ON DOGS;

Poverty Bay Standard, Volume II, Issue 207, 23 September 1874, Page 2

ON DOGS;

their natural and unnatural history

“ Cave Canem.” The subject “ dogs ” opens up an immense field for conjecture. Field did I say ? Fields are seldom found of sufficient extent to hold a tithe of the knowledge on the subject that I am literally bursting to impart. To begin. Of dogs there are several species : Ist. —The black and tan dog ; 2nd —The curly-tailed dog ; 3rd —The big dog ; 4th —The dog that bites people, often merging into—sth-—The mad dog ; 6th —• The small dog or doggee ; and so on ad infinitum. This classification may be further subdivided into different headings; for instance — THE big dog variety.

1. The affectionate big dog, who «i»ZZ bathe his forepaws in a neighboring puddle, and then carefully leave their imprints on your waistcoat—if a white one, preferable. 2. The big dog with a partiality for water, who shakes himself dry and the onlooker wet at one and the same time, evincing a sagacity in the menoeuvre perfectly astounding. 3. The playful dog, who either rubs his head against your legs, or else suddenly collides against your back, causing an upset. There is again, among the small dog species, the animal with a pastoral tendency, with a love for one's calves, who is always suspiciously snuffing about that quarter ; then there is the yelping dog or “ cur,” the mangy dog, and the dog in the manger; frequently these two types are united in the one specimen; this is particularly the case when you are hard up, and trying to “ raise the wind ” off a friend ; there are also jolly dogs—but I forbear. Folios could easily be filled with the sub-varieties of the canine species. The lap-dog, so called from its habit of lapping up milk among others. Dogs frequently suffer from distemper, still more frequently from their master’s temper. Gunpowder is considered an effectual remedy ; it is made a certain cure by the addition of a little shot, and administered through the barrell of a gun. It is frequently observed with regard, to some men that their bark is worse than their bite ; the reverse is correct in the case of these animals, take my word for it; I’ve tried both, so I speak from painful experience—biting is tlieir strong point.

It has never been satisfactorily settled by philosophical naturalists what dogs would do without their caudal appendages; probably, they (the dogs) don’t exactly know themselves. I will not dwell on this topic, however, as I might only display my ignorance. Not being of a </oyged character, and being unwilling to dog the matter about (even in rfqygrel) I will conclude this promising to recur to the interesting subject on another occasion, and to treat the matter in a more dogmatic style.