Middlebury register. (Middlebury, Vt.) 1886-1937, 1913-12-26
WHY DOGS HOWL.
English Explanation of a Mid
night Mystery Presented.

other, suffered sleepless nights because
of the walls of a neighbours dog.
A dog, if he could state his case, would
without doubt convince any unpreju-
diced jury that he was quite justified
in prolongiug his signals of distress
through the night watches until relief
arrived. The prisoner at the bar, in a
case such as this, should be the human
rather than the canine race. Dogs will
not howl for the sake of bowling, nei-
Their will their alarm go off without
cause. There are, of course, dogs of
weak intellect, just as there are owners
without mental balance. These dogs
may perchance pass a pleasant hour
or so baying at the moon, but am
not writing of the odd type in
thousand. l have in mind the 999-your
dog and mine. The average dog will turn
in regularly at night and sleep like the
proverbial top, under normal conditions,
until the household is astir in the morn
ing. If the conditions are not normal
we'll, he tries to pass the word to his
owner, and unhappily the message is
delivered to the whole neighborhood.
Just try and imagine yourself in the
position of Fido. He is an indoor dog,
treated as one of the family. In the
daytime, if the weather is fine, he may
come and go as he likes. At night he
may curl himself up on the hearth rug,
the couch, or the easy chair, and dream
of world of bones or happy hunting
ground of rats and neighbors' cats. For
reason however, best known to him
self he runs out one night when the
door is opened for the last member of
the family to arrive home. He is not
missed; the doors are locked, and the
household retires to rest. Possibly he
may have been missed but, not being
at home, is allowed to remain outside.
By and by, however, when Fido has
wearied of chasing cats down neigbor-
ing streets, he thinks he will go home.
He finds the door shut and the lights
out. He knows his friends are inside.
and he proceeds to call them. At first
his notes are short, sharp and clear
just an ordinary penetrating sue
cession of vocalization. Still the door
remains shut and Fido gets bit anx-
ious His bark is varied with a plant
i've appeal, whimper or whine. Even
this, however, produces no effect, and
by gradual stages, as the forlornness of
his position is realized all the pathos of
his being is concentrated into lung pow
er and by some peculiar trick of nature
which scientists have not yet solved it
penetrates every brick wall in the neigh
borhood save that behind which his pro-
prietors sleep. The laws of equity and
justice should prompt Mr.. Brown, who
leans out of his bedroom window in
night cap and pajamas, to sympathize
with poor Fido; human nature as we
find it in such circumstances stimulates
in Mr.. Brown a longing for firearms or
sausage machine. But really the
owner and not the dog is to blame. Fido
should have been found and housed
for the night or let in when his first ap-
peals were made,
That is the case of the indoor dog
that bowls at midnight. Let US consid
er for moment the origin of the trou-
BILE from the outdoor dog. Just peep
over the garden wall of a suburban villa.
In one corner, perhaps, you will see a
box that once brought oranges from
Seville. 1t is now poor Pat, the Irish
terriers home. Pat has been pur-
chased, perhaps from a breeder, and
he has spent his early days in kennel,
warm and rain and wind proof, with
companions to cuddle close to on cold
nights. His new quarters appall him
by force of contrast The rain drips
steadily on his coat as he tries to settle
down to sleep; the piercing east wind
makes him SILVER; he is supremacy mis-
cradle and canine nature rebels against
the hardness of his fate. So Pat, think,
ing of the friends he has lost and the
warm comfort of his old home, cries anc
cries as though his poor heart woulo
break.
But he gets no sympathy from the
neighbors and is paid out with brick
ba: or cudgel at the first opportunity
The brickbat and the cudgel should be-
reserved for the man who pays his Ii
cense.
Then there is yet another cause fol
canine excitement which finds vent il
peals of banks at nighttime. Snap, thu
fox terrier, has quick ear for unfa
miliar footsteps and he lifts himself il
his straw bed and pricks his ears a
r someone with evil design approache
the house. He is convinced that some
thing is wrong and let's off his alarm il
no halfhearted manner. The would-b,
, housebreaker takes the hint at once ant