Evening star., 1953-04-12
Feeding or Petting
Seeing-Eye Dogs
Is Harmful Habit
By Peter Boqqs

By Peter Boees
One should remember that a
seeing-eye dog is the eyes of
the blind man first and dog
second. Never speak to such a
dog. Never touch or pet him.
And never try to feed him or in
any way divert his mind from
his work.
When a blind man and his dog
approach you on the street, give
the dog an opportunity to pass
you, don't willfully obstruct their
way. Always speak to a blind
person first if you must pet his
dog, but remember it is best not
to pet him at all.
A blind man cannot protect
himself or his dog, but the dog
is perfectly able to protect him.
self and his master. So never
make it necessary for the dog to
appear disagreeable. These dogs
are doing wonderful service to
mankind. Help them in their
great work by remembering these
few wise rules.
I don't suppose your dog gets
chewing gum matted into his
coat too often, but if he has
done SO you undoubtedly had a
hard time removing it. Here is
simple method 1 have found
to be successful. Take a handful
of cracked ice and hold it for
several seconds to the place
where the gum has adhered. The
gum will become brittle and in
most cases can then be removed
without the loss of a single hair.
Spring is here but in many
parts of the country the balmy
days of wild flowers and dande-
lions is few weeks off. Instead
it is a spring at the moment of
mud, chilliness and cold rains.
However. spring is the season
when your dogs ancestors a mil
lion years ago crawled out of
their damp, ice-bound caves and
found their way through the
mire to where new grass awaited
their graSs-starved systems, and
where they could run.
Your own dog does not remem-
Der that. Yet the ancestral urge
is in the back of his brain. So
let him have a chance now to
f1ex his Winter-bound muscles, to
find new grass, to revel in the
thrill of spring.
Once. in writing about the
mysterious canine ailment known
as running fits" I said that the
sight of one dog in such a hys-
ter1cal state often causes other
dogs to have the same kind of
fit. Why?
Such things communicate
themselves from one animal to
another, as from one human to
another. The hysteria of any
crowd probably starts with one
or two people. Let one baby in
a nursery start to howl and the
rest of the babies within earshot
usually follow suit. Undoubtedly,
this contagion likewise prevails
among excitable dogs.
Just the same, that doesn't
explain the sinister existence of
running fits. It is a malady
some dogs quickly get and just
as quickly get over, but one
that is little understood by dog
owners-even the experts.
From many sections Of the
country I get requests for advice
on how to stop dogs from retriev-
ing newspapers tossed on walks
and porches by newsboys. Some
dogs seem to make a habit of
bringing home most of the news
papers left in their neighbor-
hood. Here's a suggestion I have
given owners of such dogs-and
it works.
Take a few old papers and
smear their insides with mus
tard. Toss these on the walks
or front steps where your dog
usually takes papers. Mustard
is hot in odor as we'll as taste.
After coming across one or two
such treated newspapers the dog
will quickly lose his interest in
bringing home your neighbor's
papers.
While you may see one of my
dogs wearing a collar I actually
prefer a we'll fitting harness for
the average dog. I never heard
of a dog hanging himself or
strangling to death if he wore
the right kind of harness. Count
less dogs have been strangled by
their collars.
I have never heard of a dog
becoming bow-legged or shoulder
deformed by wearing a good har-
ness. 1nnumerable dogs have be-
come more or less deformed by
eternally straining against a COL
lar. Dogs don't slip a we'll and
close fitting harness.