Page:The American Boy's Handy Book edition 1.djvu/258
will become very much attached and a self-constituted guardian. The spaniel is pretty, affectionate, and docile.
Almost all the sporting dogs make first-class watch-dogs, but are restless and troublesome if confined, and, as a rule, they are too large for the house. The shepherd is remarkably intelligent, and, when well trained, makes a trusty dog for general purposes.
The bull, although not necessarily as fierce and vicious as one would suppose from its looks and reputation, still is hardly the dog for a pet or companion, being of a dull and heavy nature, and not lively enough to suit the taste of the boy of the period. A little of the bull mixed in the blood of another more lively breed makes a good dog, of which a thoroughbred bull-terrier is an example. The Rev. J. G. Wood, in speaking of the latter, says:
"The skilful dog-fancier contrives a judicious mixture of the two breeds, and engrafts the tenacity, endurance, and dauntless courage of the bull-dog upon the more agile and frivolous terrier. Thus he obtains a dog that can do almost anything, and though, perhaps, it may not surpass, it certainly rivals almost every other variety of dog in its accomplishments. In the capacity for learning tricks it scarcely yields, if it does yield at all, to the poodle. It can retrieve as well as the dog which is especially bred for that purpose. It can hunt the fox with the regular hounds, it can swim and dive as well as the Newfoundland dog. In the house it is one of the wariest and most intelligent of dogs, permitting no unaccustomed footstep to enter 'the domains without giving warning.'" Although some may think the Rev. J. G. Wood to be a little too enthusiastic in his description of the bull-terrier's good qualities, still if they have ever owned a properly trained animal of this breed, they will undoubtedly agree with the great naturalist so far as to acknowledge this particular dog to be about the best for a