St. Landry democrat., 1880-09-11
Doss.-IEow to Breed Them.
BY PLOVER.
ECllicago Field.]

article that will be ineligible to
people who have not been dog breed
ers. and vet who feel pride In their
stock and would like to have 1t ap-
preciated by others. =,
Everybody ought to be interested ;
in having well bred dogs. Those
who despise them most heartily and
regard them as nuisances little ap-
nreciate how different an animal a
1Well-bred gentleman dog is, from a
mere sheep-killing cur. do not be-
lieye that breeding and culture have
q more marked effect upon the char
acter and di< positions of men than
upon those Of dogs. Not only upon
their appearance and general beha-
vior to men, but upon their conduct
towards their fellow creatures OF the
brute creation. 1t is not the silky
coated house pet that roams the land
at night, or by day, sbeep-killlng
and pIundering. 1t is not the care.
fully reared, well-fed, loving-eyed
companion of kind master, that
kills the fowl or sucks the eggs, or
bites the children at their play. No,
indeed: care, and companionshlp,
and owners pride and interest Grad
icate these tendencies from dog ma
ture lust as effectually as sweet and
refining home influences eliminate
the baser traits from boy nature.
The man who starts out with the
idea of determination to dogs is a
visionary fellow. They are, they
always have been and always will
be in our community, i'll large num-
bers. and the best thing we can DO
to avoid their annoying traits, is to
encourage pride in rearing good
animals, which Improperly cherished,
will result in wedding out the cur,
and give us animals of gentlemanly
instincts and behavior.
One great drawback to successful
and interested breeding among us,
is an oflishness and false pride i'll the
minds of our people about selling
dogs. And again, a general obll-
WON apparently among ones friends,
that dogs are articles of value. 1t
has often seemed to me, that it is
impossible to give ones friends a
hint that good dogs cost money.
The GOODNESS with which a good fel-
low will ask you to give him a pup,
two minutes after you have told him
your bitch cost you $3.50, and it cost
$50 to breed her, is something mex
plicable. Fellows who would not
allow you to give them ten cents as
a present, even if you thrust it upon
them, will take not only one, but a
whole litter of pups and never even
pretend to offer to bear q share OF
the stud fee. OF course | refer to
people III the rural districts, for i'll
the large cities, gentlemen are be-
ginning to appreciate the fact that
as in everything else, we have to pay
for what is valuable in the dog line.
I live in Virginia, and | can truly
say that do not believe there are
not fifty men in the State who would
not rather shrink from the idea OF
selling a dog, and may add that
there are not four times that num-
Der who would not decidedly blink
at the suggestion of buying one.
There is a great number OF good
sportsmen too; fellows that can ride
and shoot like all wrath, and have
dogs that can make the lives of foxes
and birds perfectly wretched; fel
lows that are proud Of their dogs.
and in many cases justly so, but
who never took the trouble to keep
any record of their breeding what,
ever. 1t is a curious thing too, to
observe how careful they have been
to preserve the record Of their horses,
while so utterly careless about their
dogs. Another strange thing is to
observe their inconsistency. One
will ride with good fellow, and con.
versation falling upon horses, he will
pat his riding mare and tell you she
is of the Revenue, or the Red-Eye,
or Exchequer stock, and if pressed
as to the figure at which he holds
her, will place high price upon her,
by reason of her blood, and in the
next breath, when you remark upon
the excellent quality Of his dogs, he
will tell you Eyes, they are good,
but he doesn't know ''their strain
That they are some old Jimmy
Throck's, or Johnny Docks dogs ;
that he doesn't believe i'll sblue
bloods;;n that the "scout" dogs are
the best, and that he will give you
any or as many as you want. Now
what / want to know is this: Ifyou
value your riding mare so highly.
because of her being blooded, why
do you not appreciate blood in youl
dogs The reason is very plain
You are provincial and ignorant
about dogs, and you have been bet.
ter educated about horses. Your
talk about scrubs and blue bloods is
a species of vanity. | don't mean
to say your dogs are not good, but
You are ignorant of the fact that
lsblue bloodsn are nothing but what
you call ascrubs,n whose scrub an.
cestors were good fifty years ago,
and whose record has been pre-
served on account of their excellence
until other people recognize their
goodness by reason of the preserya'