THE KENNEL.

Otago Witness, Issue 2782, 10 July 1907, Page 35

THE KENNEL.

Br Tbkbos.

F»»olerl ■■•! »r«*er« «r 4«g« rnr* ««<!«lly iarlted t» c«»ribuc* lumu t« tali mluaa. " Term " will eadcarour t» »»k« bU<ln>ttat>t as Interesting and sp-W-iatc ai pouiblt, bat ia order tad* tkU »• nil ha»« tbt «*-oaerati*a ol Ma readtu, heac* »• trait* this mriutian will b« ckwrfullj- wyudti v.

— The Hawke's Bay Kennel and Poultry Club advertise that entries close on the 13th inst. The club claims that its collection of trophies is the best ever got together in the "Dominion," and probably in Australasia. The championships to be competed lor are a special attraction to bulldog, fox terrier (smooth and wire-hair), and pug fanciers. Mr W. A. Smith (Napier) is, as of yore, the club secretary, and the fact that this club is noted for its splendid benching arrangements and for the attention to exhibits from a distance should encourage ' entries. — Although one cannot hear much about dogs just prior to show time, it is a different matter for a short time afterwards, and those who want to have some idea as to what will have to be met with at the next fixtures may take a hint from the following: — In -fox terriers I learn that on the 23rd ult. Mr E. Webster's Gartmore Tatters whelped a fine litter of four wirehaired pugs (two dogs) to Chingford Nipper. Evidently -there is to be more_ competition in the wire-haired classes next yee/. In smooths Gartmore Darkie, Jhe property of Mr Graves (ChTistchurch), ' has visited Double First, and Mr J. W. Spencer's Akarama Flossie is going to the same sire, as - also are Mr Webster's Glendon Mist and Mr Henderson's Cranston Loo. Mr J. Dickieson's Waingawa Witch, Mr J. W. Thomson's Wakari Pride, and the same owner's Verax have ell visited Glendon Major. Mr J. W. Thomson's Lindon Loo ie visiting Mr Webster's Ch. Chingford Nipper. The smooth terrier classes were strong this year, but is is apparent, if only from the foregoing, that next year's fixtures will have a full quota both numerically and as regards quality. — I have to thank Mr W. Davey, the secretary, for the following : — At -a meeting of the British Bulldog Club of New Zealand, held at Mrs A. E. Kernott's private residence on Wednesday, the 26th ult., there were present Mrs Kernott (president) and Messrs R. Bailey, R. Haines, J. Mollier, C. Barton, and W. H. Davey. It was decided to call in all the club's Jrophies, all to be in the secretary* hands on or before the Bth inst. A frophy for the best New Zealand-bred dog was allotted to the Wellington Kennel Club's forthcoming show, and another to Palmer3ton North, for the puppy class. A hearty vote of thanks was passed to the president for the use of her rooms and presence. t — Mr Charles Edwin Branch, in an artieie on dogs that work for their living, makes an apology for the pet or show dog. He says: — "Though of no worth and valueless in the house, they excuse their position, often unenviable, since they are comlorting companions to their owners. Frequently, as with dogs whose only mission is to compote in shows, their life is like unto that of a slave whose beauty dooms her to luxurious captivity while her heart longs for freedom, even though it means poverty; and so they are more to be pitied than blamed. They work for their living in a manner foreign to their instincts, and that is the hardest labour of all." The house dog, he claims, is worthy ite license fee and keep, since it wfeguards its owner's property; the blind mans canine guide and the shepherd's four-footed assistant are workers in the laborious sense of the word; the hunting packs provide pleasure and healthful exercise for the human* that follow them; and performing dogs toil for their master's profit and people's pleasure. In their different spheres they are all hard workers, and the profit and pleasure is man's. The collecting dog ie worthy special mention, and the good that many dogs have done in this direction — the sums of money they have gathered for charitable purposes — is extraordinary. Proceeding, Mr Brauch says: — In every country, in every clime, the dog is the friend of man; in many lands hie daily helpmate. In the frozen north the Eskimos and fur-traders and .trappers are sufficient eorroboration of this assertion ; further evidence is to be acquired nearer Horne — just across the Channel, in Belgium. There in both town and country the dog largely takes the .place of the norse as a draught animal ; and one need not journey beyond the sea coast to 6ee the- important part it plays in the- daily hfe of the people. It re the dog that drags the milkmaid's cart, the baker's barrow in the town ; that helps tEe farmer to colleci his produce, agricultural or dairy, and convey it to the nearest market. And Belgium goes farther in its employment of the dog. It serves in the police force, and is similarly utilised by the Tiver police of Paris, and likewise in Philadelphia. Dogs are attached to nearly every European army — veritable dogs of war, trained to carrj fjaj&u&gee into the

firing line, to act as despatch-bearers, to seek out the wounded, render them aid, and attract to them human assistance. Beyond this they are utilised in the postal services in Arlon-Vitron, on the borders of . Luxembourg, as also in far-away Alaska. Postal communication is maintained in the depth of winter with unfrozen civilisation and ice-bound Dawson City, where were built some time since a number of special kenneta for the dogs' accommodation. The service is a great success, for despite a temperature of 60deg below zero, the post arrives on time- Along the route wooden cabins axe provided to shelter the driver and his. team, aaid supply food for man and beast! In Arlon-Vitron the dogs are also used in* winter when the roads are impassable. One advantage of our insular position is that very little' smuggling goes on. If, however, our frontier was analogous to those of our Continental neighbours, it ' is probable that smuggling would be as rife as it is between France, Belgium, Italy, Spain, and other countries whose domains touch, while their taxes on imported goods differ, and that one - of the difficulties we should -have to contend with in this respect would be canine smugglers. By means- of dogs a good- deal of smuggling in various articles goes on between .Belgium and France in jaarticular, the animals being loaded with the goods and sent across the frontier at night." They have been -specially trained to this illicit labour by their unscrupulous owners, and dodge the frontier guards with a fear and cunning inculcated into^ their minds by terrific hidings with whips and sticks administered by their trainers attired in uniforms of the frontier guards. In this way they get a wholesome fear for a uniformed individual, and give him a wide berth should the' r 'keen sight detect him. No amount of cajoling on his part would persuade such an animal to halt in its flight ; and shooting at it is both uncertain and unsatisfactory, for a fleet dog does not make an easy target in the best of light, and a dead one tells no i;ail of its owner's identity. "A service of police dogs i« maintained to run down the four-footed smuggler, and wires have been erected to stop its progress. Still it finds a way of dodging both ac often as not, and carries its burden over the line of demarcation. Too well known to call for detailed account is the great work performed by the dogs of the Hospice of the Great St. Bernard (after which they take their name), which, when a storm comes on, go out on to the mountain paths searching in the snow for travellers who may have lost their way and got buried. An interesting fact, and one not generally known, is that there stand« in the dogs cemetery at Asnieree, just outside Paris, a magnificent monument erected by canine lovers to the memory of one of these brave animals, and the most famous of them all, Barry by name. It bears an inscription to ihe effect that Bsrry saivedi the lives of no less than 41 persons who were lost in the mountains, and was killed while out searching, by a traveller who mistook him in the gathering gloom for some wild beast ben* upon attack. While the armies of France, Russia, Austria, and Italy all have doge in their service, to Germany belongs the honour of training ifoem to a high sfcate of perfection, -for dogs have constituted an item of the personnel of the army of <the Fatherland for nearly 20 years. Different breeds are employed, including sheepdogs, spaniels, and shonMiairedi German pointers. The French army favours Pyrennean sheepdogs and barbehs, the former on account of thengreat strength, which enables one of them to carry 500 cartridges, the latter being ohiefly used to convey messages. In the Russian army, where the doge are trained mostly to assist the medical corps, St. Bernards are tased because of their innate intelligence, integrity, and strength. The Red Cross dogs, as they may be termed, are trained in all the armies to search for wounded' soldiers in ditches and behind hedges, and to attract attention to them either by barking, or carrying back to hospital a cap or any scrap of clotming they can tear away. The Russian dogs are equipped with a small flask of brandy or some nourishing broth, and » small roll of bandages; and some of them ueed to pull . small, light carts, each capable of accommodiatinisr a couple of wounded men. The German dogs have been taught to give wanning of an approaching enemy, the said enemy being a German soldier attired in a foreign uniform. By means of ( uniformed dummies they were trained to attack and pull from their machines members of the enemy's cycling .corps. The system of training the dogs to distinguish between the uniforms oif frkmds and foes is far from being kindly in nature, since the animals are toased and bea-ten by the supposed enemy, and can. derive small consolation from the caressing they receive from men in unifroms they are to respect. Indeed, so deep a hatred have some dogs developed for unfamiliar uniforms that they have on occasions attacked unfortunate postmen. Equally interesting, though by no means so cruel, is the method by which dogs have been, trained to assist *he police in the various countries previously mentioned. The town of Ghent possesses, or possessed, a number of highly -trained collies whose particular betes noires are criminals of all sorts. They climb walls in pursuit of their man, or will plunge into water after him, and, when they catch him, seize him by the nape of the neck, after which his struggles are useless. These dogs are not used occasionally, but perform regular service, going on duty with .a. human companion from 10 at. night till bin tihe morning. Their education occupies about four months. First they -are taught by. means of very life-like-looking dummies placed in euch poses and places as evildoers would be most likely to affect and frequent. Discovering the figure, they are trained not to bite or maul it, but merely hold it fast; and this is the most difficult thing to instil into their minds, because of their natural instinct to grip firmly anything- their teeth close upon. Later a human being takes the place of the dummy — generally the man whose duty it is to feed the, animals— and, the dog 3 being muzzled, their education is carried a step farther, in. that they are taught •torun c fugitive down. This training calls for a good deal of patience on the part of the instructors, who, while fihey-are bound to treat the dogs firmly, must 1 guard.against showing any ill-temper. Much in the e&me way the cniens plongeurs, or swimming dogs attached to police who guard the bants of the Seine where it rums through Paris, were trained. Besides tracking down malefactors infesting' the river-banks, they were taught to reecue people who had either fallen or thrown themselves into the river ; [ and since tihfiir inauguration >£ 1900 tbg;

have saved quite a number of lives, besides rendering the lower banks of -the river safer to respectable citizens who might feel Inclined to walk there after dwrlc. line animals are kept in", special quarters in the police 6tation on th<^ Quai de la Tournelle, and are told' off for regular duty during both night and day. In Philadelphia, a number of dogs — which are not yet, however, officially recognised by the police authorities, though it i 6 uot improbable they soon will be — have> been trained to perform many useful services, in addition to going to a policeman's assistance should he be attacked. They have been taught to seek out lost children and take •& policeman to their aid, and, what is still more astonishing, to recognise the smell of smoke, which may indicate the commencement of a fire, and give warning of their discovery. In this last respeett'it is declared they have been -singularly successful, and have prevented many conflagrations that might nave been serious.