The Princeton union. [volume] (Princeton, Minn.) 1876-1976, 1891-07-30
PLEA FOR THE CUR DOG.
ONE or LOW DEGREE THAT is A
GENTLEMAN AMONG DOGS.

GENTLEMAN AMONG DOGS.
A New Yorker Who Loves Dogs Because
| They Are Dogs Tells Why He Does Not
Take the Word of a Dog Fancier in
Making n Choice Of Pet for Himself.
Il WONDER" said New York gentle
man whose love for dogs of all kinds,
but chiefly for those that nobody else
seems to care for, makes him rather un-
popular in his neighborhood, what con-
stitutes well bred dog3 don't mean
from the fanciers and breeders point of
view. We all know that the long haired,
silky Skye, the smooth, bright eyed
black and tan and the aesthetic York
shire are supposed to be born in the
purple and have nothing in common
with the yellow and white creature with
black badge Of demerit over one eye
the animal we call a cur.
"But what would tue dogs themselves
have to say about it if they could speak?
They ought to be the best judges, and
their opinions, so far as I can gather
them by watching their actions and bear
ing toward each other, do not corrobo-
rate human sporting sentiment in the
matter at all. The question want to
hear fairly answered is: Which is the
gentleman and which is the blackguard
among dogs?
"You see this dog beside me, and no
doubt you wonder, as all my friends do,
why keep such cur in the house.
Well, keep him because I believe him
to be a canine gentleman. Appearances
are certainly against him, but have
seen gentlemen with ugly faces and I'M
calmly figures, shabbily clothed, before
now.
"Can he fight? you ask. So far as his
own personal inclinations are concerned
he would rather run ten miles than fight
for ten seconds, but if an ability and a
willingness to fight are necessary quail
fcations for gentleman, then John L.
Sullivan's name should stand high on
Ward McAllister's scroll Of social fame.
THE BUTCHERS DOG.
"Can he hunt rats? allowed one to
escape from trap under his nose a few
days ago, and he wanted to play with it.
He will harm no living thing, and in
that sweetness Of disposition, hold, lies
his chief claim to the rank Of gentle
man.
"Of course, don't expect sporting
men to agree with me, but that all the
dogs in the neighborhood share my opin-
ion about him is plainly indicated by
his extreme popularity among his kind.
Being utterly unsuspicious, he is frankly
fearless of them all, and only once have
I seen his trust betrayed. That was
when the butchers bulldog Gan animal
that is called we'll bred, though he is
brutal in appearance and Disposition
seized him, without particle Of provo
cation, and would have killed him if the
butcher had not interfered with the
cleaver. -:
'Do you suppose that Lazarus (that is
my dogs nance harbored any malice
against that ugly, vicious beast? Not an
atom. AS soon as the first soreness of
the attack had, in some measure, abated,
he trotted back to the big dog without
the slightest appearance of distrust, and,
I suppose, in his guileless way, reasoned
with him. His gentle nature prevailed,
and he has, in great measure, refined
that rough savage character.
"They are good friends now, and the
bulldog shows certain subserviency to-
ward Lazarus, and when he is present
will refrain from exercising his great
teeth upon the flesh of any other dog.
TWO DOGS COMPARED.
II have no doubt at all that he recog-
nized the true canine gentleman in
stinctively and bowed before him. That
he did not detect it before it was almost
too late was due to the we'll known in
tellectual dizziness of the bulldog, whose
small modicum Of brains is usually car
ried in his fangs. All the other dogs de-
fer to him at the first meeting, and
though, marketably speaking, he is "a
cur Of low Degree he has become the
guide, philosopher and friend of every
animal around us whose friendship is
worth having. And if you imagine for
moment that they have been mistaken
in choosing such a leader you know very
little about canine intelligence.
"Now, look at that self satisfied fell
low taking a sun bath in the garden.
He is said to be a pure Dandy Dinmont,
though he is little too large to have
been what the dealers call finely bred,
but even from their point of view he is
none the worse for that. That dog cost
seventy five dollars when he was pup,
and / have been told he is worth $3.50
now. But, though l won't sell him, l
have no affection for him, because he is
not a gentleman. He is quarrelsome,
without much power to fight his own
battles, and he is intensely greedy and
selfish. He growls all the time he is
eating a meal, just with the general
principle Of lettering any animal within
the sound Of his voice from trying to
share it with him.
"Why, if the cat wants to eat off the
plate with Lazarus, she is always well
come to share Of the food, or even to
all Of it If she is in a particularly grasp
ing mood. Now, which Of those two
dogs is the blackguard and which the
gentleman? Let the dogs speak and the
dealers hold their tongues" New York
Recorder.
How to Initiate Singing Bird.
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