Dog Deceivers
[Feb. 9, 1895.]
Your fondness for dogs induces me to send you the following anecdote,
which shows their power of acting a part for purposes of their own. Some
years ago a fox-terrier of mine was condemned by a veterinary surgeon to
consume a certain amount of flour of sulphur every day. He was at all
times a fanciful and dainty feeder, and every conceivable ingenuity on
my part was exhausted in the vain e
portion and to give it a more tempting appearance. Each new device was
invariably detected. However hungry he might be he turned from the
proffered morsel in disgust, and it ended almost invariably in my having
to put it down his throat. One morning, after keeping him for many hours
without food, and having neatly wrapped the powder in a most appetising
piece of raw meat, I offered it him in the vain hope that hunger might
prevail over prejudice. But no. With averted head and downcast look he
steadily and determinedly declined to partake of it. I encouraged him in
vain. Deep dejection on his part; despair, but persistence, on mine. All
of a sudden his whole manner changed. He assumed a brisk and cheerful
demeanour, joyfully accepted the hitherto rejected offering, and running
merrily through the open door, disappeared swiftly a few yards off round
the corner of the building. Inside the room I ran as quickly to a
window, whence I could view his proceedings, and there watched him while
he deposited the hated morsel on the ground, dug a hole in the
flower-bed, and buried it. His jaunty, triumphant air as he returned I
shall never forget.
F. E. WYNNE.
More
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A Lesson
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