Array Dinks - The Dog

These directions may to some appear needlessly particular; but so rapid are the terminations of canine diseases, and so acute are they in their development, that while the tax upon the patience is not likely to be of long duration, the care demanded during their existence must be unremitting.

Exercise is next to food, and if of one dogs generally have too much, of the other few have enough. In towns, if dogs are kept, a chain and collar should always be at hand. The servants should be ordered to take the creatures out whenever they go upon their errands, and an occasional free journey with the master will be a treat which will be the more enjoyed because of the habit thus enforced.

Washing dogs is not a custom deserving of half the consideration which is bestowed upon it. The operation is not so necessary as it is generally imagined. Soap and water make the hair look white; but the coat usually becomes soiled the quicker because of their employment.

The use of alkalies, soda, or potash, in the water, renders the immediate effects more conspicuous; but unfortunately these substances also make the after-consequences more vexatious. They take the sebaceous or unctuous secretion from the coat. The skin is deprived of its natural protector in this animal; the cuticle grows weak and dry. The hair is rendered rough; is prepared to catch the dirt; and not unfrequently the skin itself, by nature striving to counteract the effect of its deprivation, pours forth a secretion that aids in causing it to appear foul. Above all, the warmth, so repeatedly and often inhumanly applied to the entire surface of the body, debilitates the system of the creature, and generates in the long run certain disease, even if by the drying immediate disorder be not engendered. The warm-bath to the dog is peculiarly debilitating, and the heat which the hand of a cook would endure with a sense of comfort, will sometimes cause the dog to faint. Panting is a sign of sensible weakness in this animal, and few of these creatures are washed without exhibiting it. If washing is insisted upon, the water should never be warm, and in cold weather only should the chill be taken off. The soap ought to be of the mildest quality; but the yelk of an egg is much to be preferred, and in its effects is every way more beneficial where the hair, either of man or beast must be cleansed. A small dog will require the yelk of one egg; and a Newfoundland the yelks of a dozen eggs. The yelks are to be separated from the whites and smeared well into the hair. A little water is then to be poured upon the back, and the hand is to be rubbed upon the coat till a lather covers the body, after which the hair may be cleared by copious ablutions. This process is much to be preferred, and the dog dislikes it far less than when soaps are employed. His eyes are not made to smart, or his skin to burn, and if he tastes the substance he does not therefore sicken. Moreover, when the business is ended, even if some portion of the egg should cling to his hair he will not on that account neglect his personal appearance. The coat will be found to look bright, and to remain clean for a longer period than after the adoption of the customary thoughtless process.

Washing, however, is not constantly required, if a dog be kept combed and brushed every morning, and does not reside in a very filthy locality. A little dirt after a walk is easily removed, if it be allowed to dry perfectly, and the hair is then rubbed and picked by the hand of its attendant, when the comb will complete the proceeding. A bath every morning does the generality of dogs good; but it should be cold, and the animal ought not to be punished by having its head submerged. It should be plunged up to the neck, the head being held above the surface. While in the water the coat should be well rubbed with the hand, that every portion of the hair may become thoroughly soaked. This over, no attempt should be made to dry the dog, for that is not by any industry to be perfectly accomplished. Neither ought the dog to be wrapped up, placed before the fire, or suffered to lie about, which it is always by a sense of discomfort induced to do, if not made to move. The animal ought immediately to be started for a scamper, and never allowed to remain quiescent until its activity has driven every trace of moisture from its body. Not until this is thoroughly effected should the creature be brought in-doors, or be suffered to rest for a moment. If healthy it will require little exertion on its attendant's part to make it jump and run about; but some of these little animals have to carry a burthen of fat which no sense of uneasiness can provoke them to move under of their free wills. An active lad with a chain may, in these last cases, be of much use; but he should be told to exercise his charge in some spot open to the master's eye, else the boy may play while the animal shivers.

Some dogs show a great dislike to, strenuously fighting with, the collar and chain; others will exhibit the most piteous distress, by squatting upon their hocks, and whining, while they pant vehemently, and look imploringly up to the face of their leader. The first are probably not aware of the intention of the bonds to which they are subjected, and should not be harshly rebuked. The voice ought to assure them, and means be resorted to calculated to allay their fears. Gentleness and firmness will in two or three days render such animals perfectly submissive for ever after. The last kind are rank impostors. No one not familiar with these animals would credit the arts which they can with such excellent effect and apparent genuineness practise to gain their ends. They have been used to be carried, and they prefer riding in the arms of a human being. Their insinuating tricks ought to be rewarded only by laughter, accompanied with an admonition.

Dogs are very intelligent. They understand much more than men choose to give them credit for. Their pride is enormous, and through this feeling they are easily moved. Laughter, when directed against himself, no dog can endure, and the slightest reprimand is always answered by an immediate change of aspect. Rather than have their dignity offended, dogs will quickly become honest, especially when deceit is experienced to be of no avail. People who are physiognomists may detect this sentiment impressed upon the countenance. Upon the next page is a portrait of a Mastiff. Mark the absolute Asiatic dignity, only outwardly slurred over by a heedlessness of behaviour. Does it not seem as though the creature, through very pride reposing upon strength, was above forms? Who could think of laughing at such gravity? Would it not be like ridiculing nature to insult one who has such outward claims to our respect?

Sporting dogs will always take the exercise that is beneficial, and for such the cold bath is much to be recommended. Only in skin diseases should the tepid bath be resorted to. It is of much service when the skin is hot and inflamed, but after it, exercise ought not to be neglected. For healthy animals the hot or warm bath should never be employed; but the sea is frequently as beneficial to dogs as to their owners; only always bearing in mind that the head should be preserved dry.

Vermin often are very troublesome to dogs, and I have known these animals destroyed because their owners were ignorant of the process by which the annoyance might have been readily conquered. There are many powerful drugs recommended by different writers to effect this end; but though all of them are sufficiently potent to annihilate the parasite, most of them are also strong enough to kill the dog. When fleas are numerous, the dog must be taken from the place where it has been accustomed to sleep. The bed must be entirely removed, and the kennel sluiced – not merely washed – with boiling water, after which it ought to be painted over with spirits of turpentine. The dog itself ought to be washed with eggs and water, as before directed; but with the yelk of every egg a teaspoonful of spirits of turpentine should be blended. After this, the animal should have pine shavings to sleep upon, and if these are frequently renewed, the annoyance will seldom be again complained of. As, however, exceptional cases will always start up, should the tribe not be entirely dispersed, the washing must be repeated; or if from want of time or other cause it be inconvenient to renew that operation, a little powdered camphor rubbed into the coat will mostly abate and often eradicate the nuisance.