WHAT IS THE USE OF A DOG?

Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 32, 1 November 1907, Page 2

WHAT IS THE USE OF A DOG?

THE CONFESSIONS OF A FANCIER. This is a rather bold—not to say risky— question to hurl suddenly at the head: of a doggy man, who is devoted to the fancy.. Yet wo took ■the. hazard with Mr. C. Court Rice, who judged the dogs at the last Wellington Dog Show. Mr. llico is a Sydney dog doctor, and, a great oxpert on "points." He is allowed to say tho hist word on dogs, for no dog fancier would dream of questioning a ■ judgment of Mr. Court Rico. But Mr. Rice is purely a

fancier, and it consequently took him quite a few moments of rapid thinking to foous''his ■ thoughts-back on the utilitarian question with .which-wo struck .hfan. Hβ got ; tlioro,. however, and—breathing hard with theexortion—ho gave us his answer. . . . ...;.- 1 "AYell now," said he, somewhat reproachfully,'"if you ask mo what is the good'of a dog, I must admit that 1 have had mpro to .do with fancy points. But all dogs haye their uses; you know that,as well as.l. ' ; • It was plain that the great dog.expert had; for tho moment .lost his way. So wp,helped him up. '.. "' ,_; .. . ~• , :' "Terriers, for instance?" > . "Good for vermin catching. ~Quick as lighting ou a rat. Very useful for .rabbits. "You shorten their tails. Why.?,'! To make

them quicker?" . ,/. "Oh.no. Tho fancy dictates it_ Wo used to leave them only ft very,little.bit—a mero stump. But now we leave them several inches. Sorao breeds aro given more'tail, than others. Yon do it at about four days oljL" : : . "Any more usefulbreeds ?",.'{, .•••■. "Well, now 4 . , —still reproachfully—"there are the pointers and setters,'tie spaniels, and other sporting dogs. You wil] recognise their value. .Tho''mastiff, of course,; is a yard dog. [Imagine the value of a mastiff in the back yard to greet your visitors yho come by that entrance I] ~/,.., " —-And then there is the bulldog. Well, I admit that the usefulness of the bulldog has gone somewhat out 'of'date. 'He-is solely for fighting, and wo don't light now. But wo still aim for fighting points in , breeding him. That is why we give him no nose. ; If ho had a long nose ho irould suffocate himself when ho had a. grip of his opp'onentby the pressure of his lips. So wo hava , forced tho- nose fur-, ther and further backwards, .and mado tho nostrils open upwards'. However " So there is one dog to wipeoff7,the.]ist;of useful things. There was,a time—you read of it in books—when bulldogs were tlio favou : rite' weapon for kbeping importunate '/ldvers' and bailiffs and .'tax' collectors away .from your house, but Mr. ;Rice obvipusly doe's not; justify the retention" of thq bulldog pii thosb' grounds. He is simply retained because—liko' our appendix—ho is a cherished relic of a past ago.. . ■ ; /; ■ , ' ■ "The pobdlq," ho, pursued, apologetically, "is,'of course, just a lady's dog.": .; ' Now wo change sides'with' Mr. Rico over ■ the poodle, Wh"y should he bo apologetic?... Just picturo tho. lonely lady,, awaiting, th'o. arrival of hor tardy lover; or, it'may'bo,'tho return, of her hubby ,frpm tho club. - Poodle comforts her. Ho' , 'spreads himself luxuriously on her soft, ,warm lap—one eye opou, ono ear up, one paw extended and hanging leisurely downwards., With every word trom tho lips of his mistress his upper ear flip's and his oyo sparkles, ( and his oxten'ded paw noes furthor forward, and his tail -wriggles-fall in the effort of his little sou] to sympathise. With every sigh his eye dims v and at every strahgo sound ,from without'he curls up his lip as, an.. assurance, that there can be no danger While, he. is present. Can thorp bb anything more comforting, more charming, more useful than /a poodle and a' lady? -Then, : agaih, poodle isn't'usually loft outside to bark to the.. slouping, neighbours j and his bite, though irritating, is usually not dangerous. So we differed from Mr. Rice. We.wpro ansious.now. to:make, him confess that dogs wcro useful. ,".. ;, . ■ ■' ; ".'. '- '■What about the collie?. Isn't he useful;for sheep arid cattle?" , ' . ... V ;' .'•'.' ~'. ~'. . "A collie 1. No! He.is one pf the most useless, of ' dogs for that purpose' that' yoii could select, i Ho has no br'amsi : Wo''have. bred them away , . The Fancy : has decreed that his head shall be.long and narrow, ,'and of course, if you deprive a dog of his brain box in that way you doprivq him of His brain." ,' ' . "Which dog has the biggest.brain ?" '.' '/ ' "?fow,; if I were to tell you which I think, you mightn't bcliovo mo." ' ' . ' . "We'll try." ' ;.- : - '.: .vv "It's tho ltelpie, the Australian shteep dog." : ."Is it a degonerato collie ?" ,'. '~'. j ''. "It is probably.descended from a good many, things, including tho dingo, for it has the sharp, intelligent activity of that, animal. Intelligence 1 Why,. I havo actually seen it try to work a fly pu a man's k'neel"

"Workit?" " •: ":\ : ., .'■'.-.':. "Yes; work it, as lie. would sheep—with nis nose. Ho will drive horses and fowls, too. The, (log positively thinks, 1 . Don't tell'mo a dog can t think! If some of us men only had a littlo of-the 'instinct' of the common dog it would bo better for us. How many 1 of us,

now, have the sense to starve ourselves when wo-aro ill? Yet a dbg always does this, and it helps him to recover. When n dog becomes ill wo too often coax him to eat, but ho is better left alone. Dogs are sometimes brought to mo in Sydney bitten by bush tick. Paralysis sets in at .the 'Hindquarters, and spreads along the boc'y. ' Tho dog" becomes vorv emaciated and refuses to oat,'and,, in ;reality, to eat would bo to ensure his death. Starvation is his only! hope of recovery'." "Thoro's tho chow-chow dog," observed a listener, keen on proving tho utility of dogs. "What is that?" ■ ; -' r "It's the' dog that tho Chinamen eat. \ou can still see tliem hung up in tho shop windows occasionally, in Sydney"—and as the speaker was a Government officer the truth of the statement was above question. , ' Wo were satisfied.' Wo had compelled a groat dog fancior to admit that there is some good in a dog, and we went away supremely contented. • ■ : — - r . ■■ '.