"THE NEW DOG."

Otago Witness, Issue 2394, 18 January 1900, Page 47

"THE NEW DOG."

The following commentary, by the London Daily Telegraph, upon the developments of "the friend of man," in the way of protecting- his person, his goods and chattels, and " all that are his," form amusing reading. Some complacent member of the human race once condescendingly described the dog as "" the friend of man, ' and the description has stuck. It has, of course, a. certain baois of truth. In the sense, that is to say, thai dogs and men are capable of forming warra attachments to each other, no one would think for a moment of disputing it ; but in so fai as it suggests that the dog is a universal philanthropist who yearns towards all mankind with that bort of vague sentimental affection which some men profess to feel foi their entire species, the description is an insult to his intelligence. A well-bred dog selects his human friends at least as fastidiously as an equally well-bred man ; and though the one, like the other, will be uniformly courteous to all, his conduct will display a perfectly clear distinction between friendship and mere acquaintance. His master's friends he makes his own ; to his master's less intimate associates he is kind and affable, but never effusive ; while towards his master's enemies he observes an armed neutrality ready to be exchanged at any moment for a belligerent attitude. Usually, of course, he awaits some overt act of violence on the enemy's part before commencing hostilities, in which he then engages, more often than not, without any preliminary declaration of war. Sometimes, however, when ha is an animal of exceptional fidelity and acuteness, he is quick to detect even the menace of an impending attack, and to make visible and audible preparation for reprisal. Still, the threatened danger has always hitherto been of the physical order. Assaulc and battery, robber} with violence, Inu'glcrious entry into r dwelling house— it is oiwy

in of this kind, or in their "imminence, that the dog is wont to recognise a ground of forcible intervention. He acknowledges a duty of resisting breaches of the criminal law on behalf of his master or his master's household, but not of protecting him or them against merely civil wrongs. Such, at least, has been the rule which he has presented to himself in the past; but in these days of rapid development, both of the human and canine races, we are not all sure that this rule of non-intervention will hold good in luture. i In a case to which a correspondent drew attention recently, it certainly seems to have •Tbeen departed- from. - Here a lady was endeavouring to protect one of her maid-ser-jvants from the extortions of a hawking can.vasser, who had persuaded the girl to buy & quantity of dress material Avorth 2s or 2s 6d a yard at more than three times - its value, per mistress insisted on the man's rescinding jfche bargain and taking the stuff, which he at Erst refused to do. Fortunately, however, jthe lady had a house dog by her side, who, ■as the controversy waxed warm, began to show his teeth in a- threatening • manner, thereupon the canvasser hastily gathered up his goods, and took his departure. There are those, no doubt, who will attribute the intervention of the faithful brute to the fact that ,the intruder spoke in a loud voice and in a threatening manner; but no real dog-lover — still less any lover of dog stories, nowadays so tenderly and trustfully collected ' in "the /weekly prese — will for a moment accept so superficial an explanation. We do not denythat the power of detecting an unjust trader at sight, and the instinct of resistance to his extortion, are of rare 6ccurrence among canine faculties, and will probably not become common until that intellectual "development of animals under domestication" which still awaits its Darwin shall have evolved the New Dog. Nevertheless, there have been foreshadowings of this highly specialised faculty before now — some of them noticed as far back as a generation ago. Many men still living can recall the instance of an Oxford undergraduate's dog — an animal of the bullterrier persuasion — who, although uniformly polite to every member of the university, including even the college authorities, was wont to exhibit signs of the strongest displeasure on the entrance of any tradesman or emissary of a tradesman into his master's rooms. Such visits he knew were invariably paid with a view to obtaining the settlement of a "little account" ; and the sagacious animal, aware, no doubt, that the prices then commonly charged to an undergraduate were such as to entitle him to a very prolonged credit, took •this means of protesting agains ta premature demand for payment which, if not amounting to positive extortion, Tre felt to be distinctly .tainted with injustice. That, as least, was the construction placed upon the dog's behaviour by those who had the "best means of interpreting it — his master and his master's friends ; and, at any rate, there was the fact, which it was for science, if their explanation was rejected, to explain for itself. It was admitted that visitors "of the gown" were ■usually distinguishable from those "of the town" by wearing the well-known academic head-gear, but this still left the mystery of Battle's objection to a "stove-pipo" or a billycock unexplained, and indeed inexplicable, except by some -subtle association of , these hats with the idea of danger to his master's interests. The Baconian experiment of placing a ''mortar-board" on the head of a tradesman would doubtless have been crucial, but unfortunately it was never tried. This, let it be remembered, is a "dog story" of more than 30 years ago ; and it is reasonable to assume that the canine intelligence lias shared in the egneral advance of everything since then. Perhaps before the century is .out the New Dog may be upon vs — or, to put it less alarmingly, at our side. The house dog of Myddelton square, who*e conduct our correspondent described, is perhaps a representative of the transitional type. It is almost a pity that the canvasser fled at his first manifestation of hostility; had he remained, the sequel would have been profoundly, if also painfully, interesting. We should not in that case have been surprised if an animal so prompt in protecting the rights of others proved equally alive to his own, and showed a full knowledge of the rigal maxim that he is "entitled to his first bite." At any rate, ■we should have confidently expected him to behave as though he had that principle at his paws' ends. Perhaps he will get a chance cm some future^ occasion of showing his'acquaintance with this head of the law. If, as we can but hope, he is only the first of many equally up-to-date specimens of his race, the value of these guardians of the household will be immensely increased ; they will have shown a most welcome capacity for adapting themselves to modern requirements. Now that the dangers with which property or person is threatened by burglary, highway robbery, and other forin3 of violent crime have diminished in' frequency, and that even the citizen's pocket is le3s often menaced by legally c-i-xninal than by merely morally dishonest attempts upon it, a dog with an eye for the authors -of these attempts, with a nose for a fraudulent prospectus, and a hunger for the calf of a promoter of bubble companies, would be simply invaluable. Even an animal with a settled antipathy to exorbitant prices would foe most iiseful in these days. A dog who •would show signs of imeasiness on the arrival of a bonnet-box, and who might be confidently sent out shopping with his mistress, would be a "friend of man" — as distinct from woman — in very truth. He would nay for his keep and license many times over in the\,cours»e ef the year.