PERFORMING DOGS.

Otago Witness, Issue 2895, 8 September 1909, Page 34

PERFORMING DOGS.

" This is Dawey," said Miss Casselli. "No, you can't come in, and I can't bring him out. Mi dressing room is in quarantine. The dogs are under supervision all the time —just allowed to go on the stage and back again You can see Dewey if I hold him up." Dewey, held up, proves to be a 51b mesoj,, with a wide head that migh. have been a terrier's "long time ago," prick c-irs, and big biowr eyet> that blink n 'he light as if they missed the family luirow on a warm hillside far away in Mexico "Dewey is my trapeze '<g," aays VI is? Casselli. "He hangs head do"-n and , holds Beatrice in his teeth. He is my favourite of them all. Why? Well, he Is j such an all-round dog; he can do anything ; { you can't put him wrong. But it : sn't ' that. I like him because hs-'s such a good, earnest, sincere dog; such a fine character: always trustworthy. He i as careful of ! Beatrice as a man could be-. He has never j let her diojj once. Y«3; Beatrice is a ! good little dog, too; but not like Dewey. J The male dogs are more responsible per formers. I'm afraid the females are ' flight3'. Just like mm and women—only tho opposHe way !" j These 18 little dogs of Miss Casselli's are called, in their Mexican home. Chihuahua, pronounced like " Clu-e-whah-whah." Under Miss Casselli'e hands the Chihuahua become gymnasts and acrobats—and more. Some j of their feats are intrinsically ordinal-), ' but it seems extraordinary that dogs should perform them. The pu'bli' loves incon- j gruity. Yet the motor-car feat is un- ! commonly well invented; it is a canine j parody of Homo that amazes and amuses - even professional critics, with ayelids like ' the Monna Lisa's, a Jittle weary. Two dogs drive on to the stage in a toy motor-car, which circles and stops, ani- , mated by clock-work. The other dogs pile ■ in; the dog chauffeur starts the- clockwork, , and they motor off the stage. An explosion is heard; back comes a dog, howling? and writhing—evidently there ha- boen an accident O.P. Another dog follows, limping and falling; plainly he is badly hurt Then come the rest of the dogs mutely and , sadly, pushing and hauling at the reluctant, [ motor-car. They have managed all th« "business" without interference; and the audience invariably applauds heartily. The feat i 6 leally c^er and funny. • How do Ihe dogs do it? | ''All memory," says Mi»s Casselli. "They learn, and they remember; never forgetting. . Sometimes I myselt ha\e forgotten a trick, j but the dog has remombered. I teach them _ one movement, and they remember. Then another movement, and they remember, i And so on until all the littles pile up into the lot you see on the stage. Anybody i could do it, with patir>ree and kindness; but—well, anybody doesn't. You have to loci.c after the dogs just as you'd look after children or babies, or men and women. They're moved by just the same impulses, i and they show their emotions in just the same way. < '" They have difterenf talents, and I tako ar instinct and develop it. Montezuma, I now—he's a hind-feet jumper; he doss that better than the ot.bers; it's hi* specialty. Navajo 13 a clown —a natural clown ; it delights him to play the fool. Beauty i= a balancer —a natural balancer. Linda grabs the rope when I throw her up She can't do an} thing else \ ~ry well, but f-hs can com« down a rcpo splendidly. They're ju=t as different a« human being-. l "And in disposition, tco.s Chiquito is

a useful dog, but he is always quarrelling— bo jealous. I've had him 13 years, and be wants to do all the tricks and get all the credit. He hates another dog to do a good thing. Quite a lot are fond of applause; yes. and recognise it, too. And some wait for it —just like an actor. Roosevelt, for instance He looks round at the audience, and takes all the clapping to him- I 6elf —quite pleased No, he can't bow, but I'm quite sure he understands the applauss is for rtie trick, and looks for it. Bonita,' too. " All the dogs- realise that they are public performers. They love the limelight, and the perfornian-ce is their performance. I direct it in a way, but one& ihey have learned how it goes the dogs take charge. Each dog knows when his turn comes, and he takes his turn —l daren't interfere, or eleß there'd be trouble. All Ido is just to watch out for hitches; the dogs give the performance. At the same time they rely on me; thay won't work for anybody but me. " I really love them, and Of course, I'll keap them when we quit periorming They .give a lot of trouble, butthey're worth it. I'm not tired exactly, but I want a change —want to be audience and crftie'se other people —you get that way. So -one of these days the dogs and I will retire to a farm.