Canine Caprice - Butler.edu

Canine Caprice

CAROLYN HARVEY

"These Never Were Traitors" was the the world, friendless and homeless, the
title of the huge composite picture - an faithful dog asks no higher privilege
artist's attempt to convey his idea of the than that of accompanying him, to
noble dog. Evidently he knew well the guard against danger, to fight against
story of the faithful dog mourning in his enemies. And when the last scene
watchful vigil at the grave of his dead of all comes, and death takes the
master, for he pictured him there amid master in its embrace, and his body
the eternal green of life and the stone-gray is laid away in the cold ground, no
~f death. He knew well the knightly hero- matter if all other friends pursue their
l~m of the German shepherd bearing his way, there by his graveside will the
SIgn - the Red Cross - among the bloody noble dog be found, his head between
battlelines of Flanders Field. Perhups he his paws, his eyes sad but open in alert
had seen a child tugged by its clothing watchfulness, faithful and true even to
from the path of a moving train or had death. 1
o~served the blind man walking briskly
w~th self-assurance, led by his Seeing Eye. I, too, have known noble dogs, although
HIS pu rpose was clear - unlike men and my experiences have not been so dramatic.
women, "these never were traitors." I have watched the once-exuberant body
of my cousin's dog grow listless and gray
Seldom have human friendships been as he grieves for his master who has been
heralded , or even pi.ctured as have the overseas for nearly two years. My own
relation Shiip between man 'and dog. At family once owned a brilliant-minded
one time it was the duty of former Senator German shepherd who died of grief when
George Vest 0f M·ISSOu.rito prosecute a man his mistress went on a month's vacation
Wh. ho had kill ed the dog of his client. In and could not take him along. A human
being has that faculty of mind which tells
IS address to the jury he delivered the him he can forget grief - that he must for-
following tribute: get it and live on; a dog has not. To him
the loss of a loved one means the end.
that The one absolutely unselfish friend
worlda man can have in this selfish In order that the reader may not sup-
pose that I am primarily a sentimentalist,
=v=the 0' the one that never deserts him, I shall dwell at length on the pleasure and
or tr::: ~hat proves ungrateful humor derived from a life of experience
with dogs. I can picture clearly and call
dog sta~ erous,.IS .hIS dog. A man's by name at least twenty of the dogs my
family has owned. Of these, all came to
poverty d~ byhhim m prosperity and in us by mutual adoption but one - an ex-
pensive, pedigreed animal, who escaped
He wili ~n ealth and in sickness. out the coal-shute the first night we had
him. We learned a valuable lesson, for
Where t s eel? on the cold ground,
snow dr,!-e wmtry winds blow and the ever since we have had only "mutts"

near ~ves fiercely,. if only he may be lovable ones with hearts and souls.

the h master's SIde. He will kiss 1. M. V. O'Shea, World Book, W. F.
Quarrie and Co., Chicago, 1928, page 1987.
will ~~~ that has no food to offer; he

Come in the wounds and sores that

the wOddon~ct with the roughness of

pauper m~st e gu~rds the sleep of his
When all er as If he were a prince.

remains other. friends desert, he

reputati~n ~~fn trIc~es take wings and
stant in h. ~ s 0 preces, he IS as can-

ney thro~:h o~~ as the sun in its jour-
te heavens. If fortune
drives the mas er forth, an outcast in

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'.

. he droPped
that ladles come first. Always b
Fawnie could almost talk. This little , Ii 's feet e..:-
brown fox-terrier with the vibrant energy a dog-biscuit at his sister Fe me I
of an electron was so named because he
resembled a baby deer much more than he fore indulging himself. Though only t~efve
did a dog. His doctrine was "Life, liberty, et hIS oe,
and the pursuit of rabbits." He and his
girl-friend, a huge chow, would roam the inches high, he dashed out to me. cowardic. e
woods together, splitting their catches. The no matter what its size or power,
tail-end usually found its way to our
doorstep. he knew not. Many times he sent a hUg~

Fawnie had three weaknesses: his lack nbulldog limping away, ye 1pm. .g because 0
of will-power in the presence of a soft bed,
his hatred of mail carriers, and his utter the beating Fawnie had given him - aId
aversion to the feline members of the
household. Cats, he felt, were absolutely Ior the love of his beautiful Rusty. Cou
unnecessary to the world, and his pride
would not allow him even to touch any- any knight have been more valiant?
thing that smelled of one. His unique .o
talent for getting into scrapes has never
Fawnie , lik'e many people, refused 1td.
been surpassed by even a brass monkey. allow himself to believe he was getting 0 ,
His scientific name, canis familiaris, fitted
him well, for he made friends with every- .. s vigoroUS
the last years of his life were a

as his puppyhood. The .only time I ever

saw his usually vibrating body quiet was e

.on that fateful day in August when hd
dh' an
refused to get up when we calle rm+-

we knew he was dead. NoW he lies in mY
'in

garden under the violets. His soul 18

Dog Heaven, as I feel sure there is such a

place, There must be, tor C.olonel, Wags,

Teddy, and Skippy are all there.

one, including the city dog-catcher. When The little pitchers who lurk in .our

my father went down to bail him out of cupboard and supposedly possess big ears,

"jail," there he sat, aloof from his prison- might tell y.oU of the numerouS dialogues

mates, head high, one ear up and one ear in which my father has firmly informed me
down, apparently indifferent to the small
that one dog is enough for any tamI'1y (the

talk going on all around him. Republican party says so - the Republi-
cans should know). I disagree with him
As I have previously mentioned, Faw- heartily and, being a nonc.onformist, assert
nie intensely disliked mail-carriers, be- that I do not think a th.ousand W.ould be
cause of, their black bags, I suppose. He too many. However, since neither of us
lost his temper one day when Mr. Brown is a bit "d.ogmatic," we compromise - at
refused to stop at his command, and bit the present time we have six. Each nas
his ,ego The United States Government his own particular, perhaps peculiar, per-
threatened to sue us for $10,000, and warn-

ed us that if the same incident occurred sonality.

again, Fawnie would be shot on sight. So Cupid is like Jane Eyre - plain and

began the long years of locking the little conservative _ yet beautiful, Our nome

criminal up every day, until three o'clock is her Thornfield Hall; I am her' eccentric,

in the afternoon, a sort of "dog parole," headstrong Mr. Rochester. She r.oams the

I suppose. house in her gentle, un.obtrusive manner,
in spite of his faults - or maybe be- craving only kindness, and beaming when
shown the least affection. Alas, she is but
cause of them - Fawnie was a perfect a prosaic old maid tor she is much too shy
gentleman. He practiced chivalry as vali- to attract suitors. Thinking, h.owever, that
antly as any Ivanhoe. He learned early

perhaps she had a motherly instinct in her, Big Bear and Little Bear. Big Bear is
we gave her two of the puppies. After she very intelligent. He figured out scienti-
h, ad ove rcome her fear of the ti.ny, crawl- fically that there was a grand world out-
mg, squeaking doglets, she grew to love side of his box and that by painfUlly scal-
them as her own; Attempting to show her ing a long flight of stairs it was possible to
a~ection, she lifted a gigantic paw into the reach that world. Little Bear is an ex-
aIT and let it fall heavily on the tiny little ample of the results of progressive educa-
head - a we 11-meant though somewhat tion. Although most affectionate, he pre-
ungentle caress. sumes himself to be the center of the uni-
verse, Lambie, Jr., is a miniature stereo-
Cupid is very sensitive - perpaps too type of her mother. She's as cuddly and
much so. The least remark will cause playful as a kitten and as independent.
tears to come t 0 her eyes, and, as a martyr,
under the bed she crawls; only the' most Taffy, on the other hand, is rather soft-
tactful persuasaision W'I11b' ring her out agam' spoken and the beauty of the four, A more
and then she must be hugged and kissed affectionate little family could not be
to convince her that she's not the worst found, for they stay as close to one another
of slnnsrIS. Th ough she cannot read, Cupid as a brood of chicks and sleep in a con-
knows Emily Post almost as well as 1. As tortionist's nightmare of interwoven heads
a perfect lady, she eats not a morsel of food and limbs, Such devotion and brotherly
until 1it I'S offered to her, She seldom barks; love is rarely found in families of human
only when she wants in the house does she
sound her soft, soprano "Woof!" She keeps beings.
There are those who dream of a devoted
herself' Immaculate - even her fingerna.ils
are scrupulously clean. Unlike most mod- husband, a brand-new automobile, or a
ern women, she possesses the gentle dignity beautiful home. There are others who
and grace that become a queen. desire success, fame, or a huge bank
account. But my idea of happiness is this:
Lambie, however, represents the all- I wish to own a huge pice of land, covered
American t ype. She's fnv. olous and very with woods and sunny meadows- This
much of a flirt. She's never quiet - al- estate I would call Dogwood. As its name
ways can be heard her unmusical "rooster implies, it would be fllled to capacity with
cro.'w" Sh e lacks social graces though she romping, healthy, happy dogs. The woods
tnes de sperately to learn. I could tell you and meadows would be theirs for hunting
that she is small and white with black ears and hiking; I would provide comfortable
but , I' cannot describe her better than by' kennels for them to sleep in and juicy beef-
saying she looks exactly like a little fuzzy
steaks for them to eat - a dogs' paradise.
lamb - and acts J.ust like one. Incidently,
Oh, that dreams were realities and realities
she also eats ivy, as all good little lambs do.
dreams!
Lambie's pride and joy are her chub- As a final thought I submit the follow-

by brown and whi1t e quadruplets. Because ing, which might appropriately be called

she pays so little attention to them now I "Doggerel: "
have tak en over what my father calls m' y Human friendships depend largely

"menagerie." Certainly no collection of on position. or wealth;

wild bear-cubs could require more atten- A dog loves his master because
tion. For that reason we call the twins
he's himself.

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