Pleasing 4 Pets

Hounds have been bred to hunt with man since ancient times. They excel in speed, stamina and keenness of smell. The hounds are divided into two groups those that track their prey by its scent and those that sight and then run after their victim. These are today most commonly used for competitive sports.

The most elegant of the sight hounds are the tall, graceful Borzoi and the Afghan. The Russians kept Borzois for hunting wolves, rabbits and hares. The dogs were said to run as fast as the wind. Afghans once hunted deer and guarded sheep in the rugged hills of their native land. Today both breeds are highly favoured by the fashionable, and are as well groomed as their owners.

More rugged are the Deerhound and the Irish Wolfhound, among the tallest dogs of all. The Deerhound, or Scottish Deerhound as it is also known, was once used to hunt red deer, and the Wolfhound to hunt wolves. Both have a thick, rough coat and are usually grey. The Deerhound is the lighter sleeker of the two but they are equally strong and equally gentle as pets. However these breeds of hound are rarely seen as household pets anymore.

Because dogs are carnivores they retain an instinct for hunting and killing. This aggression is put to good use when it is harnessed as it is with a guard dog. But it can also be a formidable weapon in man’s armoury. Dogs can be trained to fight for their masters as well as for themselves.

In ancient times soldiers took fierce dogs into battle to grapple with the enemy. More than two thousand years ago the Greek Molossi tribe bred a war-dog to unleash on the Persians. Called a Molossus, it was like a mastiff.

In the middle ages war-dogs were given armour. They changed into battle clad in suits of leather with sharp spikes jutting over their heads and pots of flaming sulphur and resin strapped to their backs. Mounted knights were unseated as their horses reared in terror.

Fighting dogs did not disappear when they became obsolete as weapons of war. So called sportsmen bred animals for the pleasure of watching them do battle with creatures twice their size but less agile. So, three British breeds came into being. The ancestors of the Bulldog, Bull Terrier and the Staffordshire Bull Terrier, baited tethered bulls, attacking them until they hung their heads in exhaustion. Then the dogs gripped the bulls by the nose and brought them to the ground. Fortunately only the dogs’ characteristic tenacity has been passed on to modern breeds.

Guarding people and property requires much the same attributes as those needed for guarding sheep and cattle, strength, courage, loyalty and obedience. Police dogs are trained to intimidate attack and hold fast to assailants. Padding protects the confederate victims from the dog’s fangs. Louis Doberman, tax collector from the 19th century, used local animals to breed a dog that would guard the cash that he carried. And a very fine dog he bred; proud, elegant, fast and fearless. No breed makes a better watchdog or police dog. Doberman Pinschers have a short black, brown or blue coat with rusty markings.

The Rottweiler and the Boxer, both German dogs, make powerful guards. Rottweilers were originally used to protect herds of cattle but nowadays they are trained in the police and mountain rescue work. Boxers are mastiffs, once used to hunt bears and then guard cattle. They make fearsome watch dogs. Boxers, Rottweilers and Dobermans all have their tails docked short.

As the need for dogs to guard cattle has largely died out the characteristics that brought the cattle dogs work have largely become redundant. Dogs, such as the Bouveir des Flanders from Belgium and the Giant Schnauzer from Bavaria, look fierce and are powerful. But whereas both formerly had farm work to do, today they are largely kept as pets.

Spaniels are gun dogs; they flush game from grass and shrubs. Springer Spaniels scare, or ‘spring’, birds into the air and fetch them when they are shot.

Most Spaniels have sturdy bodies, silky coats, long floppy ears, big eyes and a dome shaped skull, but their colours and sizes vary considerably. Clumber Spaniels have a heavy, head and body and short legs. They are white with lemon-yellow markings. English Cocker Spaniels come in many colours; their heads are narrower than those of other spaniels.

American Cocker Spaniels are smaller than their English counterparts. The head is rounded and the cost is long and dense. They may be any colour. Field Spaniels are long, low spaniels with short legs. They are usually black, liver, red or roan. The Sussex Spaniel is a heavy-bodied, reddish-brown dog with the shortest legs of any spaniel. The Irish water Spaniel has the longest legs and has a dark liver coat of curly ringlets with a top-knot and a slim tail with a smooth tip. The American Water Spaniel is somewhat similar but smaller. Welsh Springer Spaniels are lively red-and-white dogs smaller than English Springer Spaniels, which are usually liver and white or black and white. The Small Munsterlander is a brown-and-white German breed with a long tail. Most Spaniels have had their tails docked.

First decide whether you want a dog as a pet or a guard dog. Choose a pedigree, crossbred or mongrel dog or bitch that you can adequately feed and exercise. Avoid breeds especially liable to ailments. If you buy a puppy, make sure that it is lively, with bright eyes, a clean coat and clean ears.

Give your animal its own bed or rug to lie on. Keep clean drinking water always available. Be sure you feed enough protein, carbohydrate, vitamins and minerals. A vet will tell you what to feed a puppy. Big dogs may need seven times as much food as small ones. Offer no between meal snacks.

Provide cowhide strips, a big bone or other chewy toys, but not bones thin enough to splinter or any object small enough to swallow.

Most dogs need bathing less than once a month but you must brush short-haired dogs weekly. And long-haired dogs need a daily brush and comb so make sure you have time spare before you buy a big hairy bundle.

To house train your puppy, put it in a special place after each meal. As it grows older, teach it to obey simple orders such as ‘sit’, ’come’, ’no’. Fit a collar and lead. A choke chain may help your dog to learn obedience, and authority in your voice is essential.

Just remember that you might not want to install any expensive carpets with a new puppy in the house. Not unless you are happy to hire some professional work. Carpet cleaning in London or most other big cities can be quite cheap but other places can be very expensive. Your best bet is to go for cheaper carpets or even laminate/wooden flooring.

Germany’s Short-haired Pointer and Wire-haired Pointer are both heavier than the British Pointer. They are liver, liver and white or black and white, and both have docked tails.

Weimaraners are smooth coated, hound like dogs from Weimar in Germany. They have a good nose and run effortlessly after large or small game. Hungary’s national breed is the lean, noble, golden Vizsla. It works well on land or in water.

The Italian Spinone is also a splendid swimmer. It is a solid, slightly awkward looking dog with a shaggy coat that is white with brown or orange. Italian Setters are powerful dogs with strong shoulders that carry a rather heavy head. The long upper lips and drooping folded ears give it a blood-hound-like look.

The Coarse-haired Griffon from France is grey, roan or chestnut. Its large head has eyebrows, a moustache and a brown nose. A versatile sporting dog, it can scent, point, retrieve and swim equally well.

Setters are beautifully elegant dogs with silky coats and feathered legs and tails. English setters are white with markings of black, lemon, liver or black- and- tan. The Irish Setter, sometimes called the Red Setter, has a flat chestnut coat. From Scotland comes the largest and heaviest of setters, the Gordon Setter, which has a soft glossy black- and-tan coat. All setters make lovable pets but they need a lot of exercise.

Dogs, once, had to hunt for their food, in order to survive, chasing animals in the wild and following herds. Over time dogs invaluable to farmers have been bred, guarding and rounding up their flocks and herds, bred to chase other animals but not harm them.

Modern collies are so called because their ancestors rounded up, colleys, the Scottish, nimble, black faced, mountain sheep that undoubtedly wandered to places unsafe for any man. Typically Border Collies, trained to work together, drive sheep into a pen, upon the order of the shepherds whistle. This total blind obedience is essential in a sheep dog as so not to fright the sheep, a time consuming debt of an unruly dog.

Though, Collies and Old English Sheep Dogs are probably the most commonly known sheep dog, Kelpies from Australia and Puli’s from Hungary, are highly disciplined to jump over sheep’s back without alarming them. Kelpies run along the backs of the sheep to reach the head of the flock, where once there they become the leader. Also, despite their small structure, long low bodies, short coats and foxy heads with erect ears, corgis were bred as cattle herders, nipping the cattle’s heels to drive them to the market.

Britain keeps some five million dogs and the USA more than 40 million. They can be guards, guides, workers, companions or simply friends. Though no-one can be certain about how long ago our relationships with dogs began, we know that dogs and man date back to the Middle Stone Age, as fossil bone found show that dogs were helping hunters 10,000 years ago.

Among the creatures that sport the name dog, there is many a variety of sizes and appearances, gigantic sleek animals the size of a four year old tower over scampering fluffy things no bigger than a pigeon.

Some dogs belong to an identifiable, classified breed, meaning that their parents and usually recent ancestors were the same type of dog. Others have parents of different breed and are known as cross breeds, yet, some dogs are neither thoroughbred or cross bred, these dogs whose parents are of mixed breeds are called mongrels.

Mongrels are often seen as to be a more robust dog, and more friendly than thorough bred dogs. As their parents were not themselves the offspring of pedigree dogs, the features that will be apparent in their pups cannot at all be foreseen. Also, new Pedigree breeds introduced from other countries have to be recognised by the Kennel Club.

A border collie, named Spot recently escaped from the home of his new owners in Macclesfield, Cheshire, UK to embark on a four mile quest to locate his original owner.

The grieving dog managed to dodge traffic, crossing roads and junctions to find the grave of his last owner, Denis Goodier, a farmer who died at 73.

Almost like an echo from the classic story of Greyfriars Bobby the dog would not leave his master’s tomb and stayed there until he was eventually seem on the grave at St James Church in Sutton close to Macclesfield.

Widow Margaret claimed that Spot hadn’t been to her husband’s grave because she had found Spot a home straight after her husband’s death.

She said:

“They always had a very close bond. Denis thought the world of Spot, but I was amazed when I heard he had trekked all that way to the grave. I had to give Spot away after my husband died because I couldn’t cope with him.”

Spot was given back to Brian Belfield, sheepdog trainer after the incident who was the people who had originally sold Spot as a puppy to Denis Goodier.

Brian Belfield called the dog’s pilgrimage, which occurred on Christmas Eve, “amazing”.

Talking to BBC News Online Brian said:

“Some dogs have got some sort of navigation system based on scent and all sorts of things that we just cannot understand. But it does happen. I know of one foxhound in Snowdonia that got lost yet found its kennels 80 miles away. It trekked over some awful terrain and turned up a fortnight later, after search teams had given up looking.”

Angela and Udo Baecker had recently moved from a ground floor flat into a new apartment, when their pet dog, Boxer took a leap from the window of his owners’ apartment not realising that his owner’s new apartment was actually six floors above ground level. Luckily, Boxer managed to land three floors down onto the neighbour’s balcony in the town of Cologne in France.

The lucky dog’s owners are Angela Baecker and Udo, both aged 29 years, immediately called for the local fire department as soon as they started to hear the whining and barking from the balcony, even though they could see Boxer from their own balcony they could not get to him to get him out of his predicament themselves and to make matters worse their neighbours were away on vacation.

Angela Baecker was quite shaken by the incident and she commented “We’ve only been in the new apartment for a week, but thought Boxer would have got used to it after climbing up all the stairs. We never thought he’d try his usual trick of jumping from the window to get into the garden.”

It is expected that the dog will probably not jump out of any more windows soon.