Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1886-06-16
HOUSEHOLD PETS.

One has only to observe to discover how
%curiously dogs vary in character. At no
period of life have I, a real lover of dogs,
been without one dog or more, but | cannot
recall any two that were precisely alike.
In this respected dogs resemble ourselves, both
human and doggie characteristics being
largely the result of training and treatment.
Some dogs are, of course, more readily
taught than others are, being naturally
quick and intelligent. But a willingness
to learn seems to belong to all kinds. The
more gentle and attentive you are to your
dog the more anxious is the grateful and
atfectionate animal to give you pleasure,
and when it finds that by doing this, that
or the other it can win your petting and
praise, its desire to please is sure to beget
more or less ~quickness in learning. man,"
said the poet Burns, "is the god of the dog"
On the other hand, no animal is more shrink
ingly sensitive to unkind treatment a harsh
reproach or angry word falls like a sharp
blow on most dogs, and under the influence
of systematic neglect and cruel treatment
they become british, surly and unteachably
stupid. Men and women, school-boys and
girls, are apt to grow vicious, spiteful, cow
ardly, envious and suspicious under the
same influence, and to be correspondingly
difficult to teach or manage. The most ca
priciously ferocious and savage of bulldogs
are said by those who are most familiar
with their breed, nature and training, to be
naturally exceptionally patient, gentle and
peaceable, their ferocity being purely the
artificial result Of training and treatment.
I don't know much personally of this breed
of dogs-said to be a genuine old English
breed-but from what | know of other dogs
the statement appears to have nothing about
it that is either eXtravagant or improbable.
'The virtues of a dog, runs the we'll known
saying, ''are his own, his vices those of his
MASTER"
One thing to be borne in mind while
training a dog to perform any of those tricks
which, as evidence of intelligence and obe-
dience, dog lovers are so fond of displaying,
is not to make the teaching wearisome.
Short lessons frequently repeated will be
far more effective than longer ones, which
convert that which is a pleasure to the ami
NAL into something he is anxious to avoid.
Reward sweetens labor, and the satisfaction
you indicate by rewarding your pet for his
efforts to please, when successful, say with
a piece of meat or some other favorite lux
ury, will be thoroughly we'll understood
and appreciated.
1t is an excellent plan to carry a dog
whistle and teach the animal to understand
and obey its signal.
1 fyou would teach your dog when young
to enter the water and enjoy a good swim,
which is an excellent thing for the animal,
never begin to do so by throwing it in. En-
tice it to enter the pond or river by throw
ing in pieces of biscuit, and, if this fails,
attaching it to a boat in shallow water and
so leading it out into deeper, is sometimes
effective, care being taken to avoid weeds.
The shock a young puppy receives when
roughly thrown into water is a very serious
one, which the animal is not likely to
forget.-HouseWDe.