The Coolidge examiner., 1937-02-04

! sum of money, and asked him to
locate and purchase for him two
of the best and noblest Great Danes
to be found anywhere.
''They are for a great chieftain,"
he explained. ''The last time we
outspanned at King Lobengula's
kraal he wanted our Great Dane-a
dog we had borrowed from some
German transport riders. Our own
dog had been killed by a ioness.
So we told Lobengula we could
not give away anything that did
not rightly belong to us.
''Then it was that he became in
sistent and tried to cajole us into
selling Satan, for that was the dogs
name. He offered to fill our two
wagons with ivory and give us all
the women we wanted to sell as
slaves to the Barotse.
But why does Lobengula offer so
much for these dogs?" the dog fan
| cier asked.
Dane as king among dogs" was the
traders answer. ut keeps it's head
high and takes no notice of the mis-
cradle barking native ours. Such a
dog would befit the majestic pres
ence of Lobengula, king of the
mighty Matabele!"
Even the Australian Bushman.
A visitor to the upcountry, in
Western Australia, came across
black fellow and his three gins
his wives or LADY friends"-fast
asleep near the embers of three
fires. Cuddling among their savage
companions were pure-bred grey
hound and a well-bred smooth-coat-
ed fox terrier.
Men, women and dogs had evil
IDENTIFY been hunting together, and
the stomachs of the feasters were
distended with food. Against the
trees stood four long, slender spears
with jagged notched hardwood
points. Here was living picture
of primitive savages with their ca
! nine allies.
Unquestionably the two fine dogs,
perhaps registered in the official
! kennel studbooks of Australia or
some far-away land and now gone
native among possibly the lowest
| type of the human race, had been
stolen by those aborigines for the
express purpose of hunting. The
greyhound, they knew instinctively,
! would be especially useful in over
taking and sticking up" even the
largest of kangaroos.
The dog was not expected to kill
the quarry; its jaws and pluck
would be of no avail against the
ripping and disemboweling claws on
the hind feet of an "old man" kan
garoo. The greyhound was to hold
the animal at hay until the hunt
ers could come up and kill it with
their crude spears, just as they
must have done thousands of years
ago in the prehistoric stage of the
time-honored man-dog relationship.
What the Breeders Do.
No doubt men early realized that
by breeding they could produce diff
ferent kinds of dogs, each suited to
a specific purpose. In later years
this process has been carried to
remarkable lengths of refinement.
An intelligent breeder, if given
time, of course, can produce al
most any type of dog. He can
choose not only physical features
- strong jaw, a good nose, long
legs for speed, or short legs and
long body for following prey into
holes-but traits of character, such
as courage and persistence.
When the late Paul Rainey a few
years ago formed the project Of
hunting lions with dogs in East Al
rica-a practice, incidentally, that
| is now forbidden by laW-he tried
crossing American hounds with
American-bred Airedales, and ran
| the cross-breedS together in a pack
| with pure hounds and Airedales.
The result was highly successful.
The hound has the better nose, but
it is not particularly plucky dog.
The Airedale, itself blend of hound
and terrier, is game and aggres-
sive, and makes a good alta cking
dog. Face to face with even the
biggest of cats, it had the cour-
age to hold the quarry at bay until
its armed master could reach the
scene.
The Spanish pointers, when intro
duced into England, were consid-
cred too slow in pace; they dweIled
on the scene and consequently were
spoken of as ''potterers" - dogs
which made much ado about little
or nothing. So the Spanish pointers
were crossed with foxhounds and
greyhounds, and breed of faster
going pointing dogs was produced,
those which today are the most
numerous of the short-coated gun
| dogs and are known as English