"- TO THE DOGS."

Auckland Star, Volume LX, Issue 242, 12 October 1929, Page 5 (Supplement)

"- TO THE DOGS."

WHAT THE STARS PREFER. WHIPPETS OR BLOODHOUNDS? QUESTION OF PERSONALITY. (Special to tne "Star.") Ninety per cent of the people engaged in the motion-picture industry have "gone to the dogs,", literally speaking, and Hollywood numbers more real dog fanciers to the square inch than, perhaps, does any other community. At the present date, wire-hairs, police docs and chows rule the roost of cinema Scotties come in a close second. Great Danes are popular favourites with those stars who can afford to spend a small fortune on food, and who are not averse to the miniature earthquakes which shake the house every time the pup takes a notion to hunt a cat. Charles Rogers' dog, Baron,, is perhaps the best known of the colony's police dogs. It is reported that Baron knows enough tricks to earn his master a living in pictures, but Buddy prefers to be the bread-winner. Richard Arlen and Dolores Del Rio go in for imports. Dick's dog, Jill, is a nine-month-old Skiperkie, a dog found in Holland, while Dolores del Rio's pup is about half-pint size and a native of Yes, Hollywood takes this business of dog raising seriously.Marie Prevost has the distinction of owning some of the finest Cairn terriers in the colony, Jean Hersholt's _ three chows are all blue-ribbon winners, Corinne Griffith's pride and joy is a pure white Russian wolfhound.

Arthur Rankin satisfies his appetite for sport with a kennel of whippets, known wherever these four-legged lightning streaks are raced. No list of Hollywood pets would be complete without Priscilla Bonner's famous cocker spaniel and Raymond Hatton's setters^. Amateur psychologists ' might be tempted to believe at first-hand observation that the kind of dog a screen, star or anyone else chooses would give a hint regarding their personality. That, for example, a man whose taste ran toward Dachshounds would be just the type who would shoot his mother-in-law at the slightest provocation. And, too, there would be the star who chose a Scotty. The uninformed might be led to believe through this gesture, that this particular person's home would be built partially roofless —to ensure a free shower every time it rained.

But this theory does not work out, according to Karl T. Waugh, dean of the college of liberal arts, University of Southern California, and prominent psychologist. "The breed dog a person chooses only rarely indicates his personality," declares the dean. "Once in a while you will find a man choosing a big, rough dog in the hope that the animal will stress his masculinity—or a girl buying a graceful, beautiful animal to accentuate her •feminine qualities.

"The exotic person will usually go to the extremes in dogs, as in other tastes. He will be found : lingering longest at a show window in which the strikingly different breeds appear.: • "But after all, these cases are. rare," the dean continues. "And yoii,.williind the average dog owner picking a .particular breed because some one recommended the. dog's ancestors, or its personal characteristics." There are, however, three distinct types of dog owner, and .the personnel of the film capital, as well as any other community, may be segregated into these classes. First among them, according to Dean Waugh, is the introvert". "These are the persons who live largely within themselves," Dean Waugh explains. "They are inclined to be selfcentred and, through bashf ulness, avoid real mental contact with other persons. This type usually wants a dog as a real companion—a some one to whom he can talk."

According to the dean, the eternal element of "keeping up with the Joneses" enters into the classification of the next type of dog owner. The "imitator" makes up a larger percentage in the realm of canine fanciers than appears on the surface. Lastly, there are the persons with a genuine fondness for pets—those who feel that life would not be complete without a dog or two to romp with. And so, when you pick-up your favourite fan magazine and see that Mary Pickford is going in for spaniels, or that John Gilbert has a preference for bloodhounds, decide for yourself whether Mary and John are introverts, imitators or whether they '/eally like dogs.