Democratic Sentinel, Volume 18, Number 17, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 11 May 1894 — BELGIUM'S WORKING DOGS. [ARTICLE]

BELGIUM'S WORKING DOGS.

A Curious Spectacle in the City of Brussels. It is a very curious spectacle to a stranger who visits the city of Brussels for the first time to see in the morning innumerable small vehicles loaded with fruit and vegetables arriving at the market drawn by dogs, whose good-natured barking proves not only that they experience no fatigue, but, on the contrary, a genuine enjoyment. It is not only the kitchen gardeners and the peasants coming to the city that make use of this sort of haulage, for the butchers, the bakers, the coal dealers, and the milkmen have np other means of carriage in order to serve their customers. As a general thing each cart is drawn bj' but one dog, but there may be several. The dog thus employed in Brussels and its vicinity for the traction of small vehicles is a strong and broad-backed mastiff, more squat than a large Dane or German mastiff, generally of a dull fawn color, or more or less black spotted with white, and a somewhat short-haired and rough coat. However the Brabant peasants do not appear to stick to one type of breed with fixed conformation, color, and length of hair; provided he is strong and energetic, that is all that they require of their steed with claws and fangs. Good specimens are sold from S2O to $25. In the course of service these dogs are fed upon bread and horse meat, and their maintenance costs about a cent a day. The dead weight they haul is, on an average, 650 pounds. Bull-dogs haul a much greater weight. These dogs are very zealous and perform their duty with as much pleasure as hunting dogs do in following the trail of game.

An exercise which well exhibits their qualities and shows the degree of emulation with which they are endowed is that of the races that frequently take place as a consequence of challenges made by their owners. The race course is a highway, and the goal is at a distance of one or two miles. All passers-by can enjoy the spectacle gratis. The competitors place themselves in line, and the impatience of the coursers, which is manifested by voice and action, can be moderated only by vigorous applications of the whip. Finally the signal is given, and they start off at full speed with loud backings. Falls are frequent, and the drivers literally bite the dust. But the automatons in short blouses are quickly picked up and put back in their carts, exciting anew their vigorous steeds, and those that have the oftenest fallen are not for that reason the last to reach the goal. The swiftness of a team of dogs is such that bets on speed have been made on a good horse harnessed to a cab against one of these teams and been won by the latter. The Belgians say that a good draught dog costs less to keep and sells at a lower price than an ordinary ass. while at the same time doing as much work. It is quite curious to find that among civilized countries Belgium is the only one that exhibits to us the common spectacle of dogs in harness.—[La Nature.