Democratic Sentinel, Volume 13, Number 39, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 18 October 1889 — Dogs of High Degree. [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

Dogs of High Degree.

ERILY, it is better to be a rich man’s dog than a poor man’s child, as far as care and creature comforts go, and it is probable there is more money spent upon fine dogs in this country than would

rear and educate ten thousand children. The dog is a noble animal and. doubtless the most intelligent of any,; and possessed of much reasoning power, but dogs could dispense with some of the good things which fall to their lot and be the better off for it; for instance, gold, silver and jeweled collars, and satin and velvet and embroidered baskets, cushions, and blankets. The style in dogs changes every six months for fashionable women, and just npw the caprice runs toward black poodles, shaved in fantastic manner. This is the best kind of dogs to ?teach tricks, as they have a well-developed sense of humor, and this is the kind of a dog that always wears the white ruffle and plays clown in dog circuses, and they generally manage to keep up a circus wherever they are. When men keep dogs it is done either from love of sport of some kind in which a dog is indispensable, or from loneliness, or lack of human sympathy, or downright cynicism, and a dog is a quiet, unobtrusive companion, true and faithful, and above all in perfect harmony with all his master’s moods with-, out a jarring note. A woman keeps dogs for different, reasons. For sport, if inclined that way; for fashion’s sake, to make herself remarkable among the women, as a sort of shield against love-making on the part of her admirers, and as a sort of living object, a cross between a doll and a live baby,,, on which to expend her exuberant affection and her natural flow of endearing terms. A woman finds a dog an excellent foil, and a caress or a slap often turns an embarrassing situation into harmless" channels.

Surroundings do not seem to mar the bliss of lovers, for a kiss in a cemetery is just as sweet as one in a seminary.