Domestic Animals

e their presence almost universal in every rural household. The dog is peculiarly the friend of man. Many other animals have a temporary though feeble atta

the habitual tenant of the farm, and, when suited to his peculiar duties, can be made of great utility by the assistance he is capable of affording in its management, we deem it entirely appropriate to our subject to indicate such of the species as are deservi

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y, but derives its name from the island where it has been bred for centuries, to the great advantage of its inhabitants. There are two varieties: the large, used in the north, called the Labrador; and the smaller, more docile and intelligent, of the south, called the St. John's. They are employed by the islanders, and the people of the neighboring coast, in drawing their sleds and carts loa

ties of the farm: destroying noxious vermin, taking the cattle and horses to the field or water, drawing a light load, churning the butter, &c. It is true, he has not all the sagacity of the Poodle, whose intelligence approaches nearer to human reason than any other of the brute creation. But if he has not that quick apprehension, which too often leads, as in the case of forward children, to the attainment of every worthless

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ngs to the same family as the Newfoundland and Poodle, which embraces the most intelligent and useful of the

attacks of all marauders, and are essentially the same race as the far-famed dogs of Mount St. Bernard. They are not sufficiently gentle for guides, and the shepherds who employ them rely on some well-trained wethers or goats to lead the flock a

h more frequently inclined to black or darkly spotted and gray; and one branch of the family is entirely destitute of a tail. They possess an instinctive sagacity for the management of sheep; and in company with a well-trained dog, under the direction of the shepherd, they soon become entirely competent to the control of the flock. They perceive his wishes by a word or sign, and with almo

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ss search for the lambs; but he could hear nothing of them nor of the dog, and he was returning to his master with the doleful intelligence that he had lost all his lambs. 'On our way home, however,' says he, 'we discovered a lot of lambs at the bottom of a deep ravine called the Flesh Cleuch, and the indefatigable Sirrah standing in front of them, looking round for some relief, but still true to his charge. We concluded that it was one of the divisions which Sirrah had been unable to manage, until he came to that commandi

their keeping. They have almost the intelligence of the shepherd in discerning the vagaries of the flock, and ten times his efficiency in

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by crossing with some of the stouter races, such as the Newfoundland or the pointer, and even the bull-dog and large shaggy terrier have sometimes been resorted to for a strain of that indomitable courage and game, which is frequently requisite to the proper discharge of his duties. He requires more

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es, producing such an aggregate of annoyance and devastation. Other dogs may occasionally be good ratters, but the terrier takes to them from instinct, as the Newfoundland does to the water, or the sheep-dog to his flock. He has great ingenuity and activity

veral, each claiming to be equally pure. Besides his capacity for the destruction of small game, his innate love for the sport renders him a valuable assistant in keeping o

ikely to have, equally with their opportunities and the attention bestowed upon them, will serve materially to develop or obscure their peculiar instincts. The Spaniel family and its crosses will be found to combine the greatest intelligence, fidelity, and aptitude to learn; the hound has the keenest scent and greatest endura

service, ought to be abandoned by every rational man. Besides the great annual cost, the danger of communicating rabies or madness is sufficient to ju

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extent of curtailing this branch of farm-stoc