Evening star., 1942-10-18

this show, as at most shows, was
for more than one laugh. Mrs.
Herbert O'Conor, wife of the Gov
ernor of Maryland, was scheduled
to Judge this feature. She was
about half hour late In arriving,
and all the little boys were lined
up anxiously awaiting her. When
she arrived, escorted by two officers,
one Of the youngsters piped up, The
judge was late so they had to send
two State polices after her"
Arlington has one young miss who
Is going to be heard from in the
not-to-distant future in the dog
world. At the age of 13, she has
already applied for a job in q local
kennel for next summer. In very
business-like letter she states her
ambition of raising collies and
studying veterinary medicine and
asks for a job to enable her to get
experience. There are few young
ster OF her age who have 80 clear
cut an ambition, and so practical
turn OF mind.
Veterinary medicine appears to
be more and more Of a field for
women. Since small animal prac-
tice has become large part of this
profession 1t has held more interest
for women. This city boasts of the
services Of one OF the few women
who have graduated to date In this
field. just about ready to graduate
as veterinarian is Nancy Cald-
well Of West Virginia who actually
made her collie breeding pay for a
good part Of her expensive educa-
ton. Women often are able to do
more than men with the sensitive
and nervous dogs and cats which
come to animal hospitals for treat
ment.
One Of the most comprehensive
and most understandable works on
the subject is the recently published
Rabies" by Leslie T. Webster, M. D.
This discusses the dreaded subject
in terms simple enough for layman
to understand and yet 1t Is thor
oughly scientific and accurate.
Serious dog owners and breeders
would do well to study the book.
Fear crazed" is a common ciche
that exactly expresses common
truth. Fear does craze and this Is
especially notable in some dogs. 1t
is generally the shy dog who is
afraid of strangers that snaps and
bites, not the bold dog. Owners Of
such dogs often exclaim that their
pets are sweet and gentle and af-
fectionate and they cannot UNDER
stand why they should bite stran-
gers. The answer is that the dog
Is so frightened of strangers that
he completely loses his mind when
approached by one.
Sometimes shyness is inherited.
but often it is trained into the dog.
The dog is not allowed to have any
contact with strangers. he is kept
chained or confined to his own yard
and has no human contact except
possibly at feeding time. He knows
the members of his own family who
feed him. But all the rest of the
world is strange and therefore to be
feared. Noises on the other side of
the fence, vehicular traffic, boys. on
bicycles, all set him in a frenzy OF
barking which calls down punish
ment on his head. and connecting
cause and effect, he more violently
fears the outside world. Even a
puppy with hereditary shyness can
be helped by being taken into
crowded places and meeting multi
tudes of strange people. Obedience
training, especially in classes, has
worked wonders for such dogs.
Dogs that have become shy through
faulty handling have many times
entirely overcome this handicap by
persevering and proper obedience
training.