Dogs As Home Companions

CHAPTER VIII.. If Sickness Comes 105

If Sickness Comes 105

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Dogs as Home Companions

BY A. F. HOCHWALT.

INTRODUCTION.

Most people are interested in dumb animals, but every normal person loves a dog; it is the heritage of the ages. The man or the woman who hates a good dog is abnormal. There is something fundamentally wrong in their psychical makeup. How often we hear of people of this class who say they can see nothing friendly or desirable in any dog; that they are all alike; vicious and treacherous. The story of the man who writes articles in newspapers and pamphlets advocating the destruction of all dogs because they are a menace to mankind is a common one in every part of the world. A story is told of one of this class--a New England money lender--who took great pains to besmirch the character of the dog in public and private. His contention was that any dog would bite, and as proof, circulated a story that a little nondescript dog actually followed him aboard a street car and bit a piece out of his leg! Perhaps this is the truth and on the other hand, it may be manufactured out of the whole cloth, but it is to be hoped that it is so, for it only proves what keen perceptions dogs have. Every dog recognizes his friends among humankind with one glance at a person’s face. The dog is a better student of human nature than any other animal--biped or otherwise--and the dog that shuns one person and loves another knows from instinct and perception how to distribute his likes and dislikes. Therefore, those who see nothing but viciousness in the canine race have no one but themselves to blame; the dog knows his enemies at sight. To that class who are dog haters, this book is not addressed and they are advised to lay it aside before going farther.

There are many, however, who love dogs, who understand them and appreciate their many good qualities, for Dogs as Home Companions, have been cherished since time immemorial. A dog is like one of the family in many a household, for those who really understand him are aware that mentally he is not far removed from the human race, and emotionally is practically the latter’s equal.

Perhaps some may smile at this assertion, but nevertheless it is a fact.

This book is for the dog lover; not he who raises dogs for show purposes or as a commercial pursuit, though that is a most laudable enterprise, but he who loves the companionship of an intelligent dog and appreciates him for his real qualities as a home companion. As guardian of the house, a faithful ally to share in the joys and the sorrows of the household; or as a boon companion of the children. In short, a dog which is, to all intents and purposes, “one of us.”

There are many people in the world, of this class, and as many more who would have a dog, if they knew how to keep one, for deep down in their subconsciousness the love of the dog is there. To those, this book may be of help; it may prove that a dog in the home is like a regenerating influence; and many a family needs regeneration.

There are still many more who feel that they would like a dog for home and children if one could be kept in the city in a satisfactory manner. It is true that the dweller in flats could not have a St. Bernard or a Great Dane tagging about with him, but in many a flat small dogs are harbored and live their lives in the companionship of their human friends as happily, if not more so, than those dogs which live in kennels.

I have no brief for the hot-house dog, however, or those that are not living at least part of the time in the open, if it is necessary to give him the entire run of the house, the best chairs to lounge upon day and night, or perchance, the center of a nice, clean counterpane in the best bedroom. That is not my idea of keeping a dog, but nevertheless there is no reason why any person should live a dogless life simply because his home is in the city.

The dog lover, intending to become the owner of the dog, should first consider the facilities he has for keeping one and after the pros and cons have been carefully gone over, when a thorough inventory of the situation has been taken, then he should decide what breed is best suited for his particular case. That is the object of this book; to investigate the various breeds suitable for city life, to point out the best way to care for the dog in health and in disease and to give such little hints about dog keeping that the novice or one-dog owner may put to good use under any contingency that may arise during the life of his pet.

Chapter I. _suitable Breeds. Group One--Toys._

Much depends upon the environment of the prospective dog owner, as to what breed he may satisfactorily adopt for his home. Dwellers in city flats or those living where yard room is circumscribed by narrow limits, could not think of a St. Bernard, a Great Dane, a bloodhound, or, even the medium-sized breeds, consequently it becomes manifest that he must make his choice from among the toys or smaller varieties. Suburbanites and others living on country places, on the other hand, may prefer a more serviceable-looking dog than the diminutive, but alert specimens that come under the head of toys, consequently, to aid the novice in making his selection of a suitable canine home companion, I have classified the most popular breeds in groups according to their size and general characteristics.

Pre-eminent among the small varieties is the fashionable Pekingese. He is, in the strict classification a toy, it is true. The reader may sneer at the word “toy” and fancy that the Peke, as he is popularly called, is as useless and difficult to rear as the proverbial hot-house plant, but such is not the case. He is a hard, strong, easy-to-raise animal, and one of the gamest for his inches of any breed in existence. His shaggy mane, resembling that of a lion, his dark markings about muzzle and eyes, and his tawny coat, together with his sturdy frame, suggest a big little dog, and he is all of that. He makes an excellent watch dog, because he is always keen and alert and the slightest noise day or night will cause him to give the signal by his loud and rather raucous bark. There is something formidable looking about the Peke as he approaches the stranger, who dares invade the sacred precincts of his mistress or master, and as an alarm there are few small dogs that are superior.

The Pekingese sprang into popularity within the last twenty years, though he is said to be one of the oldest of Chinese breeds, from which country he was introduced into England and then to America where he soon became the vogue, and some of the wealthy people of the East paid almost fabulous figures for good specimens. While prices are now more within reason for good specimens, the Peke cannot be classed as a “poor man’s dog,” although it is possible, nowadays, to go to some of the kennels making this breed a specialty and buy a “waster” at a reasonable figure. By waster is meant a specimen that, while true to his blood characteristics and in every sense as well bred as the winners, is not good enough to win on the bench. The person buying a Peke for a companion only, however, will get as much satisfaction in owning a well-bred non-winner as he probably would if he had a great champion. At the present time the fancy is breeding them as small as possible and the larger ones are not in as great demand, though they often come weighing as high as eighteen pounds when matured. The novice dog-owner would not find a fifteen to eighteen-pound Pekingese objectionable, however, for a house dog, though as a show performer he would likely be unnoticed. As a matter of fact, the fancy is now breeding them so small that their usefulness as a house dog is practically bred away. In buying specimens of this breed for house companions I would suggest one going over the ten-pound weight. First because breeders will always gladly dispose of those that “come large” at a more reasonable figure, and secondly because they are more hardy and useful. It is the under ten-pound weight specimens that are the show dogs, and the smaller the better, it seems.

The Pomeranian is another dog which came into popularity within the past quarter of a century and is a close second to the Peke as a show dog today. The Pomeranian is a smaller edition of the old-time white Spitz dogs which were so popular about forty or fifty years ago. In breeding them down to the present size I have my doubts of the good that was accomplished, though there is no gainsaying the fact that a good Pomeranian of the very small type is a “foxy” specimen in the show ring. They come in all colors; black, sable white, blue mottled and in fact, in any shade imaginable. Indeed it has been said that the fashionable thing nowadays for ladies is to have a Pom of every shade to match their gowns, though this is somewhat overdrawn, notwithstanding the numerous colors to be obtained.

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