Dogs and All About Them | Page 2

Ch. Viola of Redgrave
Mr. R. A. Tait's Collie, Ch. Wishaw Leader
Bloodhound, Ch. Chatley Beaufort. Bred and owned by Mrs. G. A.
Oliphant, Shrewton, Wilts.
Mrs. Armstrong's Deerhound, Ch. Talisman
Mrs. Aitcheson's Borzoi, Ch. Strawberry King
Mr. H. Reginald Cooke's Retriever, Ch. Worsley Bess
Three generations of Mr. R. de C. Peele's Blue Roan Cocker Spaniels,
Ch. Ben Bowdler (Father), Ch. Bob Bowdler (Son), and Ch. Dixon
Bowdler (Grandson)
Fox-Terriers: 1. Mrs. J. H. Brown's, Ch. Captain Double 2. Mr. J. C.
Tinne's, Ch. The Sylph 3. Mr. T. J. Stephen's Wire-Hair, Ch. Sylvan
Result

Mr. Fred. W. Breakell's Irish Terrier, Ch. Killarney Sport
Mrs. Spencer's Dandie Dinmont, Ch. Braw Lad
A Typical Airedale Head
Mr. W. L. McCandlish's Scottish Terrier, Ems Cosmetic
Col. Malcolm's West Highland White Terriers Sonny and Sarah
Miss E. McCheane's Skye Terriers, Ch. Fairfield Diamond and Ch.
Wolverley Chummie
Toy Dogs: Miss Stevens' Typical Japanese Puppy Mrs. Vale Nicolas's
Pomeranian, Ch. The Sable Mite Miss M. A. Bland's Pomeranian, Ch.
Marland King Lady Hulton's Blenheim, Ch. Joy The Hon. Mrs.
Lytton's King Charles, Ch. The Seraph
Toy Dogs: 1. Mrs. Gresham's Pug, Ch. Grindley King 2. Mrs. T.
Whaley's Brussels Griffon, Glenartney Sport 3. Pekinese, Ch. Chu-erh
of Alderbourne
CHAPTER I
GENERAL HISTORY OF THE DOG
There is no incongruity in the idea that in the very earliest period of
man's habitation of this world he made a friend and companion of some
sort of aboriginal representative of our modern dog, and that in return
for its aid in protecting him from wilder animals, and in guarding his
sheep and goats, he gave it a share of his food, a corner in his dwelling,
and grew to trust it and care for it. Probably the animal was originally
little else than an unusually gentle jackal, or an ailing wolf driven by its
companions from the wild marauding pack to seek shelter in alien
surroundings. One can well conceive the possibility of the partnership
beginning in the circumstance of some helpless whelps being brought
home by the early hunters to be tended and reared by the women and
children. The present-day savage of New Guinea and mid-Africa does

not, as a rule, take the trouble to tame and train an adult wild animal for
his own purposes, and primitive man was surely equally indifferent to
the questionable advantage of harbouring a dangerous guest. But a litter
of woolly whelps introduced into the home as playthings for the
children would grow to regard themselves, and be regarded, as
members of the family, and it would soon be found that the hunting
instincts of the maturing animal were of value to his captors. The
savage master, treading the primeval forests in search of food, would
not fail to recognise the helpfulness of a keener nose and sharper eyes
even than his own unsullied senses, while the dog in his turn would
find a better shelter in association with man than if he were hunting on
his own account. Thus mutual benefit would result in some kind of tacit
agreement of partnership, and through the generations the wild wolf or
jackal would gradually become gentler, more docile, and tractable, and
the dreaded enemy of the flock develop into the trusted guardian of the
fold.
In nearly all parts of the world traces of an indigenous dog family are
found, the only exceptions being the West Indian Islands, Madagascar,
the eastern islands of the Malayan Archipelago, New Zealand, and the
Polynesian Islands, where there is no sign that any dog, wolf, or fox has
existed as a true aboriginal animal. In the ancient Oriental lands, and
generally among the early Mongolians, the dog remained savage and
neglected for centuries, prowling in packs, gaunt and wolf-like, as it
prowls to-day through the streets and under the walls of every Eastern
city. No attempt was made to allure it into human companionship or to
improve it into docility. It is not until we come to examine the records
of the higher civilisations of Assyria and Egypt that we discover any
distinct varieties of canine form.
Assyrian sculptures depict two such, a Greyhound and a Mastiff, the
latter described in the tablets as "the chained-up, mouth-opening dog";
that is to say, it was used as a watch-dog; and several varieties are
referred to in the cuneiform inscriptions preserved in the British
Museum. The Egyptian monuments of about 3000 B.C. present many
forms of the domestic dog, and there can be no doubt that among the
ancient Egyptians it was as completely a companion of man, as much a

favourite in the house, and a help in the chase, as it is among ourselves
at present. In the city of Cynopolis it was reverenced next to the sacred
jackal, and on the death of a dog