Evening star., 1941-11-03

MeLemore. make pup bow
to her masters will In practice,
however, she has such complete
mastery of me that there is always
the danger that she will bury me
some day along with her favorite
bones.
She pretends she doesn't UNDER
stand one single word of command.
When she takes me walking We zig
gag from building to gutter. We
tear after strange dogs, we dart
into butcher shops and grocery
stores, we chase pigeons and squir-
rels. AS pant weakly after her,
1 use my book learning and call
Heel! Heel" in an effort to stop
her and make her walk by my side.
Her only reaction to this command
is occasionally to look at me as If
to say. "Oh, stop talking to your
self"
Following the advice of the dog
books, bought wicker basket for
Cindy. 1t comes close to being the
incest piece Of furniture in our
home and she is supposed to love it.
All authorities agree that a dogs
basket is its castle, its place of
refuge, and the haven 1t will always
turn to in times of dog stress.
E%%
Cindy has yet to cross the thresh-
old Of that basket She barks at
it in passing but leaves it stolidly
alone. Figuring that perhaps she
didn't know what the basket was
for I gave her a practical demon
stration the other afternoon. I got
in the basket. curled up as best I
could and gave series of what I
thought sounded like contented dog
yips and barks.
! Two things got me out of the
basket in hurry. First. the Cog
! lay on my bed and looked at me
as if had completely lost my mind.
Second, the landlord, up to see about
repairing the Venetian blinds,
walked in just as was in a frenzy
barking and trying to burrow into
the blankets covering the basket.
We may be moving soon.
The countless dogs I had during
my youth needed no training con-
cerning food. They ate whatever
was left from the table and were
mighty grateful to get it.
However, Baskerville Il mean
Cindy-has her own ideas Of what
she will and will not eat. If her
tastes are any criterion a fortune
awaits the man who will can a dog
food that combines the taste of END
table legs, bath mats, lace pillows,
new shoes. bathrobe belts ard my
ankles. These are the things that
really please her palate. She will
choke down a little liver or ham
burger just to keep body and soul
together, but she makes it plain
that she doesn't relish them as much
as she does these other things.
She has chewed my right ankle
so much that it is beginning to take
on the appearance Of a tree that
has been worked on by a lumber
man. Judging by the way she is
slowly cutting me down, she intends
me TO fall to the left when l
eventually topple. In case I fall
when guests are present my wife is
practicing yelling TIMBER timber"
so that every one will be able to
get out of the way.
Cindy isn't a dumb dog. While
I haven't been able to teach her
anything she has taught herself
many tricks. Take jumping up on
people, for example. I don't want
to brag, but for her size she can
jump higher on visitors than any
other dog in New York City, and
you would have to search a long
time to find a more accomplished
beggar for food at the dinner table.
She doesn't just whine for a hand
out. She barks and bites for one.
Furthermore, she not only bites
the hand that feeds her. She goes
for the wrist and sometimes the
elbow. She is one of the few dogs
that make it advisable to set the
table with tourniquets instead of
napkins.
At present she is holder OF the
cocker spaniel dirty-ear trophy in
New York. She has a special
spaniel feeding bowl, which is sup.
posed to keep her ears out of her
food. But by an ingenious method
she is able to wiggle her ears in
first and make of them a sort Of
tray to hold her food while she
eats it. The only good laugh We
have had around here in weeks was
when she bit one of her own ears
by mistake.
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