichthe sheep-dogs will evince in collecting the flock together. They appear to thefull as eager in their task as the shepherd, and rarely, if ever, fail tocollect all the stragglers, in spite of the formidable difficulties which veryfrequently lie in their way. The English rough sheep-dog is rarely capable of such perfecteducation as the collie, but will perform all the ordinary work required of himwth steadiness and skill if carefully trained. In the training of Pointers the greatest patience andconstant watchfulness are necessary, and the first lessons cannot begin toosoon. We have already remarked on the strong instincts of this breed, and it isoften so developed that puppies still suckling will point on seeing chickens orfinding bits of meat, or coining on the track of a mouse. Where the dog is toohighly bred, in fact, the propensity sometimes is so exaggerated as to make himuseless, causing the animal to point at valueless birds, or stale scent whichthe game has left for hours before. In order to prevent this, an occasionalcross of the fox-hound is often used, and some of the very best dogs, such ashave been sold for 200 guineas, are thus bred. This cross also much improves theendurance of the animal without injury to his powers of scent, but it mustalways be employed with judgment, and only the best of the offspring should bepreserved. At a few weeks old, as soon, in fact, as they feed apart afrom the mother, the pups-not only of pointers, but all a sporting dogs intendedfor breaking-should be called to their meals by the firing of a gun, commencingfor a few days whilst actually engaged in devouring their food. At first,theywill be more or less terrified, but will soon associate the sound withpleasurable enjoyment. It is best to leave off when this object is attained.They must also be taught;. from the first to come to heel at a call or whistle,being invariably, as soon as they evidently understand the command, madeto obey it by a sufficient but temperate chastisement for everyneglect. When old enough to walk out into the fields, the pups must bewell practised in coming to heel, and when tolerably perfect in it, taught toobey the word "down." At first the command should be utteredwith the whelp at the feet, forcing it down at the same time by the pressure ofthe hand; repetition of this will soon teach the pup what is meant, and causeobedience, which may be occasionally rewarded by a bit of bread. When obedientat the feet, the pup should be ordered "down" when at somedistance, and if a steady old pointer can assist, will soon obey; but, if itdoes not, the trainer must walk quickly up to it and repeat the command in astern voice. On the second disobedience a good scolding is added, and if a thirdtime the order be neglected, a smart cut with the whip accompanies the "down,"and probably impresses it on the youngster's memory. This lesson is of verygreat consequence, and must be well attended to, teaching the dog by degrees todrop at the mere wave of the hand, as speaking much in the field would spoil thesport. The animal must never be allowed to rise till ordered to "holdup", or simply "up", or directed by some expression ofthe kind. The next step is to teach the pups to drop at the report ofthe piece by ordering them "down" immediately after dischargingit, by degrees omitting the command, and meeting any consequent neglect, atfirst by a rebuke, and the second time by slight chastisement. On no accountmust they be allowed to rise until the piece is reloaded, checking any attemptto do so by an imperious "down." This lesson also is of theutmost importance, thoroughly teaching a dog to "down charge" being ofmore influence than almost anything else in securing good sport ; but if thevarious stages have been attended to as described, there will be little ofeither difficulty or punishment about the process, and the whelps may be trainedto perfect obedience in regard to all the foregoing sports by the time they havereached the age of four or five months. The young dogs may now be taken to the game, if possible, incompany with an old one. Their incessant chasing of the small birds should notbe checked, as it will make them eager, and the calm disdain of the old dog forsuch small deer will, as soon as they meet with real game, soon make themashamed. The example of the old dog will also speedily teach them to point andhunt with the greatest eagerness ; and as soon as this is accomplished, heshould be kept at home and the pups taken out by themselves for the final stageof training, which consists in bringing their eager delight in hunting underperfect control. And here will be found the benefit of teaching them to "downcharge," or to drop at a wave of the haul, before they have beenallowed to scent game. If this lesson be deferred till after, when all the dogs'hunting instincts are in full exercise, the task of subduing them will be longand difficult; but, with the habits of obedience to signals and watching theloading of the gun thoroughly taught first, it will not take long after to turnout a thoroughly good pointer. The first lesson is to prevent the other dogs, when a comradehas found game, from rushing in upon the scent - to teach them, in fact, to backhis point. The trainer must wait till the first dog has made a decided andtolerably steady point, and then, if another dog runs in, his name, and the word"soho!" or other word of caution, must be shouted in a. sternvoice, at the same time waving the hand. Of course, if the preceding lessonshave been attended to he will know that he ought to drop at the well-knownsignal; and if he does not, he must have both a good scolding and enoughof the whip to impress the fault upon his memory pretty sharply. We repeat here,once for all, that the great majority of dogs may be trained with very littlecorrection, which should never be administered wantonly or unmercifully; butstill, when needed, to give less than shall be well remembered will beuseless, and therefore is nothing but mere cruelty. Generally from two tohalf-a-dozen smart cuts with the whip will be found quite sufficient for thepurpose. Again, if the game should run, and the dog follows, theothers will naturally approach, and they may be allowed at first to follow onthe scent in order to increase their ardour. But if any pup attempts to gobefore the one that found, he must be at once checked, and punished if hedisobeys ; for the first dog would feel it keenly if his scent were taken fromhim, and probably prove quite unruly for the rest of the day. Young dogs should be allowed to play with the first game theysee killed. They enjoy this greatly, and with every successive bird they mouth,their ardour in the sport seems to increase, while they rarely injure it much ifleft to drop it themselves. On no account should it be torn or snatched fromthem, as it might teach them to tear it, and such a habit makes a dogalmost useless. Having thus got the pups to back each other's point, thereremains only to perfect them in observing the "down charge" whenin actual sight of the game. The best way is to fire when the birds rise, but atfirst not hitting them. Still the dogs will endeavour, in all probability, togive chase, but probably an angry "down charge" will inducethem to obedience; if not, the whip must again be used. If any dog is peculiarlyobstinate, it is best to fasten a light but strong line to his collar, and. justwhen he has gathered full speed, to fetch him up sharply, which will send himtumbling over in a way he will much dislike, and with a few sharp cuts of thewhip [-108-] will soon bring him to order. The sameexperiment may be employed to teach an obstinate dog that he must not chaserabbits, hares, or birds. We may here remark that unless towards the latter partof their training the dogs are allowed to find plenty of their proper game, itwill be very difficult to prevent them hunting and pointing small a birds, for agood dog must hunt something; but if taken among game they soon learn thedifference. A pointer thoroughly obedient in all the foregoing may a beconsidered a well-trained dog, and any other special points of training forsport it will be found comparatively a easy to teach him. He must, however, betaught, as fast as possible, to receive his orders by motions of the hand, inorder that he may avoid any noise which might scare the game; and he must bemade to keep sufficiently near the sportsman for the birds he springs to risewithin shot. If it is desired to use the pointer as a retriever also, thepup should be taught to "seek" while in the house by throwing bits ofbread or meat. After a while a small carcase may be constructed out of a rabbitor hare-skin, stuffing it with cotton-wool and briars mixed. This will soonteach him to seize tenderly, without breaking the plumage. Then, when they arebeing trained in actual pursuit of game, the only thing to observe will be thatthe dogs do not run in and seize the game until ordered to "seekdead." Pointers which retrieve seldom do so well when in company, asthey tend to spoil the other dogs which have not been so trained ; but whenalone will often perform in both capacities to perfection. The Setter is trained in very much the same manner asthe pointer, the principal difference being that he "sets," orcrouches, instead of "pointing," on finding his game. In endurance thesetter will surpass the pointer, having a harder feet and more power of limb. Asetter has also more fire and dash, which often enables a quick shot to bag morebirds within a given time, and to get over more ground; but these very qualitiestend to make him a less perfectly obedient animal, his impulsive dispositionseeking to break out, as it were, on every occasion. Some sportsmen, indeed,affirm that a setter can never be a thoroughly broken; but this is contradictedby many dogs of this breed, whose behaviour in the field is quiteunexceptionable. It is, however, essential, even more than in the case ofpointers, that their training should commence when yet little pups, and thatthey be kept from the first thoroughly under control, so far as they have beentaught; but if this be attended to they will usually turn out most usefulassistants, whilst to our fancy they are about the handsomest of all the dogfamily. The Retriever almost invariably contains a cross ofthe Newfoundland, whatever the other parentage may be, and his training iscomparativelv a very simple matter, though it should be commenced, like that ofall other dogs, when very young. As with other sporting dogs, he must first betaught to pay implicit obedience in the way of coming to heel, and droppingevery time the piece is fired - in fact, never to leave his master whenon business, unless ordered to do so. He should also be taught, from the verymilk, to "seek" articles thrown about, and to carry tenderly, bycarcases stuffed with briars, as already described. Such a dog is more than halftrained. Very often, retrievers are not sufficiently taught to "downcharge," and the consequence is, that they break away after the shot,whether it be a hit or miss, frighten the game, and spoil the chance of a greatmany other shots by their impetuosity. Having therefore, trained the retrieverto "down charge," and in fact, to remain perfectly quiet in the field,except ordered to "seek," little remains, except the teaching him tobring the game to your very hand, and to deliver it in no other way. Nothing canbe more annoying than to see your dog find the game and bring it,perhaps, within a dozen yards, and then drop it in some heavy crop, such as athick field of turnips, which very effectually secures you from ever finding italso. The retriever must likewise be taught to do his work without loss of time,by occasionially giving him food as a reward, but never until he has carried thegame by your side a little while, and you have taken it from his mouth with yourown hand. This is highly necessary, or he will get the habit ofdropping the game to eat the food of which we have already spoken. Intraining a retriever for water-fowl shooting, it is best to begin in summer, inorder that the dog may not have to face the cold water all at once ; and it isnecessary to check him if he ever attempts to catch rats or other vermin, as hewill often waste his time in hunting on his own account. Spaniels are much used for shooting in cover, andare seldom so obedient as field dogs, being necessarily often out of sight. Tobe of much use, they must be early accustomed to the game they are intended for,otherwise they will gad about after anything alive, or open on a stale scent,either of which makes a dog of little value. They may be easily taught tohunt in any direction, according to a wave of the hand, and to drop on thereport of the piece; but it is difficult to get them to thoroughly "downcharge"; they will generally rush to seize the game, ifit falls, If the dog can be taught to "down charge," like a setter, itis better; but, if he is too impetuous for this, the sportsman may be wellcontent with making him retrieve properly, by bringing it tenderly to the hand.Few spaniels will do more. Most spaniels open on the scent, and pretty loudlytoo ; but some breeds are mute on certain scents, and the well-known Clumberspaniel is perfectly so. In training all sporting dogs, a command of temper is [-109-]indispensable, for an unnecessary lash, or even rebuke, ought never to begiven. One object only should be sought at a time, or the dog will get confused; neither should he be trained too long at one period, lest he become tired anddisgusted. When he behaves properly, he should he patted and encouraged - infact, made a friend of throughout, and only corrected when reallynecessary. Having trained your dog to your own satisfaction, and got himto understand and obey your signals, you will do well never to lend himon any consideration, except to a person both trustworthy and not very unlikeyourself in conduct and habits when in the field. To lend a good dog to a badsportsman, is infallibly to spoil him for at least several days. If you haveshot in company, and your friend and the dog mutually understand and respecteach other, no harm can ensue; the great point undoubtedly is that the dog mustbe thoroughly familiar with the sportsman who uses him, and in the hands of abad sportsman a good dog is very soon spoilt. 2ff7e9595c
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