Chapter 9

A dark-brown retriever, named Sam, was in the habit of going into a kennel of hounds, who always crowded round and caressed him. When they were in the field at exercise, Sam was told to go and amuse them; he then went among them, jumped Jim Crow, and played all sorts of antics, leaping and tumbling about in the most laughable manner, they looking at him most attentively. He went with his master to call upon a lady; she patted him, asked if he were the celebrated Sam, and hearing he was, she invited him to stay with her. The animal ran to his master, looked up, and seemed to ask for his consent. He was told to return to the lady, and take care of her, upon which he ran to her, took her basket from her, and tried to express his willingness to serve her. He remained with her for some hours, and when his master arrived to fetch him, the lady was so pleased, that she asked for his company till the next day. Sam's owner petted and praised him, told him to be a good dog, and stay with the lady until she had given him his breakfast the next day. The dog was contented to remain, ate his breakfast on the ensuing morning, then looked up in the lady's face, wagged his tail, left the house, and ran home. He was in the habit of fetching his master's clothes, and of returning them to their proper places; and he knew their names. He sat in a chair at dinner with the family, without making any confusion; or dined alone, alternately taking a piece of bread and meat, and then drinking a little milk; and if any one said, "Give me a piece, Sam," he instantly obeyed. When all was gone, he cleared away the things. He would fetch his master's horse from the inn, pay the hostler, and ride back upon the saddle. In short, he seemed to comprehend every thing that was said to him and was a model of good nature and obedience.

Wonderful as these stories are as matters of reason, they are perhaps exceeded by some of the tricks performed by the Poodle-Dogs, who are easily distinguished by their crisply curling hair, their large round head, and long ears, and to whom water is as welcome and familiar as land. Two of them, educated in Milan, exhibited their powers in Paris, and I can vouch for the veracity of the following statement:--The elder was named Fido, and the younger Bianco. The former was a serious, steady dog, who walked about with much solemnity; but Bianco was giddy and frolicsome. A word was given to Fido from the Greek, Latin, Italian, French, or English languages, and selected from a book, where fifty words in each tongue were inscribed, which, altogether, made three hundred combinations. He selected from the letters of the alphabet those which composed the given word, and laid them in order at the feet of his master. On one occasion, the word _heaven_ was told to him, and he quickly placed the letters till he came to the second _e_, when, after vainly searching for the letter in his alphabet, he took it from the first syllable, and inserted it in the second. He went through the four first rules of arithmetic in the same way, with extraordinary celerity, and arranged the double cyphers in the same way as the double vowel in heaven. Bianco, however, although so heedless, was quicker than Fido, and when the latter made a mistake, was called on to rectify it, but as quickly dismissed, as he was wont to pull his companion's ears, to come and play with him.

One day Fido spelt the word _Jupiter_ with a _b_, but the younger _savant_ being summoned to correct the error, he carefully contemplated the word, and pushing out the _b_, replaced it with a _p_. A lady held her repeating watch to the ear of Fido, and made it strike eight and three quarters. Fido immediately selected an 8, and then a 6, for the three-quarters; the company present and the master insisted upon his error, and he again looked among his cyphers, but being unable to rectify it, he coolly sat himself down in the middle and looked at those around him. The watch was again sounded, and it was ascertained that it struck two for every quarter, which quite exonerated Fido. Both dogs would sit down to play ecarté, asking each other for, or refusing cards, with the most important and significant look, cutting at proper times, and never mistaking one card for another. Bianco occasionally won, and went to the cyphers to mark his points, and when he was asked how many his adversary had gained, he took out an 0 with his teeth. They sometimes played at ecarté with one of the company assembled to see them, when they evinced the same correctness, and seemed to know all the terms of the game. All this passed without the slightest audible or visible sign between them and their master.

There is a water dog at Hastings, belonging to Page the boatman, who, on receiving a penny, immediately takes it to a baker's shop for the purchase of a roll, nor will he part with it till the person who serves him has put the bread upon the counter; he then lays it down, and walks off with his purchase in his mouth. Another dog of this kind, also of my acquaintance, was the family carrier; that is, she carried books, work, etc., to any person or any room pointed out to her; and as we rather encroached on her, she lost almost all her teeth from the hard and heavy burthens with which she was laden. We had only to say, "Cora, take this to so and so," and if the good dog could not find the person, she brought it back and stood before us. At the same hour every afternoon, she, untold, brought her master's boot-jack and slippers into his study, to be in readiness for his return.

Under the despised name of curs, Colonel Smith classes the sharpest, the drollest, the most pertinacious, the most mischievous, and yet the most useful terrier; together with several other small dogs. Long-haired, rough-haired, long-eared, short-eared, brush-tailed, smooth-tailed, long-legged, short-legged, black-eyed, black-nosed; white, brown, black, tan, sandy, mixed; every degree of pure or mongrel blood; terriers of all kinds swarm around us, playing all sorts of antics, evincing all kinds of impertinences, catching all sorts of vermin, and presenting themselves to us in every shape of beauty or ugliness, of which their race is capable.

The most ancient of this influential, if not respectable tribe of dogs, indeed the most ancient dog of Great Britain, is the Scotch Terrier, brought to us, probably, from the north-west of Europe by our primitive inhabitants. There are two varieties of indigenous terriers--the one, smooth, usually white or black in colour, with tan spots; sharp muzzle; bright and lively eyes; pointed or slightly turned-down ears; and tail carried high. It is, however, supposed that the Scottish race, with a shorter and fuller muzzle, stouter limbs, hard, shaggy fur, sometimes white in colour, but more often sandy or ochry, is the oldest and most genuine breed. One of these clever and excellent beasts, named Peter, lived with my mother for some years, and during the whole of that time evinced the greatest sagacity and attachment. He constantly understood the conversation, provided it related to cats, rats, or himself; and often when we spoke of him casually, without even knowing he was in the room, or calling him by his name, he has laid his head on our knees and wagged his tail, as much as to say, "I understand." He was a most inveterate enemy to all rats, mice, and cats, nipping them in the back of the neck, and throwing them over his head at the rate of one in a minute. Before he came into our family, he won a wager that he would kill twelve rats in twelve minutes: the second rat fastened on his lip, and hung there while he despatched the other ten, and then, within the given time, he finished that also. The inhumanity of such wagers did not rest with him. He was stolen more than once, and brought back when a reward was advertised; and, the first time, the signs of suffering about him were very manifest. The beard under the chin, the tufts of the ears, the fringes of the legs, had been all cut off, and he had been rubbed with red ochre to disguise him for sale. He was placed with many others in a cellar, ready for shipping, and the dog-dealer, or rather dog-stealer, who brought him to us, said he thought he would have died of grief in a day or two, for he refused to eat, and seemed to be insensible either to kindness or anger. For three weeks he hung his head and shrunk into corners, as if he felt himself degraded; but at last our caresses and encouragement brought back his usual bold and lively bearing.

For the last three months of my mother's existence, Peter was almost always on her bed, night and day; and during the final four weeks, when death was daily expected, he was sad and dull: which was attributed to the change in the habits of the family. Forty-eight hours before all was over, Peter crept into a corner under the bed, which had always been his place of refuge when in trouble; and we with difficulty prevailed on him to quit it, even when his mistress wished to see and say farewell to him. On that occasion he hung his head, and appeared to be so miserable, that apprehensions of malady on his part were entertained. He returned to his corner, and was not thought of for some time. At length all was quiet in the room, and I was about to leave it, when I recollected Peter. He was with difficulty prevailed on to leave his corner, where he lay, curled up and trembling. I lifted him up to take a last look of his beloved mistress, but he laid his head on my shoulder, and was so much distressed that I carried him away immediately. On the following day, he accompanied me up stairs, and when I passed my mother's door, he looked up in my face as much as to say, "Are you going in there?" but I replied "No!" and he never again asked for entrance. The coffin was soldered down, and removed from the bed-room to the dining-room; and thus had to pass the drawing-room where all the family were assembled. On ordinary occasions, Peter was furious at the sound of strange footsteps in the house, and even barked loudly when any one knocked or rang at the street-door. On this occasion, however, he suffered the men employed to pass and repass frequently, without making the slightest noise; but that he was conscious of some unusual occurrence was evident from his jumping into my arms, where, as the coffin was brought down, he sat with ears erect, and eyes fixed, and panted and trembled in the most agitated manner till all was quiet. As long as the body remained in the house, he took every opportunity of walking round it and lying under it, and when it was removed at five o'clock one morning, to begin its journey to the family vault, he was again much agitated, but never offered to bark. On the following day, I and others started to attend the funeral at a considerable distance, and my daughters were to arrive at eight o'clock, to pass the day in the house of their deceased grandmother. I took leave of Peter, placed him on a mat in the hall, and said, "Stay there till the girls come." He laid himself down; and the servants assured me, he never moved till the parties arrived; when he met them with subdued looks, and closely attached himself to them as long as they were present. I returned two hours after midnight; and the first sound which I heard, when the carriage stopped at the door, was a noisy demonstration of joy from Peter. He thenceforward resumed all his usual habits, barking on all occasions; but he never was quite the same in disposition. He grew indifferent to every one except my brother, never played again; and four years after was found dead in his corner of refuge.

But it is not in a mournful light alone that we must view the Scotch, or indeed any other terrier; for they are the most untiring playful beings under the sun. I picked up a poor little expiring puppy by the edge of a pond one day, recovered him, brought him up, and there never was a more faithful or amusing beast. He proved to be a shaggy Scotch terrier; and his heedless youth had to undergo many corrections before he became the perfect model of obedience which his maturity presented. One of his misdemeanours was, to kill the young chickens. The woman who managed the poultry could not imagine why these little creatures died so fast, and at first suspected that they picked up and swallowed something which poisoned them. She, however, opened one, and did not find anything in it which confirmed her suspicions; but the feathers were ruffled on the back of the neck, and she was then convinced that they were destroyed by a much larger animal than themselves. She watched for some days; and at length saw Mr. Bruin, my dog, creep through a little hole in the palings of the yard, and squat himself down, very gravely, as if he had not a thought of mischief in him; presently a little chicken ran past him, snap went Bruin at the back of its neck, and giving it a toss over his head as he would a rat, the little thing was dead. Another was served in the same way; and I was then called to inflict the punishment I thought most proper. I was averse to beating him at first, so I pointed to the chicken, and scolded him so much that he appeared to be very sorry for what he had done. But he was then young and giddy, and the impression made was but slight. In three days he returned to his tricks, and I was obliged to chastise him more severely. I tied a dead chicken round his neck, beat him, and shut him up all day in a tool-house, where I visited him several times, pointed to the chicken, and repeated how naughty he was. He was so ashamed that he could not look me in the face, and in the evening, when I released him, he could not eat. He recovered his gaiety in a day or two because he was entirely forgiven; but he never again went into the poultry-yard, and if by chance he saw a chicken, he would hang his head and tail, and walk round it at such a distance, that he evidently recollected his former conduct.

The great friend and playmate of Bruin, was Pincher a very accomplished, smooth terrier, capital dog to go with the hounds, and to kill all sorts of obnoxious animals. If the two appeared to be asleep, and we exclaimed "Cat!" or "Rat!" in one instant they were on their legs, seeking in every direction for their game. They hunted on their own account sometimes, and were often seen with a red spaniel, trotting through the fields, no doubt conspiring together to have a feast. Both Bruin and Pincher were perfectly aware when Sunday came round; and although on other days, when they saw us equipped for a walk, they were most vociferous in their entreaties to go also, on Sunday they hid themselves under the sofa, and never offered to accompany us. They knew where we went, and generally came to meet us on our return, sometimes venturing as far as the gate of the churchyard, which was a mile distant, but never went within the enclosure.

One of my brothers, who was more peculiarly Pincher's master, had a great fancy to be a doctor as he called it; and he chipped various flint stones into fancied instruments. With these he pretended to perform operations on Pincher, who would lie perfectly passive under his hands, to have his teeth drawn, his limbs set, his wounds bandaged, his veins opened. The grand finale used to be an entire cutting up, which the boy copied from the same process practised on pigs. The dog was laid upon a table, with his legs stuck out which he made as stiff as possible. His head was then cut off, and as soon as the flint was passed across his throat, the head fell on one side, and it might have been thought that the dog fancied it was really off, so entirely did he let it lie without motion. The flint was then passed round his legs, each of which fell down without further movement, as close to the body as he could pull them. At last, when all was ended, my brother said, "Jump up, good dog!" and Pincher bounding off the table shook himself to life again.

A favourite terrier was in the habit of accompanying his master, who was a clergyman, to church, where he was so perfectly quiet, that few persons knew of his presence. On one occasion, he went to a funeral, and when the procession left the church, accompanied his master to the side of the grave, where he mingled with the attendants. The parties remained for some little time looking at the coffin after it was lowered, and the clergyman slipped away, unobserved even by his dog. An hour after, as he sat at dinner with his friends, his sexton requested to speak with him. He was admitted into the room, when he said it was impossible to close the grave, and that he did not know what to do. "Why?" asked the gentleman, "Because Sir, your terrier stands there, and flies so fiercely at us whenever we attempt to throw a spade full in, that we dare not go on." One of the house servants was sent to the churchyard, and there saw the dog in a perfect fury, defending the grave; she refused to come to his call, so by main force he removed her, and carried her to the drawing-room. There, the moment she saw her master, her transport of joy equalled her former fury; and it is supposed that, not seeing her master go away, and missing him, she fancied he was in the grave, and thus strove to protect him from injury.

The same dog and a companion, equally faithful and sagacious, attached themselves to their master's horse, and whenever they could, went out with it. He rode out on it to dinner, the two dogs with him, who went contentedly into the stable with their friend. He ordered his horse when it was time to go away; but as it was a long while coming to the door, inquiries were made about the delay, upon which the groom appeared, and said he dared not take the horse out of the stable, for one of the clergyman's dogs was on its back, and the other by its side, flying at every person who came near the animal. The owner comprehended the mystery, and going to the stable himself, brought forth the steed: the groom was a stranger, and the dogs dared not trust him with their master's property.

A terrier, known to Professor Owen, was taught to play at hide and seek with his master, who summoned him, by saying "Let us have a game," upon which the dog immediately hid his eyes between his paws, in the most honourable manner, and when the gentleman had placed a sixpence, or a piece of cake in a most improbable place, he started up and invariably found it. His powers were equalled by what was called a Fox-terrier, named Fop, who would hide his eyes, and suffer those at play with him to conceal themselves before he looked up. If his playfellow hid himself behind a window curtain, Fop would, for a certain time, carefully pass that curtain, and look behind all the others, behind doors, etc., and when he thought he had looked long enough, seize the concealing curtain and drag it aside in triumph. The drollest thing, however, was to see him take his turn of hiding; he would get under a chair, and fancy that he was not seen; of course, those at play with him pretended not to see him, and it was most amusing to witness his agitation as they passed. When he was ill he had been cured by some homoeopathic globules, and ever after, if anything were the matter with him, he would stand near the medicine box, and hold his mouth open.

A black and tan terrier, belonging to a linen-draper in Swindon, directly the shop was opened in the morning, was in the habit of going to the post-office with his master; the letter bag was put into his mouth, and he carried it home. One morning he took it into his head to precede his master, and go alone. The post-master, on seeing him, felt so certain his owner was at the door, that he delivered the bag to him, with which he ran home while his master was seeking him. From that time it became his regular duty to fetch the letters daily.

Sir Walter Scott tells us of the remarkable comprehension of human language evinced by his Bull-dog terrier, called Camp. He understood so many words, that Sir Walter felt convinced an intercourse with dumb animals might be enlarged. Camp once, bit the baker, for which Sir Walter beat him, and, at the same time, explained the enormity of the offence; after which, to the last moment of his life, he never heard the least allusion to the story, in whatever voice or tone it might be mentioned, without getting up and retiring into the darkest corner of the room, with great appearance of distress. Then, if it were said that the baker had been well paid, or that the baker was not hurt after all, Camp came forward, capered, barked, and rejoiced. When he was unable, towards the end of his life, to attend his master in his rides, he watched for his return, and the servant used to tell him Sir Walter was coming down the hill, or through the moor, Camp never mistook him, although he did not use any gesture, but either went out at the front to ascend the hills, or at the back to get at the moor side.

These anecdotes, taken from many others concerning Terriers, cannot be better ended than by some concerning a Russian terrier. As I once was acquainted with an inimitable monkey, named Jack, so do I now know an inimitable dog of that name. He is small, white, with some quaintly placed dark brown spots on the body and head; his eyes are of the most brilliant black, he is slightly and genteelly made, and he has a quantity of curling hair on his back only, which gives him a peculiar appearance. He formerly resided in Ireland with the mother of his present possessor, to whom he evinced that devoted attachment which ought to be named canine, for there is nothing equal to it in any other animal. This lady was ill for some years before her death, and could only take exercise in an invalid chair. When she was ready to go out, she would say, "Now, Jack, I am ready for the chair," upon which he immediately scampered off to the stables, placed himself in the vehicle, and was dragged to the door. Then he got out till his mistress was placed comfortably in it, when he seated himself at her feet. If they went through the garden, the carriage was stopped at Jack's favourite beds of flowers, for he had a remarkable fancy, like a cat, to enjoy their perfume; mignonette being always a source of delight. On one occasion, in Dublin, he was lost; sought for, and met in the arms of a policeman, who was carrying him home. The man said he had actually delivered himself up at the station, for he came into the room where several men were seated, looked at one of them, as he stood at his feet, and quietly suffered his collar to be inspected and himself taken up and carried.