SAGACITY AND FIDELITY OF THE DOG; ILLUSTRATED BY INTERESTING ANECDOTES. NEW YORK: K I a a I N S & K K L L G G, 123 & 125 William St TUB SAGACITY AND FIDELITY OF THE DOG. The dog, equally remarkable for his docility, fidelity, and attachment to the human race, seems to have been intended by Divine Providence as our assistant and companion. No other animal seems to be so well adapted to this purpose, as the dog; for none is so bold, sagacious, tractable, and obedient. He assists us in conquering such other animals as contribute to our support, or are hostile to our welfare ; and, as if he knew his own im- portance, he exercises a degree of superiority over all others that require the care of man. The flocks and the herds obey his voice ; he conducts them from place to place, guards them from danger, and considers their enemies as his own. In a wild state, the dog may have been a for- midable enemy to man; but as we see him now, he seems only anxious to please. He crouches before his master, consults his looks, awaits his orders, and is more faithful than half the human race. He is constant in his affections, friendly without interest, and grateful for the slightest fa- vor he can receive. Easily forgetting cruelty and oppression, he disarms anger by licking the hand that is raised to strike him. 4 SAGACITY OF THE DOG. But although so submissive to his master, he is fierce and bold to defend him from hk enemies. When at night he is put in charge of the house, no sentinel is more vigilant, or protects the place with more care. If he hears a strange noise or step, his voice instantly sounds the alarm, and if an attempt is made to enter the premises, he fiercely and bravely gives battle to the intruders. Nor is he less useful to the huntsman in pursuit of game ; and he pursues with ardor that spoil, which, when taken, he knows he will not be allowed to share. The dog is so well known, that my young read- ers will be better pleased with interesting anec- dotes of his sagacity, intelligence, and affection for his master, accompanied with portraits of the dif- ferent species, than to occupy the limited pages in this little book with a detailed description of each. "A gentleman being about to go on an evening visit on new year's night, directed his eldest boy, a lad of some ten years of age, to put wood into the stove, and leave a good fire when he and the children went to bed, and have the kindlings ready for the morning fire. The boy did so, buf put the kindlings under the baker, so that the fire commu- nicated to them from the stove. When the fire communicated to the kindlings, the children had all gone to bed in the chamber, but there was a faithful watchman below. Mr. B. had an intelli- gent spaniel, which, seeing the fire communicate to the wood, and from that to the floor, mounted up the stairs to give the alarm, but finding that he could not make the boys understand him, lie laid himself down on one of their beds for a few min- utes. As if aware of the increasing danger, he soon returned to the fire again; and, on his third SAGACITY OF THE DOG. visit to the chamber, he succeeded by his barking and howling in awakening the boys, all of whom had fallen asleep in the meantime. The smoke soon convinced them that the house was on fire, and when they entered the room below, where the file was spreading, they found the faithful sentinel at his duty, striving to arrest the progress of the flames with all his energies, and scattering: the burning brands with his teeth and his paws in every direction about the floor, thinking no doubt, that if he could not procure water, this was his last re- sort to save the house. It seemed he had been doing the same before he had succeeded in rous- ing the boys. The fire burnt a large hole through the floor, before the boys succeeded in extinguish- ing it, A gentleman, owning a fine Newfoundland dog, stopping at a public hotel, one morning offered him some brandy toddy. Lion, as he was called, was young and inexperienced, and confiding. It was his first temptation, and like many a silly young man, he yielded. The result was that he became much excited, and performed various un- dogly antics, peculiar to man and brute in that state. The next day the temptation was renewed. Lion put his paw languidly up to his head, as much as to say — " Excuse me, if you please — the brandy I drank yesterday, gave me a headache/' A celebrated chemist once owned a dog, upon which he tried the effect of a certain poison, and upon the next day administered a counter-poison which had the effect of preserving the creature's life. The next day another dose was offered him ; but merci / said he would not touch it. Dif- ferent sorts of poisonous drugs were presented to SAGACITY OF THE DOG. 7 him, but he resolutely refused all. Bread was offered, but lie would not touch it ; meat, he turned from it; water, but he would not drink. To re- assure him, his master offered him bread and meat of which he himself ate in the dog's presence ; and of that the sagacious animal hesitated not to par- take. He was taken to a fountain, but he would drink nowhere but from the spot where the water gushed free and fresh. This continued several days, until the master, touched by the extraordin- ary intelligence of the poor creature, resolved to make no more attempts upon him with his poisons. The dog will eat nothing that he does not first see his master touch, nor will he drink except fiom the purest spot of the fountain. A gentleman, in Cincinnati, has a dog which accompanies his cow to pasture, remains with her through the day, and keeps her within a certain range into which he drives her when she seems disposed to ramble. He lies down near her while she is feeding; and if, at the proper hour, she does not seem disposed to start home, he gives her a gentle hint and escorts her back himself. Another gentleman of Cincinnati owns a dog who always detects fire, and is the first to give the alarm. This he does by uttering a long, dismal howl, which is changed to a quick sharp bark, when he hears the fire engine on George street in motion. Not long since, he gave the alarm of a fire in a neighboring alley, and was thus the means of saving the whole neighborhood. A fine dog may sometimes be seen perched in a third story window of a large store on Main street, Cincinnati. When the owner of the store leaves the counting-room, the dog takes his station SAGACITY OF THE DOG. SAGACITY OF THE DOG. at the door. If a stranger attempts to enter, he growls angrily: on a nearer approach of the in- truder, he lifts his paw and shows his teeth in such an expressive manner, that one does not feel in- clined to test his ability to protect his master's property. He has taken quite a fancy to the horse of the drayman in the employ of the firm, and will not suffer him to beat his animal or even to threaten it by raising his whip. There was a dog in Lowell who was a favorite with the family in which he was a member. He had given to him every day a cent, with which to buy his dinner. He would take the copper in his mouth, and start off at a dog-trot to the butcher's shop, look round for a moment, lay down his cent, and ask for his dinner. The butcher, who knew him would take off a cold cut from a beef-bone and give it to him. The dog one day in going home, after having dined, found a cent on the side- walk.^ Not wishing to dine more freely that day, he picked the cent up, carried it home in his mouth, and went into the back-yard, pawed a hole in the ground, put in his cent, and covered it over with the loose earth. Next day, when hun- gry, he dug up his treasure, and went off to the butchei's and bought his dinner. Wasn't tins a wise dog ? A little girl, the only and well-beloved child of her parents, died, and was interred in the private family burying ground. A large dog, the private companion and playmate of the child, was fre- quently missing from the house after the funeral. When seen, he was observed to be crest-fallen and drooping; he refused his food, moped, and lost flesh every day. These circumstances exciting 1* 10 SAGACITY OP THE DOG. curiosity, the animal was watched and followed in his stealthy excursions, and it at length appeared that he went daily to the grave of his former friend and playmate, deposited, at each visit, some of the child's playthings obtained secretly from the house on the grassy mound that covered her remains, in the vain hope of alluring her to his side again, and then lay down, and passed hour after hour, moaning and whining piteously. His master was obliged finally to chain up the animal to put an end to his melancholy vigils, the continuance of which would have cost the faithful mourner his existence. A more touching instance of devotion and attachment has rarely fa lien beneath our notice. A German blacksmith in South Wheeling, has a dog which is somewhat remarkable for its sagacity. The blacksmith has one forge that he devotes al- together to making nails for the coarsest shoes. At this a boy makes about a thousand a day, hav- ing the dog to blow the bellows, which is done by a wheel attached to the 'crank. The dog blows when the iron is in the fire ; but as soon as it is taken out he stops to rest, and commences at once when it is put in again. The owner of a fine dog, with several other young men were bathing, one of the party was seized with the cramp, and in danger of drowning. They all hastened to the rescue — the dog stood on the bank of the river, at such a distance as to ren- der it almost impossible for him to distinguish in the confusion who was in danger ; yet, on the first alarm, he plunged in and swam past his master, taking no notice of him, but seizing on the drown- ing man, by the hand, brought him safely to shore. There is a dog belonging to a family in Ciiicin- Ifl ''"MII'IMIMIHIIMIIIIIIMIIIMIIIIIIIM^^ SAGACITY OF THE DOG. 11 v The Bull-Dog. nati who is accustomed to play with the children at the game of hide-and-seek ! He observes nil the rules of the game, and like an honest, honor- able dog, never peeps between his paws or looks up slyly, when it is his turn to hide his eyes. He is always the first to find the concealed party. A gentleman who resided in the west, had in his possession a fine young dog, remarkable for his size and beauty. He was exceedingly playful, and altl lough trained to drive pigs and cattle, never be- came fierce and bloodthirsty. From amonrr the tenants of the barn-yard, he chose a sickly, dwarf- ish pig, that nobody thought worth caring about, for his pet. The poor little creature had been knocked about by its large and more fortunate brethren, until it was really an object of pity. 12 SAGACITY OF THE DOG* There can be no doubt that the clog had observed the impositions practised upon it ; for after he took charge of it, wo to the pig that attempted to im- pose upon the favorite ! Under his fostering care, the little starveling improved rapidly. It was cus- tomary while the men were engaged in feeding and watering the stock about the barn and stable, to set the dog to keep out all intruders, and every pig and cow was kept at a safe distance, except the little pet, who was suffered to go where he chose, and eat the best of everything undisturbed. The pig, as in duty bound, became very much at- tached to his kind benefactor. When it had grown up, and was put out with the other hogs, the dog w r ent regularly daily with the man who fed them, and when the corn was thrown out, not an animal was suffered to come near, until the favorite had got as much as it wanted. This attachment was the more remarkable, as there seems to be, in general, but little friendship between dogs and pigs- ... ... A family, residing some years since in Philadel- phia, had a small dog who had adapted himself with wonderful facility to their habits. He was accustomed to sleep in the servant's room in the third story, and like some people in the city, had a bad habit of sleeping late in the morning ; but, at the hour of family worship, when he heard the first note of the hymn, he would come tearing down the stairs in the greatest hurry, and slipping quietly into the room, curl himself down on the rug close by the father of the family who conduct- ed the devotions. There he would lie quite still, until near the close of the prayer: holding him- self in readiness just as the family rose from their SAG ACTT Y OF THE DOG. 13 The Bloodhound. knees, he would spring with a sharp bark toward the old gentleman, as much as to say amen ! and catching hold of the skirts of his coat, give them a playful shake. The family belonged to the Methodist church, and the dog had for many years attended church with them, where of course he heard loud singing and praying. At one time he was taken by a friend to a Friends' meeting. It was a silent one, and of course did not agree with the little dog's experience of such matters. After waiting the usual length of time for the service to commence, he became quite uneasy, and could with difficulty be restrained from pricking up his ears, and jump- Lno; on the seat to look about him. At last, esca- 14 SAGACITY OF THE DOG. ping- from the gentleman, he ran out into the aisle, and seating himself, looking earnestly in the direc- tion from which he had been accustomed to hear the speaker's voice. After waiting some rime and finding them not disposed to begin, he gave three sharp barks, and turning himself about, trotted briskly out, saying as plainly by his manner as dog could say, that that was not the kind of meeting he liked, or had been used to. An old officer, of a cheerful disposition, had a spaniel which always put by his hat and cane, and fetched his slippers for him when he returned from a walk. He also awoke him at a certain hour every morning. If the major wanted his pipe, he said, " Tobacco, tobacco," and the dog presented his pipe in a moment. One day, the officer, in- tending to divert himself with his four-footed ser- vant, called out to the dog, " Something to light my pipe !" in aloud voice. The dog scampered about the room, apparently very anxious to oblige. The same order was repeated again, but to no purpose. At last, hearing the command continually repeated, he jumped to the grate, but soon came back a little singed ; he then ran to a broom, and, biting off a sprig, carried it to the grate and actually lighted it and brought it to his master, who exclaimed, " If this had not been done before my eyes, I would not have believed it !" A surgeon of Leeds, once found a little spaniel who had been lamed. He carried the poor animal home, bandaged up his leg, and after two or three days, turned him out. The dog returned to the Burgeon's every morning, till his leg was perfectly well At the end of several months, the spaniel SAGACITY OF THE DOG. 15 again presented himself, in company with another dog, who also had been lamed ; and he imitated, as well as piteous and intelligent looks could inti- mate, that he desired the same kind assistance to be rendered to his friend, as had been bestowed upon himself. The following is related by the owner of a dog at the West : " During my early residence in the backwoods of a western state, a neighbor sup- plied me with a puppy of the Thibet breed. This puppy grew up a fine coal-black fellow. I named him 4 Hector/ His first exploit was the pursuit and death of a wild doe ; and I then thought it would have been his last. It was one afternoon in the latter part of December that I heard young Hector's voice in a small enclosure behind our cottage ; and looking abroad to see what the mat- 16 SAGACITY OF THE DOG. SAGACITY OF THE DOG. ter was, I indistinctly perceived, through the fast- falling snow, a fine deer hounding along toward the adjoining woods, and Hector in full and joy- ous pursuit. He was gone till the following day, when he returned. Where, or how he had spent the night, I knew not ; but, in the course of the day, a hunter called on me to say, that, early in the morning, he had gone into the woods in pur- suit of deer; when, in crossing a deep ravine, at the distance of about three miles from my dwel- ling, he had accidentally fallen in with my young dog — which he immediately recognised — just leav- ing his night's lair by the side of a bloody deer, which, from appearances, he had hunted down. My informant further stated, that he had flayed the animal, according to the regular custom of hunters, and hung the carcass upon a tree — and that 1 might, if I chose, send for my share of the venison, to which, by the law of hunters, I was entitled. I thanked him for the information he had given me, but declined receiving the first fruits of my dog's achievements. " There was a small lake near my cottage, cover- ing a space of seventy or eighty acres, and sur- rounded on all sides by dark woods, except a mod- erate space opposite to my dwelling, from which I had caused the timber to be cleared away, in order to obtain an unobstructed view of the lone and silent waters. In spring and autumn the lake was frequently visited by flocks of various sorts of wild-ducks, when one of my favorite amuse- ments was the shooting of them from the covert of the surrounding" trees, or from a canoe in which I used to go in pursuit of them. Hector, in all these adventures, was my constant attendant, and 18 SAGACITY OF THE DOG. seemed to enjoy the sport as much as his master : and all hough, in his appearance, there was nothing to indicate that he belonged to any breed of dogs partial to the water, yet from his days of puppy- ism he delighted to be dabbling in that element. A long gun-shot was but a moderate distance For him to swim to a dead or wounded duck, which he never failed to bring safely ashore and deposile at my feet. Sometimes, when a duck was wounded, but still able to dive, he would exercise a wonder- ful degree of cunning, when he found his utmost ex- ertions in swimming were unavailing ; for, aftei the bird had dived a few times, to elude his eaeer pursuit, he would sink himself as low as practicable in the water, with but his nose and eyes above the surface, and thus paddle silently and slowly to- ward his victim; when the duck, not fully aware of what was approaching, would make little effort to retreat ; and the dog, taking advantage of some moment of inattention on the other's part, would plunge forward and seize it in his capacious jaws. I have actually known him to seize ducks in this manner that had not been wounded or hurt in any way, but which seemed to apprehend no mischief from a countenance so mild and honest. " His partiality for sporting in the water ex- ceeded anything I remember to have seen or heard related ; for if 1 should happen to be otherwise en- gaged when a flock of ducks appeared on the lake, Elect 01 would exhibit signs of extreme impatience for a time, and then setoff alone in pursuit of them. But he did not confine himself to game of the feath- ered species, for he would wade and swim for hours together along the margin of the lake in pur- suit of the numerous shoals of sunfish, which, in SAGACITY OF THE DOG. 19 summer, inhabited the shallow bays and inlets His success, however, as a fisher was but very limited ; for amidst all his watching? and snatch- ings he seldom succeeded in bringing any of the finny tribe to land. " Near to the barn and stables was a small streamlet, that issued from a bed of shelving rocks in the immediate vicinity, and which, for the con- venience of supplying: the farm-stock, was collect- ed into a small pool. Although this water was cold and pure, ye?, as the warm season advanced, 1 alw ays found it infested by numerous frogs, and I could devise no means to prevent it. Hector, in his younger days, had witnessed my endeavors to destroy them, and ever afterward he would spend several hours of a warm summer-day eagerly in- tent on catching the poor frogs. And here he suc- ceeded much better than among the sun-fish ; for he would use his feet in dislodging them from their hiding-places, and when they rose to the surface of the water he seldom missed seizing them. This was rather an ignoble amusement, certainly — but it served to fill up his hours of idleness. " 1 will not dwell upon his numerous achieve- ments, but will relate his last battle, and its melan- choly consequences. It was about noon of a hot summer-day, that our maid-servant came running to inform me that Hector was fighting with a strange dog, and that she was afraid he would kill it. I desired her to return quickly, and to get a stout riding-whip that hung in the entrance-hall and hasten to the rescue, and that 1 would follow her instantly. She did so ; but upon my reaching the place where the dogs had been quarrelling, there lay the strange dog, a lifeless thing ! I could 20 SAGACTTY OF THE DOG. / SAGACITY OF THE DOG. 21 scarcely credit what I saw, so short a time had elapsed to bring about the catastrophe. There stood Hector, at a short distance, sullen and thoughtful — intently gazing at the victim of his fury, until I took the whip from the astonished girl and drove him off to his kennel. Half an hour afterward my attention was drawn again to my fa- vorite dog, on observing him carrying off his dead enemy, which he was able to do with extreme diffi- culty, for the animal was at least two thirds of his own weight, He contrived, however, to drag it to a pioce of ploughed land at a considerable distance ; where, close to the remains of the stump of an old pine tree, he dug a hole sufficiently large for the grave, and having deposited it there, he dexter- ously covered it over with the earth he had displaced. From that hour he seemed dull and thoughtful, and on the fourth day he became seriously indisposed. From the first moment of his illness I was appre- hensive that it might terminate in hydrophobia, and during the few days he lived the symptoms fully developed themselves. I confined, for I could not find in my heart to destroy, him ; but when death put an end to his sufferings, on the fourth day of his illness, I felt relieved and thankful." At Dunrobin castle, in Scotland, there was a Scotch terrier, which had a litter of puppies, which were taken away from her and drowned. The un- fortunate mother was quite disconsolate, till she per- ceived a brood of ducklings, which she seized and carried to her lair, where she retained them, follow- ing them out and in with the greatest attention, and nursing them after her own fashion with the most af- fectionate anxiety. When the ducklings, following their natural instinct, went into the water, their fos- SAlrACITY of the dog. 23 ter -mother exhibited the utmost alarm ; and* as soon as they returned to land, she snatched them up in her mouth and ran home with them. What adds to the singularity of the circumstance is, that the same animal, when deprived of a litter of puppies the year following, seized two cock chickens, which she reared with the like care she bestowed on her own family. When the young cocks began to try their voices, their foster-mother was as much annoyed as she formerly seemed to be by the swim- ming of the ducklings, and never failed to repress their attempts at crowing. The following anecdote of an English terrier, is a pleasing proof of canine sagacity, and occurred in the parish of Marylebone, London : — " A ser- vant had carelessly left a child, four .years old, alone, whose cap caught fire from a candle with which she was amusing herself. A small terrier, observing the situation of the child, ran up stairs to the room where the servant was, and barked most vehemently, nor would he cease till she came down, by which assistance was obtained. Had it not been for the intelligence of the dog the poor child, instead of being only slightly scorched, would most probably have lost its life ; for the ac- cident happened in the kitchen, and the domestic left in charge of it had gone to the very top of the house, out of the reach even of the cries of the infant." A gentleman who had occasion, when in Paris, to pass one of the bridges across the Seine, had his boots, which had been previously well-polished, dirted by a poodle-dog rubbing against them. He, in consequence, went to the man who was station- ed in the bridge, and had them cleaned. The same 24 SAGACITY OF THE DOG. circumstance having' occurred more than once, his curiosity was excited, and he watched the dog. He saw him roll himself in the mud of the river, and then watch for a person with well-polished boots, against which he contrived to rub himself. Finding that the shoe-black was the owner of the dog, he taxed him with the artifice ; and after a little hesitation, he confessed that he had taught the dog the . trick in order to procure customers for himself. The gentleman being much struck with the dog's sagacity, purchased him at a high price, and took him to England. He kept him tied up in London some time, and then released him. The dog remained with him a day or two, and then made his escape. A fortnight afterward he was found with his former master, pursuing his old trade on the bridge. Cuban Mastitis. i EHilFllUlL©' s AW 10 10. Beuuiifuily Illustrated frpm Designs by Chapman. Virnt 8erlet»— Price Ooe Cent* .n Thumb's Picture Alphabet, in Rhyme. pries for the Nursery. tty Rhymes about Birds and Animals, for little Boys and Girls, on the Ffcrm, in Amusing Rhyme, story -Book for Good Little Girls. Beacon, or Warnings to Thoughtless Boys. 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